Today July 29, for International Tiger Day, I present to you some photos of the feline taken when I was staying in Nepal in the early 2000s
Presentation of our work
Opening of the studio
Operational hide
First visitors in the hide
Project hide on waterhole
Arrival in South Africa
Ink making training by Colleen
Incredibly talented artist, Colleen, has been sharing her knowledge of ancient ink making methods… Iron Gall Ink.
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Nature is so amazing! Gall wasps lay a single egg on a leaf bud. The larvae secretion changes the chemistry where a protective gall nut is formed around the larvae instead of a leaf. When it’s ready, the wasp will burrow it’s way out of the nut, leaving a little hole (swipe to see an example).
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We’re surrounded by lots of oaks and collect little galls (with holes in them) that we’ve found on the forest path.
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These galls contain a lot of tannin, and have been used to make ink since the Roman Empire, and from the middle ages until the twentieth century.