Make Paint from the Kitchen: Experiments with Supplies

Push the envelope from using store-bought supplies to something original by foraging your kitchen for supplies to make paint.

The other day I shared three key elements to my morning art journaling process. One the big three is to try something new.

New could be making a new mark or trying a new color combination.

Having this intention helps me experiment, stay in a playful mindset, and keeps me from getting caught up in perfectionism.

Here’s what happened yesterday…

While making my morning coffee I decided to clean up the coffee and vitamin shelf. In the process I discovered a jar of spirulina powder.

In case you’re not familiar, spirulina is derived from blue-green algae and some people consume it for health reasons.

Yes, that would be me.

Anyway, I hadn’t used it in a while and thought perhaps I should pass it along in the spirit of purging.

But then, I reconsidered because the color is so beautiful and wait, could I paint with it?

The answer is yes, yes I could paint with it!

I scooped some into my coffee, then put another scoop in a small bowl, added warm water, and boom…

the most beautiful turquoise color I ever did see.

And so I think I’ll keep it.

The lessons here are:

  1. Clean out your kitchen cabinets from time to time
  2. If you have spirulina, give this process a try
  3. If you have other kitchen materials like ground spices, coffee, or tea, try painting with them and see what you think
  4. Experiment with new art supplies. What unique materials could you incorporate into your art?

New to Art Journaling? You’ll want to read this next: Art Journaling 101: Ideas and Prompts to Get Started