In Colour

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  In the last couple of weeks, I have been cooking up a storm.  Shocked into action by the passing of Koen Padding, who was an expert varnish maker, I decided it was time to have another go at making oil varnish -- something I had given up as hopelessly difficult years ago.  But I received some encouragement from my friends at Oberlin, and, as I have to frequently remind myself, I am all grown-up now ... so in the last fortnight, I have not only cooked varnish, and ground, but also made a brave attempt at making pigment.  Pictured simmering in the pot is some madder root.  
  My enthusiasm can be cumulative, so I have started looking into the possibility of growing my own madder.  I am in two minds about it -- it is prickly, contains skin irritants, takes up a lot of space, and takes at least three years to mature to the point where you can harvest the roots.  Also, I am not sure it is a Zone-5-hardy plant.  On the other hand, it would be a supply of great consistency.

  Anyway, while I am pondering the ins and outs of madder husbandry, I am researching different recipes for making madder lakes (it adds a whole new meaning to "Land of ten thousand lakes"), and have managed to concoct a small jar full of rose-coloured pigment.  I wasn't too thrilled with it until I ground some into my newly-cooked varnish, and watched the resulting mix spring into sparkling, glowing life.  Can't wait to start brushing it onto my next instrument!

First, though, I will bring it to tomorrow's party -- a small group of Twin Cities luthiers will be getting together to make rosinates, which is a way of integrating pigment into oil varnish without losing transparency.  Cheers!