Natural Pigment: Ochre

If you could capture the essence of “magic hour”, that time of the day shortly before sunset when the light gives everything an enchanted golden glow, in my mind it would become a jar of ochre pigment. Ochre is a naturally occurring yellow pigment and has been used by humans as long as 300,000 years ago to paint our world. When I visit Italy I feel absolutely immersed in it; stand in any narrow ancient cobblestone alleyway or walk out into a broad piazza and every wall seems saturated in it’s hue. The walls of Florence and Lucca are especially vivid in what the Italians term Ocra Gialla Chiara (light yellow ochre).  

In the heart of Florence, just a few steps from the Duomo, I discovered Zecchi, a family-run store since the early 1800s that has been creating art supplies with the same materials and processes as the earliest Renaissance craftsman. I brought home a jar of light ochre pigment to use in my mixed media creations; the natural pigment can be mixed with beeswax for encaustic art. 

In a recent November 2021 trip to Bologna for the first time, I loved being surrounded by buildings in a warmer (almost caramel) ochre hue. I was able to make a return trip to Zecchi in Florence, this time to purchase a jar of Ocra Calda d’Italia (Italian warm ochre), as well as  beeswax made by Italian bees.  

In the studio I am instantly transported back to Italy during the chilly Baltimore, Maryland winter weather when I begin to smell the melting Italian beeswax mixed with the warm, glowing Tuscan ochre pigment.