In the paint laboratory at Atelier De Heerlijkheid, Rick is working on something beautiful: converting color from the Dye Garden into pigments and gaining a better understanding of the chemical and procedural processes involved. In the laboratory, we are working step by step toward mastering these processes so that the color can be controlled and predicted in advance.

The raw materials come from the garden: including madder, weld, and woad. In practice, this means: preparing plant material, then extracting it with water or another suitable liquid, and subsequently separating and concentrating it. Think of filtration, sedimentation, and precipitation to ultimately obtain the pigment. The pigment is then dried and ground, after which Marike can turn it into paint and test it. Only then can you see if it is stable and usable in a paint layer.

Natural color is variable. The composition of an extract shifts due to growing conditions, harvest times, and storage. In addition, there are dozens of other factors that influence the color of the pigment to a greater or lesser extent. The research focuses on the most important factors that affect color and lightfastness.
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Rick's background and training in analytical chemistry are a direct help here, alongside his natural curiosity, of course. He is accustomed to working in a controlled manner and documenting what is done and what the outcome is. Ultimately, we arrive at robust methods for extracting pigments. We are happy to share the knowledge gained in the process.