After collecting all the pigment samples from my trip to Nova Scotia a lot of work still lay ahead: The grinding and testing. Today I did that grinding.
Using my wonderful, 20 pound cast iron mortar and pestle, the rocks were ground up one by one. Some of the rock samples ground up quite easily but others were more difficult (one in particular gave off sparks after the first couple of blows!).
By the end the rocks were all reduced to a course powder. Some of the colours were what I expected while others were a surprise. The next step will be to grind them finer on glass and then test them for their opacity and light-fastness.
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