Autumn Rituals: Oak Gall Ink and Mindful Painting with Surrey Art School
Instructions, recipe, images and article by Ellie Green, Surrey Art School.
This article was originally written by Ellie for the autumn edition of The Aligned Times, the indie paper I used to create for my Deep Care Boxes. I’m honoured to be republishing it here!
Lessons from the autumn trees
Trees take centre stage in the spectacle of the Autumn - the changing colours of the leaves on the trees offer a visual reminder of this energetic shift in the natural world. As the trees draw their energy in, their life force returning to roots to sustain them through the latter part of the year, so the leaves on the trees begin to lose their colour before the tree gently lets them go.
There is a subtle magic in the falling of old leaves…
In the same way, the Autumn season invites us to ‘bring the energy in’ – readying for winter through reflection, tapping into our ‘inner world’ perhaps inviting an inner audit of our year to date.
Inspired by the Oak tree, I’ll be sharing some of my seasonal creative rituals with you - inviting you to slow down and turn your attention inwards.
Foraging for creative resources
The Autumn season is prime foraging time and, if you ask me, there is little more satisfying than hunting for, and then working with natural materials as a creative resource.
A passionate potion maker, I love making natural inks using materials foraged from the woods and hedgerows.
Gifts from the Oak
The Oak is a generous tree - providing sanctuary, sustenance and shelter for a huge variety of living beings. Oak leaves have been used for centuries to dye fabric and similarly, ink can be made from tannin rich acorns and oak galls – and both can be foraged in late summer/ early Autumn
Note: Look for a hole in the gall before you pick it – or you may find a tiny wasp inside!
How to make Oak Gall Ink
Oak Gall Ink has been used in written manuscripts since Roman times – the recipe is simple but requires a little time and patience. Tune into that feeling of anticipation and lean into this slow method of making.
Ingredients:
2 x Oak Galls (5g)
40 ml rain water
A few rusty iron nails
A tsp of gum arabic powder
1 drop of clove oil (optional)
Smash up the oak galls. Wrap them in a tea towel and pound down into a rough powder. You can use a hammer or a rolling pin for this – whatever you have to hand.
Collect 40ml of rain water in a jar and then drop in your crushed gall powder. Pop the jar on a windowsill and leave to steep for 3 days. Over the next few days tannic acid will leech out of the oak galls, turning the water a deep brownish hue.
Now drop a couple of rusty nails into the brown tannin-rich liquid. Leave for a further 2-3 days and your ink will transform from brown to a blue-ish black as the tannic acid reacts with the rusted Iron.
Finally drop 1 tsp of gum arabic powder, mix and leave for 1 more day.
Now strain off the whole mixture with a sieve and voila – you have your ink.
For a longer shelf life add a of clove oil to prevent mould from growing on your natural ink. Keep in a lidded jar in a cool, dark place.
Note: Your ink may appear quite light when it first hits the page, but as the ink oxidises it will darken.
Lessons from the Oak
Oak trees are deeply rooted in our heritage and were revered by our ancestors – celebrated by the Celts, The Romans and the ancient Greeks as a symbol of strength, courage, resilience and wisdom. In the Ogham (Celtic) alphabet the name for the Oak is ‘Duir’ and is believed to be the origin of the word ‘door’ – fitting for a tree that was deemed sacred to the Celts as a ‘doorway’ into other worlds.
The Oak tree as a portal: A seasonal, creative ritual
“Isn’t it odd, we can only see our outsides, but nearly everything happens on the inside.”
Once you’ve made your ink, I’ve designed a few mindful creative exercises to help you open the door to your inner world. We’ll work with the Oak tree from root to tip - using the tree itself as a metaphor for our own lives.
This is my kind of creativity – the act of making is meditative, the energy of making is mindful, reflective. As we learn about nature, so we learn about ourselves.
The Roots
The roots of the Oak tree grow as deep and wide as the branches above and therefore are symbol of strength and resilience.
Create- Dip a paint brush into your ink and paint a line – pressing hard to begin with and then lifting your brush to allow the line to taper off. Now connect another line to that line – always branching out and down.
Reflect - As you do so consider your own ‘roots’ – where you come from, your ancestors, those who have inspired your current path - consider which of their gifts you carry with you today.
The Trunk
The trunk of the tree offers us a chance to reflect on our personal growth through the seasons- to consider the chapters of our lives and how they have shaped us over the passing year.
Create – Dip your brush into the ink again and this time, you are going to paint concentric circles radiating out. Start at the centre and move your brush slowly across the paper. Focus on the negative space between the lines to keep your spacing even as you paint. This kind of repetitive activity is super soothing on the mind and the focus required quiets the mind.
Reflect - Make a few notes alongside your ‘inner tree’ studies. Consider the chapters of your year so far or indeed your life to date - the key moments that have shaped you.
The Branches
As with the roots of the tree, the branches of the oak radiate out from the trunk of the tree, each branch splitting to create a fractal pattern.
Create – Using the same ‘branching out’ technique as the roots, dip your brush in you ink again and paint some branches, reaching up this time instead of down. Take your time building, forming connections between each line. You could even try to connect your breathing to each stroke for a more meditative experience – as you lift the brush breathe in, as you press the brush down breathe out.
Reflect – Consider the connections in your life right now – this could be family, business connections, friends. Which are most beneficial to your growth? Are there any connections there that are no longer aligned with what you need in your life?
The Leaves
Create - You can now add some leaves to your branches – simply dip your brush in the ink once again and this time press and lift your brush to create leaf shaped print.
Reflect - As you do this, you could consider what your current offerings / gifts to the world are – perhaps make some notes alongside your leaves.
And finally, in the spirit of the Autumn season, you could also consider if there are any of these you need to ‘let go’ of in order to move forward. What are you either carrying or offering that no longer serves you?
Once you’ve worked your ways through these exercises, you should have some useful notes to help you reflect on your journey to date, as well as some go-to calming doodle-style exercises that you can reach for whenever you need to take a little creative time-out.
In this fast-paced world, slowing down, tuning into the pace of nature and engaging in hands on activities like this – be it crafting, baking, journaling or painting – can not only usher in a feeling of calm and a deeper sense of satisfaction that simply buying something ‘off the shelf’ - they can have a positive impact on our mental wellbeing.
About Ellie
Ellie Green is the founder of Surrey Art School - a school of creativity for well-being, inspired by nature and the seasons. If you’ve enjoyed these exercises you will love Ellie’s special blend of mindful creativity online in her video workshops, in her regular virtual art class, Sketchbook Club, as well as in-person in local venues in and around Surrey.
Learn more about Ellie’s classes and support her wonderful work at www.surreyartschool.com or follow her creative journey on Instagram at @surreyartschool.
