The third edition of the Festival das Florestas Marinhas (Festival of Marine Forests) took place from 21– 28 May. The event was a collaborative effort between the University of Algarve, the Vila do Bispo City Council and its Centre for Marine Sciences. It showcased the marine diversity of the coastal area around Sagres, its corals and algae, and their importance to marine life and conservation. There were guided tours, lectures, boat trips and workshops. My wife Monique and I decided to attend two events, Discovering the Martinhal Lagoon and How to Make Watercolours from Soil.
Marine biology to art
This event was a hands-on workshop led by marine biologist and artist Saritta Camacho of the University of the Algarve. She began by explaining how her career had metamorphosed from marine biology to art. After 20 years as a marine biologist, she decided to follow her dream to become involved in the artistic side of science. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 provided her with an opportunity when her regular work significantly diminished.
Saritta, already a keen artist, studied the curriculum, took the exams and in 2019 obtained her qualification in communication and design. Her art now encompasses illustrations for scientific journals, design creations, storyboards, university projects, advertising materials, brochures and books worldwide. And of course, she makes her own paint.
The presentation began with a slideshow of the process, followed by an explanation of the ingredients, including the carefully measured amounts of each, and finally, the technique that would culminate in a watercolour paint. The cliffs of Praia da Luz is the area where much of the sedimentary rock originates. It provides the body of the paint and its pigment. The various strata of rock visible on the cliff face tell us the era of its formation and each layer has a different colour.
Other ingredients include brightener (white crystals), binder (Arabic gum), softener (liquid glycerin), moisture retainer (honey or corn syrup) and a fungicide (clove oil).
A stroke of genius
A table was set up for the ingredients to be measured and allocated to each participant. Pieces of sedimentary rock were carefully measured with each student receiving a different colour. Then the other ingredients were measured and placed in small containers. Six workstations, one for each participant, had been previously organised with a mortar and pestle, a flat-bottomed glass pestle, two small metal palette knives, a hard square table-top surface and some water.
The first operation was to grind the rock to a fine powder with the mortar and pestle. This was hard work, but it was essential to get the powder to the right texture. A sieve was available to separate any unwanted lumps. Then the binder was added and mixed with the powder to make a soft paste. The flat-bottomed glass pestle was used to rotate over the mix to achieve an even finer paste.
Lastly, honey was added to maintain a certain moisture level, and a few drops of clove oil were used as a fungicide. Saritta moved between the students, checking the texture of the individual paints and adding a drop of this or a drop of that to achieve as near perfection as possible.
The glass pestle was used as an added test to check the quality of the newly made paint. The bottom of the glass pestle was dipped into the paint and then an imprint was stamped onto a piece of watercolour paper. If the imprint wasn’t good enough, either more mixing was required or perhaps a few more drops of binder or water needed to be added. The expert eye of Saritta could tell if the paint was of a good quality.
When everyone had completed their paints and the quality was considered excellent, the different colours were shared between the participants and placed in a small paintbox so each person had six to take away.
Monique’s first objective is to create the beach and cliffs of Praia da Luz with the paints made from the very same sedimentary rocks of which the cliffs are formed. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Next month a report on the Martinhal Lagoon
