Conversations between Earth and Time
PAINTINGS MADE OF THE EARTH
These works are created using natural pigments gathered from around the world. Minerals, rocks, ochres, metals, shells and soils that have spent thousands, and often millions, of years becoming what they are today.
Each pigment carries a geological history. Formed through pressure, heat, water, erosion and time, these materials have had extraordinary journeys before being ground into paint and brought together by hand. They are not colours chosen to represent the landscape; they are fragments of the landscape itself.
These works invite us to slow down and consider the wisdom held within the natural world. Mountains become sand. Minerals change colour when exposed to light. Stone carries the memory of oceans that disappeared millions of years ago. Nothing in nature stands still; everything is continually becoming.
Perhaps we are not so different.
Like the landscapes beneath our feet, our own lives are shaped by layers that are often unseen. Experiences, joy, grief, hope and love accumulate over time, quietly forming the landscapes within us.
Rachel is a member of the WA Lapidary and Rock Hunting Club, and she has learned how to fossick, identify, cut, shape and polish the many incredible rock and mineral formations found in WA- and beyond. The pigments in these artworks have been either hand-crushed, juiced* ( Rachel’s affectionate term for how she extracts and collects the colourful pigments from the rocks she cuts and polishes) or collected, and made into watercolour paint, by Rachel.
Natural handmade pigment paints made of Vivianite Crystal, ethically sourced from Demons Bluff, Anglesea, Surf Coast Shire, Victoria, Australia
40cm x 40cm
2026
Vivianite is found in environments rich in history. Peat bogs, ancient sediments and, archaeological sites. Symbolically, it feels like a mineral that honours memory. It grows on the remains of life.
Born pale beneath the earth, it holds its colour secretly, until light and air invite it to become itself. Slowly, it transforms into shades of blue, green and grey. Its true nature is revealed because of being exposed.
Perhaps healing is like this.
It is something that unfolds through living. Through being weathered. Through meeting the world with an open heart.
This pigment reminds us that change need not be hurried.
That what is hidden today may become tomorrow's beauty.
That growth often happens beneath the surface long before anyone else can see it.