teRra ceramic palettes & watercolour paints overview
A unique range of handmade watercolour paints, ceramic palettes and accessories for artists.
What is teRra?
TeRra means “the earth”, which for me embodies the spirit and the soul of the teRra range and what I wanted to create.
This range consists of a series of ceramic palettes, water jars, brush rests, and accessories for artists. As well as my own handmade watercolour paints.
The palettes have been designed as a coordinating series that can be added to over time. They can come empty ready to be filled with your own paints, or purchased with the teRra handmade watercolour paints.
When first I started making ceramic artist tools a few years ago there was always this little voice in the back of my mind saying “oh maybe you could make the paints as well”. I did my best to ignore it! …but after I designed the teRra range of palettes I knew it was time to dabble in paint making as well.
So I began to imagine what these mysterious paints would be like, what did I wish for them? I knew that each one had to have its own individual character, a strong personality. They had to be bold and colourful, I wanted “interesting” paints. When I paint with watercolours these are the kind of colours and paints that I gravitate towards, the ones that flow and move in compelling ways, where you see the intrinsic nature of the pigment come to life.
They had to be the best artist quality as well, so I chose my pigments carefully, after lots and lots of research, to ensure that they would all be lightfast, and generally transparent. Granulating pigments also feature heavily in my range.
So as I began to combine the pigments, playing with different combinations, I almost always included at least one granulating pigment in each “colour” that I made. Some colours granulate a lot, and some are more subtle. Then there are those that separate into two or more colours as the water caries them, they literally dance across the paper! Some create wonderful blooms, and others really allow the pigment to shine. Regardless of the characteristics, each one has its unique quirky charm and character. Just like us, each one is special.
The TeRa range of handmade paints are made using the highest quality lightfast pigments, sourced from reputable professional art suppliers. I only use the finest quality artist grade ingredients in my formulations, which includes pure Gum Arabic and vegetable glycerine as the binder. Gum arabic is the sap from the acacia tree; it is used as a natural binding agent for most professional grade watercolour paints. The natural preservative I use is essential Oil of Cloves. Some of my colours have a tiny touch of synthetic ox gall to improve the flow. I do not use honey or any other fillers or additives. These paints are vegan friendly.
Each colour is made in the traditional manner, hand-mulled on a glass slab until smooth, in small batches, ensuring I get the best out of each pigment. Every pigment has its own requirements and they each take a different blend of binder ingredients to achieve the right consistency. Each colour is poured into the ceramic palette wells in layers and left for several days so each layer can dry. It takes several weeks to make each set of paints.
As this is a handmade process there may be minor small bubbles or cracks in each paint, to me these just add to the character of each pigment and are part of the charm of handmade paints, it does not affect the quality or use of them in any way.
Your paints can be reactivated by adding 2-3 drops of water before painting. All watercolour paints can grow mould on the surface if they are left, or stored wet, for long periods of time. Please allow your watercolour pans to dry fully before storing to avoid this. If for any reason you do get a spot of mould, just wipe or spray it with a bit of rubbing or isopropyl alcohol. If you live in a place with high humidity the surface of some pigments can become slightly tacky, this is perfectly normal.
Each of my standard round ceramic paint wells/pans has a volume of 2ml (unless noted otherwise), the same as a traditional plastic half pan.
I do my absolute best to photograph the colours but please note that due to variations on screens and devices, the colours of swatches displayed may be slightly different.
Please keep children and pets away from the paints – they are not intended for use by children.