How to make botanical ink with gorse flowers

Welcome to our second monthly seasonal natural ink challenges, this time we are using gorse blossoms to get a bright yellow. If you can’t find gorse, try forsythia, daffodils, dandelions, or tansy instead. This recipe was courtesy of Bohemian Raspberry Art, who makes fantastic seasonal inks for sale. Find her here:   / bohemianraspberryart   Recipe and shortcuts: 0:00 Gorse blooms throughout the winter and it’s very common on coastal and heathland here in the UK. Aim for roughly a cup full of flowers, but you can use smaller amounts if you can’t collect enough. We only want the flowers for the ink; gather them carefully as gorse is very prickly! 1:52 Place a few handfuls of flowers into a glass jar, stood inside a pan of water, (you can also put the flowers directly into a small pan, make sure it is excludive to ink making!) Add a teaspoon of alum, OR if you don’t want to use alum, add 1 tablespoon white vinegar and 1 tsp salt (your ink colour may be less vibrant). 2:27 Pour over twice the volume of boiling water. Stir well and leave to steep for a few hours or overnight. 3:02 Place the jar in a pan of boiling water. Bring the pan to a gentle simmer for 30-40 minutes. Check the colour strength by removing from the heat and dipping a strip of paper into the liquid. Switch off, and let cool. 3:24 Strain the ink, then test the colour. 4:18 If it’s not intense enough, return the liquid to a clean pan. Simmer gently, uncovered to reduce the liquid until you have a well concentrated solution. 5:55 For better flow and adhesion, for every 100 ml of liquid, add 10-20 ml gum arabic solution and stir well. Aim for a consistency similar to single cream. 6:14 Decant into clean bottles. You can add a whole clove to each bottle to deter mould, (and/or you can try add 2-3 drops of thyme, bergamot or clove oil). 7:08 Be sure to test out your new ink, trying multiple layers and perhaps trying it out with other inks. Or you can do what I did, and try painting the plant using the plant, what better way to honour it! You can also find me using the links below: Instagram:   / alexboonart   Website: https://alexboonart.com/ Music by Epidemic Sound Journal by Lotus Blu Book Art Small journal by BohemianRaspberryArt.