PAINTING THE SCENE FOR SUSTAINABLE ART

Brookvale's Colormaker Industries has been recognised for its dedication to  sustainability by receiving the coveted Northern Beaches Sustainability Award. We caught up with owner, David Stuart, to discuss their well deserved win and their commitment to supporting the eco arts community.

Congratulations on winning the Northern Beaches Sustainability Award! That is a huge achievement, celebrating your ongoing commitment to the environment. What does this award mean to you? Thank you! We are thrilled. Our intention is to illustrate through effort and achievement what can be done sustainably in manufacturing and distribution. We hope that our example will inspire other small-tomedium enterprises (SMEs) to make the change to create a healthier, more productive and meaningful future for their businesses.

You are a trailblazer for sustainability in business. What steps towards zero emissions are you most proud of? One of our most beneficial changes has to be going solar. We are proud to say that since September 2019 we’ve saved 580 tonnes of green house gases. In addition, our fleet of three electric vehicles (EVs) for local deliveries and staff commutes have covered over 27,000 km in the last year, sparing the atmosphere six tonnes of greenhouse gases (GHGs). These changes have saved around $32,000 in electricity and fuel costs and improved our footprint by 168 tonnes per year. These statistics are easy to be proud of!

You are known for prioritising critical social action that supports local schools, not-for-profit organisations in the community and disadvantaged Australian communities. Tell us more. A project that we enjoyed working with is the 'FREE THE REEF' campaign, an initiative channelling the power of art to raise awareness and funds to protect the Great Barrier Reef.

We have donated PERMACRYLIK® paints and PERMASET® inks to the flood ravaged communities of Lismore as well as the remote artistic communities across the Northern Territory. We also back Aussie built and designed technology, such as the new ReVolve® battery. This groundbreaking product was designed to soak up surplus electricity and feed it back onto the grid, helping us towards 95% self-sufficiency.

What would your advice be to a young business striving for sustainability and zero emissions? Start now, get help, never stop. Everything that you do can make a difference. Be selective about the people and businesses that you deal with. Working with the local community now will reap dividends; not just financial, but also personal, social and reputational. As our First Nations brothers and sisters say: “If you look after country, then country will look after you”. Think hard, reflect deeply and do the right thing.

At Beaches COVERED, we love supporting local artists. You have had creative partnerships with some incredible talent. Who have you worked with and what do you enjoy about these collaborations? We are proud sponsors of the Northern Beaches Environmental Art & Design Prize and the Manly Art Gallery and Museum and have supported a number of local artists. We have a longstanding relationship with First Nations artist Blak Douglas, winner of the 2022 Archibald Prize. He used PERMACRYLIK® paint for his portrait "Moby Dickens".

We enjoy meeting technical challenges and working with artists to create bespoke colours and finishes. We recently worked with local BAD artist, Patrick Hunter to create a non-slip paint for his landmark"Octopus" mural on the pavers outside the National Maritime Museum.

It’s incredibly invigorating to work with such a creative community. We have expertise, they have expertise, we form close relationships and together we achieve results that neither of us could have dreamed of individually.

There is a lot of talk about your PERMACRYLIK® paints. Can you tell us why they are so popular? This is best summed up by Blak Douglas’ comments: “When I began painting, I consciously chose water-based paints as I felt them to be the least harmful to the environment. I recall randomly stumbling upon the incredible colour range of PERMACRYLIK® at an inner city paint shop for the first time. Gobsmacked by the pigments, what allured me most was the strength of the ochre-based range which ideally suited me as a First Nations artist.”

The range marries the colours of the art world with industrial strength paint technology and intense pigment. PERMACRYLIK has been rediscovered by the art scene after 40-50 years in production. We’re responding to that new interest and energy with an emerging range, still under development, but very exciting.The biggest part of the buzz is seeing great collaboration between Art and Industry.

Colour plays a crucial role, whether it's in selecting the ideal shade for your walls or crafting a masterpiece on canvas. Colormaker offers an extensive array of products to cater to your needs. •

Colormaker Industries  |  44 Orchard Rd, Brookvale 2100  |  www.colormaker.com.au  |  Insta: @ olormaker_industries