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Melissa Jenkins Natural inks made from foraged plants gave this artist a way to heal her body and share her passion for the outdoors. BY JANICE QUIRT
PHOTOS COURTESY MELISSA JENKINS
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Melissa Jenkins paints using natural inks she makes out of foraged plants and flowers.
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rtist Melissa Jenkins remembers when she truly embraced the beauty of the natural world around her. It was March 2017, and she had been walking the field behind her home in rural Erin. This walk was, in itself, no mean feat. Back then there were days when Melissa could hardly move at all because she was coping with Lyme disease. To help in her journey toward healing, not only from Lyme, but also from struggles with breast cancer and an ectopic pregnancy, Melissa turned to painting with acrylics and watercolours. “Painting was one thing I could do with shaky hands when at my weakest,” she says. But that day in the field helped influence her latest choice of medium – naturally derived inks. Melissa began to dabble in making her own ink after a friend mentioned that avocado pits produce a pleasing maroon shade. Then she was given the book Make Ink: A Forager’s Guide to Natural Inkmaking, by Toronto artist Jason Logan. The book inspired her to take a fresh look at that field, as well as other natural areas, where she began to see an unlimited supply of exciting new art supplies. She collected alder catkins at her cottage on Baptiste Lake near Bancroft, where she grew up. And closer to home, she zeroed in on invasive species and other common roadside plants as a way to minimize her environmental impact. “I also became so much more mindful about noticing what was out there. Early tamarack flowers look like pink pineapples, for example,” she says. Melissa now sells bottled natural inks, dreamy contemporary artworks and DIY craft kits, all of which include earthy shades of sand, ochre and soft brick. For ink buyers, she includes her personal recipes
