ART PROCESS: ANDY WARHOL PRESERVE PIGMENT COLLECTION

Rocks and pigments on my desk from the Andy Warhol Preserve in Montauk, New York

I’m proudly introducing the five rocks I sourced from the Andy Warhol Preserve in Montauk, NY.

In October 2024 I had the privilege of teaching a handmade watercolor plein air (outdoor) workshop through a grant provided by The Nature Conservancy, and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts ( @nature.ny & @warholfoundation )

With permission from @nature.ny I carefully selected these five rocks at the private preserve. I’m processing them into fine pigment to turn into paint this spring. The paints will be used as the color basis of a new art collection inspired by the coastal landscape of the Andy Warhol Preserve. This work mirrors my process during my upcoming two month artist residency I will be part of @caumsettfoundation later this summer.

The work is labor intensive - I am literally breaking rocks multiple times over. I will need to grind them, sift them, clean them, dry them, and more. Each time the color passes through my hands I connect more and more with it. This work is a privilege and I don’t take it lightly. I’m grateful to the wisdom of all the paint makers, pigment grinders, conservationists, artists, and indigenous practices that led the path for me to step into this alchemy.

The Andy Warhol Preserve, Montauk, New York

Art Process: Handmade Kelp Paint

This year I am moving back into the experimental process that I deeply love. Working with kelp is something I plan to do all year. The smell of kelp, clove oil (in my paint binder) was a soothing briny scent that brought me back to summertime as a child swimming in the bay.

I’m working with @lazypointfarms using @montaukseaweedco kelp meal to create non-toxic handmade watercolor paint. Since these paints are plant based I’m working through a series of tests to watch their colors shift and fade. Capturing scans of them immediately after they dry will preserve the original colors and soon I can offer fine art prints of the abstract patterns made with this crop.

PAINTING MADE WITH HANDMADE KELP PAINT

CHRISTIE JONES, WORK STATION MAKING KELP PAINT, LONG ISLAND

Behind the scenes to process:

• Grind kelp meal with mortar & pestle

• Sift through to get smaller particles (repeat)

• Add handmade non-toxic watercolor binder

• Mix with palette knife & muller

• Make paintings!

KELP COLLECTION, CHRISTIE JONES 2025

I plan to volunteer later this year with Mastic Beach Conservancy as they harvest kelp. Being connected to the growing process, seeing the kelp harvested, and having the ability to lend my own two hands to be part of this monumental movement in New York kelp is something I look forward to. You can learn more about the aquafarms and opportunities to volunteer here.

FEATURED ON: WLIW-FM

Back in October 2024 when I was marketing for the Nature Conservancy grant I received (read more about it here) I was asked to be interviewed by Heart of the East End’s Gianna Volpe on WLIW-FM. Ria Rajan and I, both art grant recipients, drove out together to the radio show and enjoyed a segment where we shared about our art practices, and what our workshops would be like.