PAINT-ALONGS
Every other Saturday we have a free paint-along on our Instagram page that we'd love you to join in.
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Will sends out free sketches each time to those who are keen to join in and you can also download the sketch for free from our library of past paint-alongs below.
HANDMADE
ART SUPPLIES
PLASTIC FREE SUPPLIES
Help us make plastic mass produced art supplies a thing of the past!
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REDISCOVERING THE PAST MAKERS
Watercolour paints, palettes and supplies these days go hand in hand with single use plastic and mass production. It wasn't always this way.
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In fact the opposite is true. Modern watercolour paint blocks were invented by brothers William and Thomas Reeves in the 1760' -1770s. Made in their small studio in London in batches, sold in wooden paint sets accompanied by ceramic palettes.
In 1835 Winsor & Newton introduced the first moist watercolour cakes using glycerine They were more easily wettable making easier to use and came in beautiful ceramic half pans.
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The creative advances of the Victorian age were but one step in our glorious history of Art.
Artists throughout history have used natural materials to create the tools that they needed to create amazing works of art.
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The Egyptians carved paint palettes from natural materials (Painter's Palette Inscribed with the Name of Amenhotep IIIca. 1390–1352 B.C. New Kingdom.) and made their paints from earth pigments and semi precious stones.
A PLASTIC FREE FUTURE
Almost all of the founding watercolour houses have sold out to multinationals, their paints being mass produced in factories that churn out tones of unnecessary plastic.
Remember the last time you purchased a new colour from one of the big companies, did it come in a none-recyclable single use plastic halfpan, wrapped in a plastic wrap that was itself sent in a plastic bubble packet?
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These vast quantities of unnecessary plastics sit around in landfills and ours seas for around a 1,000 years.
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Mass production also often happens in countries that charitable organizations have exposed for using slave labor - this has to change!
pioneering a new way
Here at LILIAN MAY we are passionate about bringing the craft and creativity of the past back to the future.
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Why should we be happy to buy mass produced art materials made in cruel factories by companies that couldn't care less about their workers or the environment? We are resolved to make plastic free alternatives made in small batches from sustainable materials by people who love what they're doing.
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We are determined to build a business that creates quality art supplies that are made sustainably from natural materials. Are you with us?
