As an arts educator I wanted my students to have a strong connection with the natural world that surrounds us. We started foraging responsibly and making inks from recipes we found on the internet. After much experimentation and trial and error, Ms. Larsen's Botanical Inks was born. Collected from plants (always legally and ethically) in Los Angeles and Kauai and the I try to use invasive plants and the scraps left behind.
Each ink kit is a representation of the environment it comes from taken into the history of the region, the plants that help define that environment and the people that have a relationship to those plants. In 4 colors the ink kits give you a range to build, layer and create a distinctive feeling of that environment. The criteria of an ink I sell is a saturation of color, archival nature and durability. These inks are best applied on acid free water color paper.