Grinding pure blue pigment from Azurite
Grinding Azurite
This time last year, I bought a small lump of azurite from the Lapidary shop in Burslem, Staffordshire. I made a start at grinding it up in a pestle and mortar but since I didn’t need it at the time, saved the last stage of fine grinding to a powder with a glass slab and muller till later – ie now.
I am working on a triptych (see previous post) where I would like the two standing angels to be painted in a heavenly sky blue so it’s been back to the grindstone to extract this gorgeous colour.
Lump of pure Azurite, approx 2cm cube
Aidan Hart, demonstrated how to grind Azurite during class last year which I filmed. You can watch the process over here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-FHvAxwg9w. It is an amatuer video so not very good quality, but it captures the process.
First crunch of azurite
This was last years work, crunching up the rock with a small hammer. It’s surprisingly enjoyable as you see the blue emerge.
I bought a slab and muller from Patricia Lovett at her Gilding and Traditional Illumination Skills workshop some years ago. It really has come into its own now as I still have malachite, haematite and chrysocolla to grind up.
Use a glass slab and muller to grind up the pigment
I placed about a tablespoon of pre-ground up pigment on to the slab and added just enough water to make a paste then ground it up, clockwise and anti clockwise, scraping the pigment back into the middle until the paste glides smoothly under the muller.
Mixing with a little water makes the paste
Ray offering a helping paw
Mopping up every last bit of paste with a palette knife and mop brush
A variety of blues emerging as you wash or levigate the pigment
Large particles give a deeper blue
Drying out the azurite pigment in the sun
Pigments at last! Samples show mine on the left and the darker pigment of a pre-bought pigment on the right.
This took the best part of a morning but I’ve made enough pigment to easily last me a year or longer. Next post will hopefully show some of this azurite in use on my triptych.
Thanks for reading,
Ronnie
Icon Diploma Student 
5 Responses to “Grinding pure blue pigment from Azurite”
Thanks Ronnie. Such a lot of patient work and time goes into a real icon.
I think I have seen a muller in this house once, but not knowing what it was.
Either your muller is large or your cat is small!
Love & prayers from Sister Benedict
Thanks Sister Benedict! Much appreciate your prayers and comment. Ray is a very small cat, only 14 weeks old!
Ronnie, this posting is so spot-on for me. I just ordered a muller and glass. I had watched Aidan’s demo, but seeing your up-close photos helps.
Thank you so much for posting all this. You and Aidan are my official long-distance teachers. Now to acquire some Azurite. . . . . . .
Hugs to Ray.
Thats great to hear Gay! I was going to separate the lighter and darker shades but it got too fiddly so I ground it all up as far as I could, kept draining off the water and letting the pigment mix dry out in the sun on plate,s then it brushed off easily into a jar when dry. All the best! 🙂
Thanks Ronnie, I’m enjoying a Prosopon course in Lettlebert in a 14th century church Love Marcella
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