Beam Paints are handmade watercolor paints that are plastic free, lightfast pigments from a 100% Indigenous family entrepreneurship.
From the Artist: “Beam Paints is the result of a multi-generational love of pigment, paint, colour, and innovation. I was raised by my artist parents, Carl Beam and Ann Beam, and was taught from a young age how to harvest hematite pigment in the LaCloche mountain range near our home in M'Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island. Beam Paints draws on my early educations in Indigenous pigment and expands it to encompass all paint traditions. A focus on high quality pigment content creates sublime artist materials, with plastic free packaging. Lightfast pigments, tree sap, gum arabic, and Manitoulin honey, blend together to create a handmade saturated colour that is a joy to paint with. From thick stripes to fine washes and details, quality is evident in every stroke. Our watercolours are shaped into paintstones, our version of a half-pan, before being wrapped in beeswaxed canvas. Our pans are packaged in slices of cedar and birch offcuts from an Indigenous sustainable lumber operation.”
Carrying Case*
Hand made with doubled sheets of hand printed canvas with handmade ink, beeswaxed canvas and cloth. A slip on pencil or brush loop, a mini and small pocket to carry out xtra mini papers or supplies. Can fit up to 14 regular Paintstones.
Enamelware Mixing Tray*
A beautiful white enamelled metal tray with a navy rolled rim. 5.5x8.5 inches by 3/4 deep. A beautiful, wipeable surface to mix colours and clean ups a breeze!
Sugar Maple Palette*
Sugar Maple Palettes carefully gathered from the same trees that are used to make maple syrup and come from the magical Inaatig in the Ojibwe language or Acer saccharum in Latin, finally Sugar Maple in English. Every spring the creators of Beam Paints tap hundreds of these trees when the nights are freezing but the day is above zero and the sun is shining. It’s a time of getting together, hard work, and family. It doesn’t hurt the tree and this same acreage we live on has been caretaken by their families since and before the treaties of our area were signed.
Part of caring for the trees is carefully removing some dry branches, these palettes are made from those offcuts. I have always loved the strength and feeling of them, like a living stone.
These palettes fit 4 Paintstones, so they're always ready for you!
*does not contain paints