Mulling it over with Natalia Torres del Valle

Artist Natalia Torres del Valle gives us a glimpse into her unique process of making her pigments for paints from foraged natural materials.

Definition of mull (v.1)

"ponder, turn over in one's mind," 1873, perhaps from a figurative use of mull (v.) "grind to powder" (which survived into 19c. in dialect), from Middle English mullyn, mollen "grind to powder, soften by pulverizing," also "to fondle or pet" (late 14c.), from Old French moillier and directly from Medieval Latin molliare, mulliare, from Latin molere "to grind," from PIE root *mele- "to crush, grind." Source

The appreciation of art is really about mulling over the artwork. The immediate questions that come to mind are how was this artwork made? Who is the artist? What does it mean? How much does it cost? Do I like this artwork? Would it look good above my couch?

But what if we took it one step further and contemplated how to make each material? Who came up with that paint color? How did it become paint? Did it come from an art supply store? What happens to unused paint? These are the questions most of us would never think to ask. 

Hillsborough, NC-based artist, educator, and expressive arts therapist Natalie Torres del Valle asks these questions. She ponders how to make materials and takes it one step further, producing her pigments from foraged soils and rocks, earth-based pigments, and lake pigments from plants. She creates abstract and textural paintings built on memories of landscapes and our interconnectedness with the natural world.

Her process starts by collecting natural materials like soil from Utah, shells from Maine, soot from an outdoor fire made with her family, and plants from her backyard. Tapping into the figurative use of the word "mull", Torres grinds the foraged material into a fine powder, and then a series of chemistry experiments occur. 

*Writer disclaimer - science was never my subject, so I will not pretend to be able to explain what chemistry magic Natalia performs, but the process is entirely mesmerizing. She teaches classes on creating foraged pigments if you are interested!*

During my studio visit, I watched Natalia make pigments from Buckthorn berries. The dark ochre brown berries transformed into the most beautiful yellow pigment. She then stamps this pigment on paper and labels it for later reference. 

Science and a love of plants are in Natalia's blood. Her father is a chemist, her mother is an avid gardener, and her great-grandfather wrote the first book on medicinal plants in Puerto Rico. 

Creating her pigments from naturally foraged materials is a long process. It takes a lot of effort to make a small amount of material. These scoured materials are a reminder of place and memory. For Natalia, this technique forces her to be in the moment and the process. Tapping into her role as an expressive arts therapist, she leanings into the unpredictability of this method. She shares this process with the children she works with, having them experience what it is like to be in the moment. It also makes Natalia mindful of the amount of waste that can happen as an artist as she works to create a zero-waste studio. She is in the process of growing plants to create her dye garden. 

After creating her pigments, Natalia first makes a watercolor of the composition to get a sense of the color relationships before starting a larger painting. Since she only has a limited amount of material to work with, she must be very intentional with her choices. 

Her paintings have many layers of materials. This layering ties into the erosion of the environment and climate change. Her latest series includes works around the idea of the void, and the vastness of space, and the canyon rising. Her work is about the impermanence of a material, landscape, and memory, encouraging a deeper intimacy and urgency towards protecting our natural world. 

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Natalia Torres del Valle is an artist who works out of her studio in Hillsborough, NC, and is a 2023 Acadia National Park Artist-in-Residence. She is a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist through the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association and a teaching artist at the North Carolina Museum of Art. Natalia is a member of Pigments Revealed International, Spilt Milk Gallery, the National Art Education Association, the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association, and the Durham Art Guild. She has been featured in the Orange County Art Commission's The Underline, VoyageRaleigh Magazine, and All She Makes magazine. Her work has been shown in museums and galleries across the U.S.