About Ferrous & Bone
Ferrous & Bone is a paint house.
We make watercolour by hand, slowly, with attention.
Our work begins with artist grade pigments and our own recipe of watercolour binder. To that we add our knowledge of colour and the skill of a heritage process.
We care how pigment comes to life through paint, how it moves across paper, and how it responds to an artist’s hand.
The Makers
We are Reg and Emma, artists based on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon. We met in the painting studios of Exeter College of Art in the 1990s, and our practice as artists continues to inform the way we make paint.
As practitioners, we understand the importance of fine materials. How pigment behaves, how a binder responds, how a colour settles into paper. Ferrous & Bone grew from this knowledge and from a desire to create paints that honour both tradition and contemporary practice.
The Makers
We are Reg and Emma, artists based on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon. We met in the painting studios of Exeter College of Art in the 1990s, and our practice as artists continues to inform the way we make paint.
As practitioners, we understand the importance of fine materials. How pigment behaves, how a binder responds, how a colour settles into paper. Ferrous & Bone grew from this knowledge and from a desire to create paints that honour both tradition and contemporary practice.
The Practice of Making
Our watercolour is produced using traditional hand-mulling techniques. Pigment is suspended within our binder by handheld tools.
Working deliberately and in small batches, we can observe closely the nature of each pigment. This allows us to refine each formulation and bring out the character of the material itself. The granulation, transparency, tinting strength and handling qualities of the paint.
The process is tactile, slow, and deliberate. And every stage is considered, from pigment selection, binder formulation, mulling, drying and curing.
The result is watercolour paint with exceptional colour strength, stability and handling. Paint made to be used and trusted.
A Contemporary Paint House
Ferrous & Bone takes its name from the origins of pigment and the labour of making. It speaks to minerals, to organic matter, to human hands.
It reflects our commitment to thoughtful making. To our palettes built with restraint and intention, shaped by landscape, history and observation.
We make paint for artists who value process, seek nuance in their paint and yearn for colour with depth.
Our mulling workshops share the knowledge and discipline behind making watercolour by hand. Participants work with artist grade pigments, traditional tools, and our own binder, learning the full process from dry pigment to finished paint.
Workshops are hands-on and small in scale, allowing time to understand how materials respond, how colour develops through mulling, and how individual decisions affect the final paint.
We have hosted workshops at Exeter Phoenix Gallery and are open to booking sessions with galleries, studios, and educational spaces. All tools and materials are provided.
Each workshop results in a shared palette, made collectively, with colours mixed, named, and taken away by the group.
The Practice of Making
Our watercolour is produced using traditional hand-mulling techniques. Pigment is suspended within our binder by handheld tools.
Working deliberately and in small batches, we can observe closely the nature of each pigment. This allows us to refine each formulation and bring out the character of the material itself. The granulation, transparency, tinting strength and handling qualities of the paint.
The process is tactile, slow, and deliberate. And every stage is considered, from pigment selection, binder formulation, mulling, drying and curing.
The result is watercolour paint with exceptional colour strength, stability and handling. Paint made to be used and trusted.
A Contemporary Paint House
Ferrous & Bone takes its name from the origins of pigment and the labour of making. It speaks to minerals, to organic matter, to human hands.
It reflects our commitment to thoughtful making. To our palettes built with restraint and intention, shaped by landscape, history and observation.
We make paint for artists who value process, seek nuance in their paint and yearn for colour with depth.
Our mulling workshops share the knowledge and discipline behind making watercolour by hand. Participants work with artist grade pigments, traditional tools, and our own binder, learning the full process from dry pigment to finished paint.
Workshops are hands-on and small in scale, allowing time to understand how materials respond, how colour develops through mulling, and how individual decisions affect the final paint.
We have hosted workshops at Exeter Phoenix Gallery and are open to booking sessions with galleries, studios, and educational spaces. All tools and materials are provided.
Each workshop results in a shared palette, made collectively, with colours mixed, named, and taken away by the group.