Harvesting Paints: Creating Art from Northampton’s Landscape

Have you ever seen a beautiful blue hydrangea on the side of the road and wondered if you could make an ink of that exact color? Well, you can try– but according to Avery Maltz ’25 (he/him), that beautiful blue might turn out as a shade of green or yellow. 

Avery Maltz is an Ada Comstock senior writing his thesis on drought response in trees. His interest in plant ecology began when he took Understanding Climate Change through Plant Biology and the Arts with Professor Jess Gersony (she/her) during his first semester at Smith. Maltz raves about Gersony, saying, “She really just created this opportunity to fully be an artist and a scientist at the same time, and so I just kind of thrived with that, and have been doing it ever since.” Maltz works with the SPACE lab to visualize plant responses to environmental issues for his senior thesis. He’s also an artist– even before his time at Smith, Maltz had taken artistic inspiration from nature. Smith offered the unique opportunity to combine his passions for biology, ecology, and art. During his final year at Smith, Maltz created an exhibit dubbed “Field Works” – the culmination of his academic career in both plant ecology and studio art.

The initial inspiration for “Field Works” came when Maltz was discussing human-plant interactions with his peers in the Kahn Institute Fellowship for Vegetal Forms. In 2023, Maltz worked as a conservation intern at the Lyman Plant House surveying rare plants, and as an assistant to Professor John Berryhill (he/him) and Jesse Bellemere’s Magnolia Project. These experiences provided Maltz with extensive background knowledge on a wide range of plant species found in Western Massachusetts. 

Maltz noted the restraints he faced with “Field Works” regarding his time and resources, and decided to pivot this project to focus mainly on local species. The majority of painting subjects are from his field work with John Berryhill. Although rare and endangered plants are sometimes the subject of Maltz's work, he never uses them to make ink. Ethical harvesting is a top priority. He employs thoughtful practices, like only using a small portion of a plant, to ensure the survival of all plants used for his art. There’s one notable exception to this rule– the Dawn Redwood, which sits right behind Neilson Library. Maltz separates the redwood and all on campus from those in the field, because Smith’s campus is not a wild community. 

“It's just been really fun to experiment with different plants, and see, like most flowers, regardless of the color of the flower, [the processed inks] make a shade of green or yellow.” Maltz creates his inks using tannins, a natural preservative in plants that helps make the colors specific to that individual. Due to how tannins oxidize and interact with other introduced compounds, the original shade is altered when the ink is processed. Specimens produce a beautiful array of color, including yellows, greens, reds, and a variety of browns, instead of exactly replicating the plant's hue. The closest he has gotten to replicating a color is with the ink he made from the Dawn Redwood cones, featured in “Field Works.” 

Toadflax (Linaria canadensis). Cochineal insect ink, lilac flower ink, cherry blossom ink, black walnut ink, lichen ink, and pen on paper. Courtesy of Avery Matz.

But Maltz doesn't stop at plants. “[This fungi’s color] was this, like, amazing shade of chartreuse and kind of a muted orange.” He raves when asked about other works in the exhibit, recounting a specimen he spotted while on a field trip with Professor Bellemare’s class. Maltz explains that he experiments with different flora to produce a variety of colors, but like most things in life, they fade over time, despite the strong quality of his inks. 

Maltz himself even questioned the value in making something that will inevitably disappear. “Do I want to make objects? Like, what is the point of making this thing?” As he delved further into his process, Maltz understood that the idea he was grasping for was that of ephemerality. The purpose of “Field Works” was to paint an accurate and mindful representation of nature, rather than a lasting one. This notion of the ephemeral– fleeting things of nature, not meant to be permanent– is a key concept of Maltz's project. His handmade inks create something destined to fade, encouraging contemplation of the transitory natural world, both local and global.

“Rather than trying to kind of hide this– this essential fact of life– I want to celebrate it.” Maltz says, recognizing the ephemeral connection between nature and his inks. Rather than avoiding the idea that his work will one day fade, Maltz works to embrace and emphasize it. 

The opening reception for “Field Works” was on April 17th from 4:00 to 6:00 in the Nolen Art Lounge in the campus center, and Maltz will be giving a virtual artist talk on April 25th from 1:30 to 2:00 pm. The show runs until May 2nd. 

Written by Lucy Coran and Annika Galvin