A history of sustainability

Their first Reclaimed Color, Torrit Grey, has been popular since the early 1990s when Gamblin decided to recycle pigment collected by their air filtration system and turn it into paint. Torrit Grey reduces the amount of waste that goes into landfills and encourages responsible living and art-making.

Similar to Torrit Grey, the Reclaimed Earth Colors are made with pigment that has a story.

The pollution problem

The Ohio and Mississippi Rivers are among the most polluted in America. Not from litter, but from the Industrial Revolution, when America’s unquenchable thirst for energy exploited the land in its quest for coal. Today, thousands of square miles of coal mines lie abandoned and improperly sealed.

When rainwater seeps into the underground mines it becomes contaminated with toxic levels of heavy metals and acidity. The contaminated water then flows into streams and rivers where the metals oxidize and turn yellow, orange, and red. Officially, the term is “Acid Mine Drainage” (AMD). Unofficially it’s called “toxic sludge” and it’s left once-thriving ecosystems unable to support life.

A solution and a collaboration

For over a decade, Artist John Sabraw (pictured below), Engineer Guy Riefler (above), Environmentalist Michelle Shively, and a team of students at Ohio University have been trying to develop a sustainable solution to this problem. And they have.

The process begins with collecting contaminated water in large tanks. To neutralize the water’s acidity, a base is added, then oxygen. This causes the dissolved iron to crystalize and settle. The result: clean water on top and non-toxic iron oxide pigment on the bottom. The clean water is returned to the river where it is safe for aquatic life* and the iron oxides are dried into lightfast and safe artist pigment. The pigment is heated to various temperatures to achieve each color.

*The team has discovered that within just one year after cleanup, life returns to these once barren waters.

This is where Gamblin comes in

As a colorhouse that promises to be kind to artists and the environment, turning this pigment into paint was something they felt both compelled and honored to do.

In 2018 they officially joined forces by making one full batch of paint with the reclaimed pigment. The process to collect the pigment worked, and an oil paint manufacturer was on board. The concept was no longer just an idea, it was a reality.

Growing the concept, full-scale

The team in Ohio needed funding to scale the project so they took the campaign to Kickstarter and used the tubes of paint as an incentive for patrons to back the project with a $100 pledge. When the campaign exceeded its goal of $30,000 the project was funded.

And the momentum didn’t stop there. Support and interest from artists poured in from around the world; people wanted the paint and they wanted to make it. But for Gamblin to bring these colors to market, they needed pigment, and lots of it. To start, they needed enough pigment to make 2,500 three-tube sets. ​

The Kickstarter funding was used to design and build a pilot plant with a goal to refine the process and a dream to build a full-scale facility that could treat 1,000,000 gallons/day. This got the attention of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, who helped submit a proposal for a multi-million-dollar plant that would generate local jobs and produce over 5,000 lbs of pigment every day. The grant was made and in late 2019, Gamblin received a pallet of Reclaimed Earth Pigments. It was exactly what they needed to make the initial run of 2,500 sets.

Gamblin has volunteered countless (wo)man hours formulating, testing, naming, designing, and creating Gamblin Reclaimed Earth Colors: Rust Red, Iron Violet, and Brown Ochre.

Gamblin is also giving 20% of set sales back to the cause and encouraging their retail partners to donate a portion of their proceeds as well. Purchasing this set not only benefits the project financially, but it literally and directly creates a demand for the pigment and a demand for clean rivers.

Sustainable packaging

Gamblin is committed to reducing the use of plastic and unnecessary packaging wherever they can. They designed this set without plastic shrink-wrap. The sleeve and insert are recyclable, and the structure of the packaging has a function; it’s a primed panel made in Oregon by their friends at American Easel. It’s the ideal painting surface made with U.S.-grown poplar sides and a Baltic birch face.