HANNIBAL — What began with an idea to make sketchbooks for watercolor painters led Quincy, Ill. artist Peggy Burchard-Ballard to the intersection of art and chemistry, making watercolor paints by hand.

The process involves several time consuming steps. First a binder for the paint is mixed using Gum Arabic, honey, glycerin, clove oil and ox gall. This binder is then mixed with ground powder pigments on a glass plate with a “muller” (glass mallet). The mixing process varies from pigment to pigment, taking anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours.