'Avani', a ngo based in the midst of Uttarakhand surrounded by hills is centre for organic farming, solar energy and natural dyes. They grow various plants and herbs which are very beneficial to mankind in several ways. Namely indigo, sapindus, flame of the forest, marigold, walnut, pomegranate, eupatorium, rubia cordifolia etc. are grown which are used for making extracts for natural dyeing of textiles. Apart from using the extracts for dyeing it is also used to make Crayons.
These crayons are hand crafted and 100% natural. Being comprised from natural components they leave a texture on the paper upon being used. During my stay there i had the chance of crafting one crayon of the their box. The grey black tint which created using charcoal dust as the main raw material.
The recipe of the crayon comprises of various ingredients such as bees wax, mustard oil, palmitic acid and steric acid.These ingredients are patent for each crayon, the coloring pigment keeps on changing in this case being the charcoal dust to provide the tint of grey black.
All the components are mixed in a pan and heated at a certain temperature in order to attain the correct viscosity for the mixture to be poured into the crayola mold. The mold is two sided enabling it to create 50 crayons in one batch.
Crayola Mold
After attaining the correct thickness the step is pouring it into the mold. One must be really careful at this step for the mixture must seep into each pore of the mold and also the mold must be filled to brim leaving a little extra on the top.
Henceforth it must be left to dry for a time period of 35-40 mins, allowing the whole mold to become cool.
Henceforth it must be left to dry for a time period of 35-40 mins, allowing the whole mold to become cool.
The extra which is left at face of the mold is later scrapped off once the mold has dried up completely.
The bits scrapped can be melted again and used in the next batch.
The bits scrapped can be melted again and used in the next batch.
Eventually while opening the mold one must make sure that each crayon has taken the correct shape and also each crayon should have an even surface. There should be no air bubbles or breakages in the body of the crayon.
The reward on creating a perfect crayon would just be the joy you imagine on little faces when they color their dreams with it.
Using a crayon in the past never made me realise about the effort of the maker but after creating a piece myself its wonderful to be a part of someones colorful world.
Using a crayon in the past never made me realise about the effort of the maker but after creating a piece myself its wonderful to be a part of someones colorful world.
