Liza Samuel recently demonstrated her process for making oil-based paint, as a large group of students crowded around to watch. Her formulas have become the go-to paints for many fellow students -- and teachers -- at PAFA.

Samuel, an undergraduate painting major, said she started making paints because she couldn’t find the quality, color and consistency that she was looking for in commercially-made paints. So she started making her own.

“Anyone can do what I’m doing, but it’s very time consuming and there’s a lot of trial and error involved,” she told fellow students as she mixed a pile of vividly pigmented powder with oil using a palette knife.

She has a list of more than a dozen available colors for sale, and she also can mix custom colors in any consistency. Orders can be placed by contacting Samuel through her Instagram account (@klaudepaints) -- she hopes to set up a website at some point -- but she’s already known in school by word-of-mouth.

“Mostly, it’s people who just come up to me and say, ‘Hey, here’s what I need.’”

Written by JoAnn Loviglio

May 2015

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