Beam Paints - Sugar Maple Palettes: 10 Pan Smooth Branch

Sugar Maple Palettes carefully gathered from Beam's family’s sugar bush, the place where they make maple syrup. These small pieces of wood come from the magical Inaatig in our Ojibwe language or Acer saccharum in Latin, finally Sugar Maple in English. Every spring we tap hundreds of these trees when the nights are freezing but the day is above zero and the sun is shining. It’s a time of getting together, hard work, and family. It doesn’t hurt the tree and this same acreage we live on has been caretaken by our families since and before the treaties of our area were signed. It takes 40 litres of sap to make one litre of maple syrup! 
Part of caring for the trees is carefully removing some dry branches, these palettes are made from those offcuts. I have always loved the strength and feeling of them, like a living stone. 

made 7/8 inch to fit our standard Paintstone. Shape and colour will vary.

Drawing from Indigenous knowledge on pigments and paint traditions, Beam Paints is centered on the M’Chigeeng First Nation reserve and is Anishinaabe Kwe owned. They employ local paintmakers and woodworkers in surrounding communities including M’Chigeeng, Sagamok and Wikwemikong to create paints, art kits, and studio supplies.