Cass Art and OCEANIUM Launch OCEAN INK
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Cass Art and OCEANIUM today announce the launch of OCEAN INK, a pioneering seaweed-based ink available across Cass Art stores and cassart.co.uk online.
The launch brings together Cass Art’s long-standing heritage as a champion of artists and creative practice with OCEANIUM’s material innovation, introducing an art material designed to support more conscious, responsible approaches to making.
OCEANIUM was founded in Oban on the west coast of Scotland by Karen Scofield Seal and Dr. Charlie Bavington with the aim of building a sustainable seaweed value chain and catalysing the industry in the Western Hemisphere. Seaweed is one of the fastest growing organisms on earth and naturally absorbs carbon and excess nutrients as it grows. A recent study estimates that wild ocean seaweed covers 2.32 to 2.78 million square miles globally – roughly the size of Australia.
Using a proprietary water-based extraction process, OCEANIUM carefully refines specific components of the seaweed to create ingredients and materials. With seaweed currently sourced from the cold clean waters of the North Atlantic, the method does not include harsh solvents and is designed to maximise value from every part of the crop, reflecting the company’s wider mission to build commercially viable materials that work in harmony with ocean ecosystems.
OCEAN INK is fully biodegradable, non-toxic and microplastic-free seaweed-based ink. Designed for drawing, painting, screen printing and experimental mark-making, it offers artists an alternative to conventional inks that can contain persistent synthetic chemicals and microplastics, which may enter waterways during use and clean-up.
OCEAN INK was featured in Art for Your Oceans, a charitable fundraising exhibition for WWF, led by Artwise Curators and held at Sotheby’s in 2025. The exhibition brought together 16 internationally recognised contemporary artists including Anya Gallaccio, Caragh Thuring, Laura Ford and Emma Stibbon who created original works using OCEAN INK, demonstrating how material innovation can play a meaningful role in addressing environmental challenges within the art world.
“Cass Art has always existed to support artists, not just through access to materials, but through leadership and responsibility in how those materials are sourced and used,” said Mark Cass, Founder and CEO of Cass Art. “OCEAN INK represents a meeting of heritage and innovation, combining our history of championing creative practice with a growing commitment to sustainability. As artists increasingly question the impact of their materials, we believe it is our role to help surface credible, well-considered alternatives.”
Sustainability and responsible material choice are an increasingly important focus for Cass Art, informing how products are selected, presented and supported in-store. The introduction of OCEAN INK reflects a broader commitment to transparency, education and the promotion of materials that reduce harm to people, waterways and the wider environment, without compromising the creative experience.
“OCEAN INK is the result of our mission to maximise the value of seaweed and replace resource intensive and/or harmful products,” said Karen Scofield Seal, CEO and Co-Founder of OCEANIUM. “By working with sustainably sourced seaweed and water-based chemistry, we’ve developed a material that performs beautifully while aligning more closely with the environmental values shaping contemporary creative practice. Partnering with Cass Art allows that innovation to reach artists through a retailer with real cultural credibility.”
The launch of OCEAN INK forms a key pillar of Cass Art’s ongoing sustainability programme, and will be supported throughout the spring and summer by in-store activations, artist demonstrations and editorial content exploring material choice including a spotlight around World Water Day on 22 March.
