Experiments in wet cyanotpe - part 97

 

Welcome to part 97 of my documented experiments in wet cyanotype printing. I started this project in June of 2017, and it has continued to hold my interest over the intervening years.

I began this batch with a large branch of red mulberry leaves on a cotton sateen panel. The mix was mostly cyanotype chemicals with just a splash of Jacquard solarfast solar dyes. 

I then prepped 3 smaller panels with the same setup. 

I still had some leaves to play with, so I did some panels on mineral paper.

These were all set out in strong sunlight and left to develop for several hours.

Here are all the panels after exposure, but before rinsing. Those greenish colors in the centers of the leaves are undeveloped chemicals that generally rinse out or become bluish. The pinkish tones are from the Solarfast, and they may or may not rinse out, depending.

Here are the finished prints. I am quite pleased with them.

The mineral paper prints are especially swirly and I love them.

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Celebrating American Craft 2025 Acceptance

Greenhouse Effect

I am delighted to share that Greenhouse Effect has been juried into Celebrating American Craft 2025 at the Sarratt Gallery at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN. This juried exhibition features the work of 34 craft based artists from across the USA. With clay, fiber, metal, wood or glass these works demonstrate the skills, voice and heart of contemporary craft art. The exhibit opens September 8th and runs until October 31st.

Greenhouse Effect, detail.

My statement for this work: Alarmed by global climate change and frequent dramatic weather events, I’ve been working on a series of weather-related quilts. The greenhouse effect is a process that occurs when gases in the Earth's atmosphere trap the Sun's heat. This makes the Earth much warmer and contributes to extreme weather, wildfires, droughts, and agricultural disruptions. For this quilt I made prints of leaves from species native to my micro-environment in Pennsylvania, as many are showing stress related to these changes.

Materials: Artist painted and commercial cotton, silk, wool fabrics

Techniques: Wet process cyanotype and solar dye prints, monoprints, patchwork, stitching

Size: 62"h x 48"w

I am always particularly pleased when my work is included in a fine craft venue; to me it represents the best of contemporary art.

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Experiments in film soup - part 4

This first set of striking images were taken in a somewhat mundane place, the Waterfront shopping center in Homestead, PA, just outside of Pittsburgh. One of the reasons I love it here is that the mundane is often side-by-side with the transmundane; there are relics of the industrial age everywhere, hinting at history.

I used my Nikon N6006 camera, which is rapidly becoming one of my favorites, loaded with Kodak Max 400 35mm film. 

I souped the film for about 24 hours in diluted lime juice, then let it dry out for several weeks.

I had them processed by Film Lab 135 , then lightly edited the digital images.

As with my wet cyanotype work, I absolutely love the unpredictability of the process, and the way the resulting images challenge my preconceived notions about what the world looks like.

A pink bridge, with green clouds? I'm mesmerized.

These last three images were taken while hiking along the Northwest Lancaster County River Trail, an old familiar haunt of mine, along the Susquehanna River near Marietta, PA. 

There was a light glaze of ice along some of the shadier sections.

And I never tire of this view, looking towards the bridges in Columbia.

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Experiments in wet cyanotype - part 96

Wet cyanotype fun time, shrubbery edition! In my ongoing project to fill my yard with interesting plants instead of boring grass, I planted some new shrubs this summer. They needed some light pruning when planted, so I used the leaves for printmaking. First up is the bottlebrush buckeye,  Aesculus parviflora, a native with palmate leaves and a vigorous growth habit. I look forward to it flowering next summer.

Next is a smokebush, Cotinus coggygria, with maroon leaves. It's not a native, but I've made an exception because I've always wanted one, and it's said to be especially good for printmaking and ecoprintmaking. 

Next I did a print of my leatherleaf viburnum, Viburnum rhytidophyllum, which is extremely well established here, and needs to be whacked back on occasion. It's one of the few things I have that the deer will leave absolutely alone, and I appreciate that deeply. These prints are on cotton sateen, using cyanotype chemicals with a splash of Solarfast. 

To round out this session, I did three prints of the smokebush on mineral paper.

Here are the prints after exposure but before rinsing out. Everything looks very promising at this point.

And here are the finished prints. I'm very happy with them all. I'm particularly pleased with the smokebush on mineral paper results.

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Experiments in film soup - part 3

I make these film soup images as a sort of special treat to myself. It's a mildly complicated process; taking pictures with an eye as to what might translate well to the format, "souping" the film in a solution for a period of time, drying the film, sending it out for processing, then slightly editing the results. (I have mine processed by film lab 135.) Part of it also accepting that a certain percentage of them will be duds. But when I get a set like this, where everything worked, it is entirely worth it. These fill me with joy, as I love a good alternative version of reality.

My camera here was a vintage Nikon N6006, which is rapidly becoming my favorite. I enjoy the interface, it's easy to use, and I like the vibe of the pictures it takes. Film was Kodak Max 400, which is easily available. I souped the film with lime juice.

 

This next set of pictures was taken near the Northwest Lancaster County River Trail.

I've taken a bunch of photos of these structures in the past, but souping takes them to another level.

This is Chickies, or Chiques, rock, located along the trail, and again I've got a zillion pictures of it, both the ground view and from the top, but these give me a sweet new perspective.

Hope you enjoyed these! 

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