Sue Reno Studio: Experiments in wet cyanotype

August 2, 2024

Experiments in wet cyanotype - part 92

Welcome to installment 92 of experiments in wet cyanotype. Today's excitement comes from my discovery of a patch of tall blue lettuce, Lactuca biennis. It's a native wild plant here in Pennsylvania, and as the name suggests, it's a biennial. In its second year it sends up a 6-10 foot tall flower stalk, with leaves descending in size as they rise, topped of with a set of small blue flowers. It has a history of being used medicinally, and is just plain cool to observe. I started with a print on a long panel of cotton sateen, using the standard cyanotype chemicals with just a touch of Solarfast solar dye.

I made two smaller panels on some cotton I had with small woven dots in it. I will miss this fabric when it is used up.

Here are all the panels after exposure but before rinsing. They are always so dramatic at this stage.

Here are the finished panels.

I had good weather for printing, hot and sunny, and was able to capture a lot of the details in the toothed edges.

So pretty! I am pleased.

I've used these leaves once before, way back in 2005, for the eponymously named Tall Blue Lettuce. It was very popular back in the day. I'm grateful for the opportunity to revisit this imagery. I'm also grateful for the advanced in digital photography since then!