Experiments in wet cyanotype - part 69

 

Time for another big panel, about 24" x 48", on my favorite cotton sateen. The big leaves are the dreaded Japanese knotweed and the smaller compound leaves are native Virginia creeper, so it's a study in contrast on multiple levels. I used a combination of cyanotype chemicals with just a small glug of Solarfast solar dye. The first image is just before exposure. The next one is after it sat in the hot sun all afternoon, but pre-rinse.

Here's the result. For as long as I've been doing this, you'd think I would not be surprised by the outcome, but this one behaved in new-to-me ways as the chemicals and colors moved around. I have a long, long queue of prints waiting for my attention, to be made into art quilts, but this one may jump  the line a bit as I am entranced by it.

 

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Experiments in wet cyanotype - part 68

 

I'm continuing to have a great time experimenting with mineral paper. It behaves very differently than fabric when printing with the wet cyanotype process, so it keeps me on my toes.

For this batch I was working with the usual cyanotype chemicals, with an added glug of solarfast solar dye chemicals.

The plants used are bleeding heart leaves and wood poppy leaves.

I used a long exposure, about 20 hours, starting on a hot and sultry day, then catching the morning sun as well.

This first set of pictures is of the prints just before exposure. You can see how the chemicals want to slither around on the slick surface of the paper. 

A long exposure gives the chemicals time to get a grip and bond on the paper, although as with all things wet cyan success is not always a given.

Here are the prints after exposure but before rinsing. There is a lot going on here!

Some of this loveliness will stay, but a certain amount of it will rinse away. I like to take pictures so I have images of this funky intermediate stage.

Here are the finished prints. 

It's an especially intricate and delicate batch.

Both of these plants are early spring bloomers, with leaves that tend to fade away in the punishing heat of mid-summer. I feel like I really captured their essence with these prints.

That little bit of pink is from the Solarfast, or at least I think it is. The rusty colors can happen with wet cyan alone.

There's several where the liquid rushed off to one part of the paper and established a sort of dam, with a defined line. I have no control over that part of it.

This last one strikes me as particularly ethereal.

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Experiments in wet cyanotype - part 67

I had so much fun with my first foray into using vintage textiles as a background for wet cyanotype/solarfast printmaking that I gave it another go. This time I used a cheerful red and green embroidered table runner, on a thinner and more firmly woven cotton. 

I used a combination of bleeding heart and wood poppy leaves.

Here are the two prints after exposure, but before rinse out.

 And below are the finished prints. I think they are lovely! Still just a bit too much blue on the embroidery, but the rest of the effects are so wonderful I didn't want to take a chance with messing with it further.

And this is the beauty of open-ended experimentation. You get better at your process, and you can surprise yourself. 

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Mole and Fern accepted for SAQA Fur, Fangs, Feathers and Fins

Mole and Fern

I am thrilled and honored to announce that my latest work, Mole and Fern, was one of 42 pieces selected for the SAQA Global Exhibition Fur, Fangs, Feathers & Fins by juror Emily Jan. The exhibit is scheduled to debut at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, in Tucson, Arizona in April 2022, with further venues to be announced as the work travels for 3 years.

Mole and Fern, detail 1

This is, incredibly, the fifth time my work has been selected for a SAQA Global Exhibit, and I am extremely grateful to the organization for the opportunity to share my work with a global audience. 

Mole and Fern, detail 2

Statement:

I am interested in the small mammals that make their homes in my suburban habitat. I enjoy observing them going about their daily routines. I am saddened but also intrigued by their eventual demise and their skeletal remains. For years I’ve worked on an ongoing series of quilts made with imagery from the skeletons. For Mole and Fern, I began by taking macro photographs of an eastern mole skull, Scalopus aquaticus, which I printed on transparencies and used to make cyanotype prints. I also made wet process cyanotype prints and a monoprint of the ferns that grow in the area where I observed mole activity. I made hand-stitched hexagon panels to loosely represent their underground tunneling activity. I combined all these elements with patchwork, layered the quilt, and heavily stitched it to add texture and dimension.

Techniques:

Original macro photography images used for cyanotypes, wet process cyanotypes and heliographic monoprint made with fresh botanicals, hand stitched hexagon panels, patchwork, stitching.

 Materials:

Cyanotype panels, heliographic print panel; hand-painted and commercial cotton, silk, linen and wool fabric.

Size: 

57" high x 40" wide

Mole and Fern, detail 3

 This is the tenth quilt in my ongoing series, Flora and Fauna, which features cyanotype prints of animal skulls. Despite the subject matter, or perhaps because of my take on it, they always end up rather cheerfully presented. None the less they are among the trickiest of my works to find good venues for, so again, I am very appreciative that the juror chose Mole and Fern. 

Experiments in wet cyanotype - part 66

 

I've collected vintage textiles, in a casual way, for a long time. I like table runners, tablecloths, and what used to be called dresser scarves. These were almost always done from kits or pattens, and used to be a mainstay of middle class decor, stitched by homemakers. They are abundantly available in flea markets, or sometimes people gift them to me, knowing I will respect them and try to give them new life.

This particular table runner had been languishing in a bin for many years. I liked the design and stitching, but couldn't warm up to the color scheme. So I used it to further my experiments with wet cyanotype and solarfast printing.

 I cut the runner in half, to give me two canvases, applied the chemicals, and added ferns as resists

Here is one of them, under glass, and just starting to expose. I am getting excited at this point!

Here are the two prints after exposure but before rinse out.

And here they are after rinse out.

I am mildly disappointed at this juncture. The Prussian blue from the cyanotype is too heavily concentrated in some areas, and the embroidery has been overwhelmed. There's a few things potentially going on here. The fabric is unknown, but probably linen. It is thick and fairly coarsely woven (to make the embroidery easier). It soaked up a LOT of chemicals. Also, I'm certain this was starched heavily at various times, and while I washed it, some starch probably remains and affects the uptake and response to exposure.

So, what to do? This is the fun of experimentation, because you can always keep trying. I used a washing soda solution to selectively bleach out some of the areas, followed by more rinsing, and I'm happy with the results. Here's the finished prints.

Some of the fern edges are a bit indistinct, again due to the thick fabric and the embroidery could use a bit more highlighting, but both those issues can easily be fixed by stitching and/or painting. All in all, a good first try of using my process on vintage linens. 

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Experiments in wet cyanotype -part 65

 Back to printmaking with the bounty of my backyard! In this case, the bounty includes way too much invasive Japanese knotweed. I'll never make an actual dent in it with the slashing and collecting I do for making prints, but it's at least a satisfying nod to the lemonades-from-lemons trope. And it does work very well for wet cyanotype printing, with good sized leaves that cooperate and lay flat. Here I've combined it with some box elder leaves, a so-called trash tree (little commercial value) that I also have in abundance.

Above is the panel, about 2" x 4", on cotton sateen, after printing but before rinsing and finishing. And below is the finished panel. It's got lots of vibrant color, which makes me happy.

I got some great detail in this panel. The cyanotype part rinses out when the resist is a solid hearty leaf, but sometimes I can get more detail, including brushstrokes, from the solarfast chemicals.

I also love the bubbles and voids and bright spots I've been working on dialing in with the combo process.

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Out of the Woods for the SAQA Benefit Auction

Out of the Woods

 I have been a lucky participant in four SAQA Global Exhibitions, including Light the World which will open in France this autumn. So I am very happy to once again contribute a 12" x 12" quilt for the SAQA Benefit Auction, the proceeds of which help to fund the exhibitions. The auction begins on September 10th, and I will be sure to post updates and reminders. I very seldom make work in this size, so this is a great opportunity to begin or add to a collection.

This began with a red mulberry leaf, a nice substantial leaf, that I collected in the fall of 2020 and pressed. This spring, on the equinox, I used to make one of my experimental wet cyanotype/solarfast prints on cotton. You can read about that process here. I then layered the print and stitched it heavily where the leaf veins would be, and added pebble stitching all around it. On the corners I added some of the hexagons I have been obsessively hand stitching in preparation for my JWST artwork. The final touch was to paint some transparent iridescence on the leaf.

As to the title, here's my statement: It’s been a long, strange path through the wilderness of the unknown, but now we can see our way clear again. The question remains: are we out of the woods? What will our new normal look like? I choose to be optimistic.