Experiments in wet cyanotype - part 51

September was warm and (too) dry here in my corner of Pennsylvania, and I embarked on a short frenzy of wet cyan printmaking. When I can I like to make prints on the solstice and equinox, and this year the autumnal equinox weather was clear and bright.

I set up two large prints, about 2ft. x 4 ft., on cotton sateen. I wanted to emphasize how overgrown yet on the verge of decay the borders of my property were, so I swirled the chemicals around a bit. This is a combination of cyanotype chemicals and Jacquard solarfast, a light-activated dye.

I did one panel with box elder leaves and Japanese knotweed leaves. The knotweed is a terrible invasive, crowding out native plants and blanketing the ground. I've been working on trying to eradicate it from my property; it's likely to be an extended battle. I will say this for it though, for printmaking it's wonderful, with nice sturdy leaves conveniently arranged on opposite sides of the stem. I've also had local honey made from the blossoms, and it was delicious. Small comforts but I will take them.

For the other print I used an old favorite, pokeweed. Horrible in garden beds, as it has a serious tapweed and nine lives, but wonderful in wild-ish places as it provides food for wild creatures. I also think it's very handsome. The berries will stain, but the color is fugitive. Above and below are the panels after a 24 hour exposure, but before rinseout. 

 Here are the finished prints. I am very happy with the energy and enthusiasm they exude, and the late summer look of them. I will probably turn them horizontally to stitch them; I am already full of ideas on how to use them in a quilt. My backlog is very long right now, which is problematic but much better than a creative block.

I will enhance the berries on this one with a lot of stitching and perhaps some beadwork.

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