Experiments in wet cyanotype - part 82

This is the last of my 2022 catch up posts for botanical printmaking. It's a single panel I fit in on a sunny day in autumn, with the last of the Joe Pye weed blossoms. 

It's on a cotton sateen panel, roughly 2 ft. x 4 ft. I used a mix of cyanotype and solarfast chemicals. 

 I love the nuanced way the color fades around the edges. It will make a magnificent centerpiece for an art quilt and has joined the queue awaiting my time and attention.

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Experiments in wet cyanotype - part 81

 

They are all special, but this one has some extra panache. Take a look with me as I continue to wrap up my year in botanical printmaking.

It's been a long standing unfulfilled desire of mine to grow a fig tree outdoors; various practical factors have prevented it. So when I spotted a beautiful specimen in a friend's garden, asked to harvest a few leaves for printmaking, and she graciously agreed, it was a red letter day for me.

I brought the leaves home, lightly pressed them, and prepared my most chaotic set up to date for wet printing with cyanotype and solarfast chemicals on cotton sateen. Above are the prints before exposure, below shows them after exposure and before rinsing.

I didn't take detailed notes on how I laid them out, I was in a bit of a frenzy, so even more so then most this is one-of-a-kind.

I absolutely love the fine leaf veining detail that's showing up here. This is due to how I applied the chemicals, the weather conditions, and the various saps and physical conditions of the leaves themselves.

Here are the finished prints. The large panel is roughly 2 ft. x 4 ft. I am going to have spend some time with it, deciding how to use it in a quilt. I am over the moon with the detail and complexity of it.

The smaller individual prints retained that fine structure even after rinsing out. 

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Experiments in wet cyanotype - part 80

 

 

More autumn printmaking goodness as I work on wrapping up the year in printmaking.

This batches features that large and luscious native wildflower, Joe Pye weed, Eutrochium fistulosum. I was never able to grow it to its full potential before moving to this property 3 years ago and finally situating it to its liking. 

It gets very tall, and the flower heads in late summer attract all sorts of large and small pollinators and assorted insects.

I set up some prints using Solarfast solar dye products on cotton sateen. 

Then I made a few straight cyanotype prints. I often work with wet fabric, where I have just applied the chemicals, but for these I used previously treated and dried panels, and misted them after adding the leaves. It's a fine distinction but it does make a difference in the way the print develops.

Here all are the panels after exposure but before rinsing.

That yellow color, because it was an area of the panel that was masked by the leaves, will mostly rinse out.

The same goes for that greenish color on the straight cyanotype panels. The orange markings were made by sprinkling the panel with grains of washing soda, sodium carbonate, before exposure. It changes the pH and thus the reaction of the chemicals.

And here are the results! This panel is about 2ft. x 4ft., and is just perfect for showing off the majesty of the stalk of Joe Pye weed. 

These panels of individual leaves show off the minor insect damage they have accumulated by autumn.

The patterning on these reminds me of fireworks, or stars in the night sky. 

I'm writing this in the midst of a polar vortex, with the temperature at 1F, and a wind chill of minus 20F something. It's a good day to remind myself that the garden will grow lush again in a while.

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Experiments in wet cyanotype - part 79

I'm doing a year end catch-up of printmaking sessions that haven't made it onto the blog previously. 

These prints were done on mineral paper in September, on a hot, sunny day. The first two are black locust leaves from wild trees, the kind with the wicked thorns.

The next two are calla lily leaves, a perennial favorite of mine.

This next one is a large, roughly 2 ft. x 4 ft., print on cotton sateen, using both cyanotype chemicals and Solarfast colors, with box elder and dock leaves. I would like to point out that this is image number 1000 of the images I have shared over the years in this series of posts about my experiments in wet cyanotype printing. It's been a true labor of love to document and post these! As a group they have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times, and from time to time someone writes to acknowledge their usefulness. I have been active online for a long time, and part of me still clings to the ethos that this is a vehicle for disseminating  knowledge freely, to add joy and value to other people's lives.

Here are the prints after exposure and before rinsing. 

Mineral paper is a tricky beast to work with as it's not really porous. Cooking the print under glass serves to adhere the chemicals, but some of what is seen in this stage will rinse off. 
 

The large cotton print is looking very promising at this stage.

Here are the finished prints.

I am very happy with all of these, there's good contrast, definitive outlines, and good color variations.

I am especially pleased with how this one turned out. Again, good definition, good contrast, and such a lovely turquoise/teal color palette! I already have plans for an art quilt based around this print.

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