Experimental Cyanotypes

 

Following on from last weeks blue post, more blue!  This time cyanotypes rather than indigo.

Most people will recognise cyanotypes as a dry process where the light reactive solution is painted on the paper and left to dry before objects are placed on top in the sunshine to leave marks and then the paper is rinsed leaving a (hopefully) pretty blue and white print.

Starting the reaction

So this summer I have been having a bit of a play with this.  But I also signed up for Natalie Day's online Experimental Cyanotypes course which showed me how to play with cyanotype wet.

In this instance you apply the solution to the paper and add things like salt, lemon juice or vingar straight away and stick it outside to see what happens.

After a couple of hours

 

In this case the paper doesn't get rinsed as this would remove the salt etc and stop the reactions.  So you have to keep an eye on it as it changes.  If there are any bits you like it's best to take a photo there and then as it will keep changing.  It was quite remarkable seeing it change.  Even days later the colours were still changing.

After a couple of days

 

Once again (like the eco printing and indigo dyeing) this is a process where you really have no idea what might happen.  You just have to put it out there and be open to what happens.  I loved watching it as it changed and the colours that came through were brilliant, but with all these processes I think I will struggle a little to decide what to do with them as, hard as I try I do tend to be quite outcomes led.  I will need to leave myself time to play, rather than worry about what comes out I think.

If you're interested it's a great little course, giving you all the information you need to have a go and some ideas of what you might do with it too.  I'm glad I signed up.

Natural Dyeing with Indigo

 

What better way to end the summer than to learn how to use indigo for dyeing!

It was a damp grey day at the end of August, but it wasn't raining yet when I arrived at Farnham Museum and their lovely garden room, to learn more about natural dyeing with indigo.

The workshop was run by Ginny Farquhar and Sam Jones and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Woad

 

We started by learning a bit of the history of indigo and the fact that there are quite a few plants around the world that produce blue dye.  Then we went outside into the museum garden to meet the plants we'd be working with - namely Woad and Japanese Indigo.

Two types of Japanese Indigo

 

Here we picked some of the leaves of both and Ginny and Sam showed us how to get colour from the plants straight away without a vat.  While not as intense as the colours we'd be using later, they were still a very beautiful blue.

 

They then showed us how to set up a vat for dyeing.  Vats require 3 things.  A source of indigo, something to create an alkaline environment and something to remove the oxygen from the mix.  The last thing you need is patience.  You need time to leave the vat to settle.  Then when you start dyeing you need time for your fabric to oxidise between dipping - more dips gives you a deeper colour.  This is not a fast process, but it is very satisfying.

 

After lunch we learnt how to do shibori to make patterns on our fabric before starting to dye them.  Using a selection of glass beads, threads, rubber bands and clips we were able to create different patterns as the indigo only sits on top of the fabric, rather than being absorbed into it.

 

This was great fun and with a bit more experience you'd be able to have a fair idea of the outcome I think.

We each had three cotton squares to work with, which each needed two dips into the vat, with time to oxidise between.

 

While we did this Ginny was dipping sample squares to show the build up of colour and how intense it gets.  By the end of the day we all had a sample sheet showing all the different colours we'd achieved. 

 

We also had the option to dip some of our own material if we'd bought any along.  My neighbour June had been having a sort out earlier in the year and gave me some silk, which I'd bought along.  So one piece went into the indigo vat scrunched up to create a cloud pattern which I adore and the other two went into the woad vat to see what would happen.  They came out a really beautiful pale blue, although I do wish I'd been able to use the vat earlier when it was making a more purple colour.

 

But that's the point of natural dyeing.  You never know what you might end up with.  You can do everything the very same, but if you do things at differnt times in the season, the plants will act in a different way.  The fact we had a very dry summer probably has something to do with the colours we got too.

 

I very much enjoyed this workshop.  Ginny and Sam were so generous with their knowledge.  I really want to know more about natural dyeing in general and following on from the Eco Print course I'm thinking about where in the garden I can include more dyeing plants. 

 

Eco Print on Paper

 

 This week I visited Sussex Prairies Wild to learn about Eco Printing with Amanda Duke.

I first met Amanda around Easter time when she came and gave a very interesting talk to the Arts and Crafts Society that I'm part of.  She talked about being an artist in residence at Sussex Prairies Wild (formally Gardens) so when I got home I had a look at their website and found she was teaching too and had to sign up!

So what is eco printing?  You could call it botanical contact printing if you wanted to be more descriptive.  Basically you take some leaves and flowers from your garden and using various concoctions use their goodness to print on the paper.  There's some heat involved too.

 

Amanda starting by explaining what we'd be doing and using and showed us examples of her work before giving us a demo.

We started by using iron water to help our plants release their colours.  After a good soak we arranged our leaves and flowers on our papers, folded everything up and clipped it all in place before they all went into the steamer.

 

While they cooked, she showed us how to use an iron and a copper paste to bring our more colours.  These pastes are brushed direcly onto the plant material then 'stuck' to the paper, which again is foldered, clipped and steamed.  We also added onion skin and chopped up wire wool.

 

Lastly we used the paste again, but this time rolled rather than folded our paper and tied it up with string.  Again it went into steam.

Taking each parcel apart you didn't know what you'd get, and of course the colours changed as the papers dried.

 

My first papers were quite pale.  My second and third had much more contrast and I loved the blues and greens that the copper bought out. 

I used leaves and flowers from: oak, liquid amber, hawthorn, field maple, ornamental maple, rosemary, golden rod, braken, smoke bush, current, eucalyptus, hazel, hop, cercis, coreopsis, and herbiscus buds. 

At lunch we had time to walk round the garden and visit the indian bazar which was filled with all sorts of treasure.  Although getting towards the end of the season I found the gardens very inspiring and left with many ideas for my own garden. 

The whole day was inspiring and interesting and I very much enjoyed playing with the different materials and plants.  Not only did Amanda share so much information on the day, she also sent us detailed notes after.  I really hope I can find the time to do more of this.  I keep thinking of other plants I'd like to try.

Finished Pottery Photos

 So after 14 weeks of pottery, what do I have to show for it?

Term 1: 

 4 mugs.  These were the first things I made.  None of them were the same so I decided to play with the handles rather than try and make them the same.

5 bowls.  Again none were the same.  This time I played with the colours and decoration.

 4 plates.

  

4 vases. Two big and two small.

 

 Term 2:

4 plates, but they will get their own post. 

2 lidded pots. Very pleased with how they came out.  The lids fit!

4 vases. All small.

 

And lastly a pot for firing beads covered in glaze, plus beads.