To continue with cyanotype, Sue decided to make some fabric prints last week and try a little experimenting. Nothing outlandish, just some simple additions. Her usual go to for altering backgrounds is to spritz with water and a soda ash solution. This time the solution must have been pretty strong (or the chemical coating for the cyanotype was thin) Because it worked almost like bleach and completely took out the color in places. Or maybe she was too heavy handed with the spray?
Above are the 2 pieces set out in the sun. The places that appear yellow in the photos are where the soda ash solution was sprayed. The brownish spots are sprinkles (or clumps) of turmeric.
These are the 2 pieces after a few hours in the sun, before removing the glass and plant material. The plants, by the way, are a mixture of ferns, nandina leaves, money plant seed pods, and an unopened blossom from the nandina.
Here's what they look like after removing the plant material but before rinsing. It takes several rinses in cool water to rinse out the cyanotype solution. Continue rinsing until water runs clear. Usually, Sue lets them soak overnight.
Above are the two prints after rinsing. You can see in the one on the right how the soda ash solution took out the blue background instead of just giving it some texture. The gold-brown spots are from the turmeric. Overall, both pieces turned out well. Note to self, go easy on the spray next time! And perhaps some more experiments with other substances to come. Looks like we're in for some sunny, hot weather this week.
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