Cyanotype in the Tropics

In December of 2021, Elizabeth, her husband and her sister went to Hawaii to attend the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.  Their father was aboard the USS Downes on December 7, 1941.

She decided to take along some pretreated cyanotype fabric along with pins, foam core board, and saran wrap.  Thinking it would be fun to get some of the tropical leaves and flowers in cyanotype as she had seen some lovely examples online.

Luckily, they stayed in Waikiki next to a park where she could pick up plenty of items to try.  Unluckily the weather was not very sunny that week, the hotel balcony got a lot of shade, and there was a lot of rain.  Thus, the results were less than satisfactory.  Here are a few pictures of the set up.

Fast forward to August of this year (2023), she had the chance to return but to Kauai this time.  She was sure that the results would be so much better in the summertime.  Boy, was she wrong.  She got Covid on the second day there and so most of her time was relegated to the house and yard, limiting the choices of plant materials and not giving much time for crafting or experimenting.

After both experiences, she has decided that should she return (there is the chance to go back next May), she would need to find some pieces of glass under which to flatten her items to keep them from blowing in the wind.

Have you ever tried to craft while on a vacation?

Altering Cyanotype Prints

This is a repost from October 2021 when we attended a Red Thread Retreat with Lesley Riley to learn more about cyanotype/botanical printing.  

At the Red Thread Retreat, we enjoyed learning ways to alter our cyanotype images by using different chemicals and techniques. Serendipity is also a big part of the process. Even though you change things up from a traditional blue and white cyanotype print, you never know what you will get when you start adding other components to the experiment.  There is a lot you also don't have control over such as the amount of sunshine, the humidity and the angle of the sun.  You can somewhat control other additives to the botanicals placed in your design.

To end up with the image above, a piece of watercolor paper which had been treated with the Jacquard Cyanotype chemicals was used. Once the botanicals were added some turmeric and then Ferrous Sulfate was sprinkled around the edges of the plants.  The very interesting results on the left of the paper was from a leaf that had many holes in it having fallen on a gravel parking lot and been run over by cars.  The piece was also lightly misted with a vinegar and water solution.

For an October day we were fortunate to have warm temperatures hoovering in the high 70s to 81 with lots of sunshine so the paper. with plants and chemicals incased under a piece of glass, sat out in the sunshine of the parking area for at least half a day to "cook".

When the botanical materials were removed, the image looked like this but it still needed rinsing off in cool water to remove all the chemicals.  Before rinsing it looked like this:

The development process can still continue for a day or so, the final image looks like this now.  It might get cut up to put into a new collage and likely that geode looking area on the left will be a highlight of a new piece.

Cyanotype Experiments on Fabric

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.  

Cyanotype Experiments on Coffee Filters

Update 7/17/2023. This is a repost from 2 years ago that gives you some background on cyanotype printing and experiments we did with prints on coffee filters to alter the outcomes. It's a fun way to experiment without a big investment in supplies.  Note that coffee filters are made of a substance that works well in mixed media projects and can be stitched on.  If it can stand up to hot water, it's pretty sturdy stuff!

For several years at Quilt Camps, Sue and Elizabeth have experimented with Cyanotype on fabric.  The availability of ferns and other interesting botanicals in New Hampshire make them fun to do.  Of course, we also have made some at our homes in Virginia and Elizabeth has done some in the hot humid weather in Mississippi. Heat and humidity certainly affect the results as does the directness of the sun on any given day and if the sky is cloudy.  So many variables and it is the serendipity that makes it interesting.

Cyanotype is actually an alternative photography process developed in 1842 by English Astronomer, John Herschel who was interested in ways to copy his manuscripts and notes.  It was Anna Atkins who in 1843 used the process to catalog botanical specimens.  

In preparation for a paper collage workshop in a few weeks, Elizabeth has been experimenting with some cyanotypes while still in New Hampshire where it certainly isn't hot or humid and the sun seems to get weaker every day.  Even so, experimenting is fun and helps to build up a supply of papers from which to choose when the workshop begins.

Round coffee filters are an easy way to experiment.  They are quick to dry after applying the chemicals to the paper and you can treat many of them at once.

Following some instruction from the dharma website about Jacquard products (Jacquard is the company that makes the chemicals needed for cyanotype) she started bleaching and toning some of the exposed samples to see what the results might be.

Only a Soda Ash rinse for this one, you can see how it really bleaches out the cyanotype chemicals.

Here are some rinsed with Borax then with Soda Ash water and a final rinse in plain water,  Here she got a bonus print.  Coffee filters are very thin and she hadn't noticed that two were stuck together until they separated during the final rinse.   The lower filter was the one on the bottom.

This one was rinsed with Borax followed by Soda Ash and then a Hydrogen Peroxide rinse.  The hydrogen peroxide brings out more of the blue as it speeds up the development process.

This piece was rinsed in Soda Ash which bleached it out and then followed by Borax.  The brown streak in the middle is explained below.

These were swished in Borax, then a mix of Hydrogen Peroxide and water, followed by a dip in soda ash and another rinse in Hydrogen Peroxide and water.  Her scientific methods aren't quite as firm as they should be as measuring was loosey goosey, but approximately 1 part Borax to two parts water, 1/4 cup of soda ash to 1 gallon of water, and a glugg of hydrogen peroxide in a cat litter pan full of water.  Surely, on different days with different amounts of chemicals, different temperatures, different types of treated papers, results will vary a lot.

The brown streaks on the prints above came from hanging them over a drying rack.  Previously a tee-shirt which had been soaked in soda ash had been hanging on the rack and the residual soda ash bleached out the streaks in these two pieces.

There are other toners and bleach you can also use.  Let us know if you have done any experiments with cyanotype.

Cyanotype Postcards

Sue has been part of a postcard swap group for over 15 years, maybe 17 or 18? But we have finally decided to end our exchanges; the group has decreased in size over the years down to just 5.  Elizabeth joined us for the tail end.  There was not a particular theme for this round, just whatever each person wants to create. Sue decided to see how cyanotype prints of spring flowers would work.  

She gathered some blossoms from periwinkle, money plant, and azaleas and set up the components to expose them to the sun.  The cotton fabric was previously treated with the cyanotype chemicals.  The base is foam core board topped with the fabric, plant materials, and glass held in place with binder clips.  The arrangements were spritzed with water and vinegar before covering with the glass.  Different additions can vary the results of the print.

Then they were set outside in the sun for several hours.  The picture below show the boards after sun exposure.

 

Then the glass and plant materials are removed.  Sometimes the success of the print is evident, other times it takes extensive rinsing to get to the final print.  Rinsing is always required, but some pieces that Sue treated have more solution on them and take more rinsing.

 

Above is the periwinkle piece before and after rinsing.  You can see what a difference rinsing makes.  After several water changes, the piece soaked overnight to get to the final result. Sue used the periwinkle piece to create her postcards.  The printed fabric was cut into four 4 x 6 inch pieces and fused to the postcard base (a stiff interfacing like TimTex), then the purple stitching was added.  A backing of cardstock was fused to the other side and edges satin stitched.  

 

 

Above are the 4 postcards that were sent.  Sue was happy with the results to celebrate Spring and the final exchange of the group.

Evolution of a Collage

 After creating cyanotype prints and background papers, the final step of the retreat workshop was creating our collage.  Below is a short video of Sue's process, what she started with and where it ended up.  You'll notice that some pieces come and go, others change placement.  Believe it or not, this represents about a day and a half of working/re-working to come up with the final composition!  Of course, that included instruction and demos from Lesley as well as time to enhance/alter some of the pieces used.

Funny story, after deciding on the placement of things, Sue discovered that she was working on a piece of paper that was 2 inches too tall and had to condense everything to fit it in before starting to glue to the foundation!  The video below is the process for gluing everything to the foundation paper.  Then it gets glued to a canvas board, and then finally mounted on a cradle board.  The final mounting for this piece remains on the "to do" list.

Hope you enjoyed our recap of the botanical collage retreat! 

Altering Cyanotype Prints

 At the Red Thread Retreat, we enjoyed learning ways to alter our cyanotype images by using different chemicals and techniques. Serendipity is also a big part of the process. Even though you change things up from a traditional blue and white cyanotype print, you never know what you will get when you start adding other components to the experiment.  There is a lot you also don't have control over such as the amount of sunshine, the humidity and the angle of the sun.  You can somewhat control other additives to the botanicals placed in your design.

To end up with the image above, a piece of watercolor paper which had been treated with the Jacquard Cyanotype chemicals was used. Once the botanicals were added some turmeric and then Ferrous Sulfate was sprinkled around the edges of the plants.  The very interesting results on the left of the paper was from a leaf that had many holes in it having fallen on a gravel parking lot and been run over by cars.  The piece was also lightly misted with a vinegar and water solution.

For an October day we were fortunate to have warm temperatures hoovering in the high 70s to 81 with lots of sunshine so the paper. with plants and chemicals incased under a piece of glass, sat out in the sunshine of the parking area for at least half a day to "cook".

When the botanical materials were removed, the image looked like this but it still needed rinsing off in cool water to remove all the chemicals.  Before rinsing it looked like this:

The development process can still continue for a day or so, the final image looks like this now.  It might get cut up to put into a new collage and likely that geode looking area on the left will be a highlight of a new piece.

Botanical Collage Retreat

Two years ago we signed up for a Red Thread Retreat with Lesley Riley - master of cyanotype printing, modern botanicals, inventor of TAP (Transfer Artist Paper).   We were really excited to learn from her and create a botanical collage.  Then COVID hit, and the May 2020 retreat had to be cancelled.  After several attempts at rescheduling through 2020 and 2021, it was finally scheduled for the end of September.  So last week we spent 4 days immersed in art at the Rhodes Grove Retreat Center in Chambersburg, PA.  

Full disclosure: being fiber artists, we both thought we would be working with fabric in this workshop, and didn't realize till a few weeks before that it would be mostly paper, so what ensued was both of us making some last minute cyanotype prints on paper that we could take with us to the workshop.  Most were done on watercolor paper, some on coffee filters which were ironed flat.

We spent the first 2 days making cyanotype prints and learning to create background papers - "rusted" papers by toning, mineral papers by adding assorted chemicals, and lightening prints in a washing soda solution. Fortunately, the weather cooperated and it was warm and sunny - perfect conditions for cyanotype printing.

These are some of the cyanotypes we both did at the retreat.

Above, Lesley demonstrates how to use the toning solutions which included black tea, an iron solution, and a caustic soda solution.  The papers dipped in these solutions were plain papers, not coated with the cyanotype solution.  Below. are some of Elizabeth's prints "cooking" out in the sun.

Speaking of cooking, the food at the retreat center was delicious!  And abundant!  We ate more than we needed to, but it was all so good!  Kudos to the kitchen staff, they excelled at their job.  All our time was spent in the main building, where we had class in a very large conference room, meals in the basement dining room, and sleeping rooms in the adjacent wing.  It was the perfect set-up.  If your group is ever looking for a location for a retreat, be sure to check out Rhodes Grove.

Stay tuned for more posts sharing our retreat adventures.

Cyanotype experiments on coffee filters

For several years at Quilt Camps, Sue and Elizabeth have experimented with Cyanotype on fabric.  The availability of ferns and other interesting botanicals in New Hampshire make them fun to do.  Of course, we also have made some at our homes in Virginia and Elizabeth has done some in the hot humid weather in Mississippi. Heat and humidity certainly affect the results as does the directness of the sun on any given day and if the sky is cloudy.  So many variables and it is the serendipity that makes it interesting.

Cyanotype is actually an alternative photography process developed in 1842 by English Astronomer, John Herschel who was interested in ways to copy his manuscripts and notes.  It was Anna Atkins who in 1843 used the process to catalog botanical specimens.  

In preparation for a paper collage workshop in a few weeks, Elizabeth has been experimenting with some cyanotypes while still in New Hampshire where it certainly isn't hot or humid and the sun seems to get weaker every day.  Even so, experimenting is fun and helps to build up a supply of papers from which to choose when the workshop begins.

Round coffee filters are an easy way to experiment.  They are quick to dry after applying the chemicals to the paper and you can treat many of them at once.

Following some instruction from the dharma website about Jacquard products (Jacquard is the company that makes the chemicals needed for cyanotype) she started bleaching and toning some of the exposed samples to see what the results might be.

Only a Soda Ash rinse for this one, you can see how it really bleaches out the cyanotype chemicals.

Here are some rinsed with Borax then with Soda Ash water and a final rinse in plain water,  Here she got a bonus print.  Coffee filters are very thin and she hadn't noticed that two were stuck together until they separated during the final rinse.   The lower filter was the one on the bottom.

This one was rinsed with Borax followed by Soda Ash and then a Hydrogen Peroxide rinse.  The hydrogen peroxide brings out more of the blue as it speeds up the development process.

This piece was rinsed in Soda Ash which bleached it out and then followed by Borax.  The brown streak in the middle is explained below.

These were swished in Borax, then a mix of Hydrogen Peroxide and water, followed by a dip in soda ash and another rinse in Hydrogen Peroxide and water.  Her scientific methods aren't quite as firm as they should be as measuring was loosey goosey, but approximately 1 part Borax to two parts water, 1/4 cup of soda ash to 1 gallon of water, and a glugg of hydrogen peroxide in a cat litter pan full of water.  Surely, on different days with different amounts of chemicals, different temperatures, different types of treated papers, results will vary a lot.

The brown streaks on the prints above came from hanging them over a drying rack.  Previously a tee-shirt which had been soaked in soda ash had been hanging on the rack and the residual soda ash bleached out the streaks in these two pieces.

There are other toners and bleach you can also use.  Let us know if you have done any experimentation.

Quilt Camp Day 9

Our last day of quilt camp, it is always sad to see Sue clear off her workspace.  Henri robbed us of two extra days of camp as we both thought it might be too rainy for Sue to drive up during its trip through New England.  We surely didn't do the driving around and taking mini field trips that camp usually includes but decided staying close to the studio was best during the pandemic.  Hopefully, future camps can include some side trips and other types of fun.

We did work on a few new screens for the shop and watch for a new newsletter in the next week.  If you aren't subscribed to our newsletter you can do so here.

This is our new birch bark screen printed with navy acrylic fabric paint.  It makes a very effective textured background.

Another new screen is cat tails as seen here printed on three different background colors.

A third new screen will be what we're calling Becky's Ginkgo, because they were drawn by Elizabeth's sister Becky.  You may have seen these previously on some of the T-shirts Elizabeth dyed.

Sue did another cyanotype experiment, this time coating previously painted postcards, then setting them out to print along with another notecard.

And so another quilt camp comes to a close.  Stay tuned as we make an effort to do a better job keeping up with the blog!