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

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.