Description
A full day celebrating plants and light by exploring different techniques to make a botanical cyanotype print on fabric. You will have ½ metre of cotton fabric to experiment with: try making a wall hanging or make smaller pieces of fabric to incorporate into other craft projects. Cyanotype is a camera-less alternative photography technique that relies on the sun’s UV rays to develop an image, depicting plants or negatives against their signature Prussian blue background. The cyanotype process was created in the 1840s by Sir John Herschel (who used them to create blueprints), making them one of the earliest forms of photography. Perhaps the most well-known maker of cyanotypes, botanist Anna Atkins, later started using cyanotypes as an alternative to illustration to enhance accurate depictions of plants. Cyanotype is considered as a sustainable printing method: the photosensitive iron salt solution has a low toxicity and the prints can be rinsed with water alone. Plan for the day: Morning: Preparing some of your fabric for exposure: coating it with the photosensitive metal salt solution before leaving it to dry in a dark place. The other half of your fabric will be pre-coated to be used straight away. A gentle walk around the nature reserve to select suitable plant materials to use in your botanical prints. Pressed flowers and leaves will also be available to use and you will learn techniques to optimise flower pressing. Creating your first round of prints. Making compositions with delicate botanicals and experimenting with things such as double exposure and adding vinegar, soapy water, salt and natural dye powders to your print before pressing down with glass and leaving outside to develop. Midsummer is optimum time to make sun prints, but developing time will vary depending on the sun’s strength on the day. If sunny, developing a print could take only 20 minutes versus a few hours for overcast weather. Lunch. Afternoon: Rinse first round of prints in water with vinegar and leave to dry. Use your fabric as you wish! Create more experimental prints and try some slow stitching (onto fabric or leaves) while you wait to also incorporate into craft projects. Make a wall hanging with some of your fabric using twigs as dowels and adding experimental stitches. Your tutor: Maeve Moran is a textile artist and craft workshop facilitator based in Aberystwyth. Her artwork focuses on using natural dyes, fibres and imagery to celebrate the landscape’s invaluable imprint upon our lives. Her workshops have a focus on sustainably exploring crafts through mindful experimentation.
What's included in the price?
Tea, coffee and biscuits. All materials will be provided for a cost of £12 per person.
Duration
6 hours
Cancellation policy
Medium - Cancellation and a full refund can be obtained up to 4 weeks before the course starts
Maker
Denmark Farm Conservation Centre is a 40 acre nature reserve managed by the charity The Shared Earth Trust. We host a range of craft, sustainable living, conservation and ecology courses with all profits ploughed back into caring for the nature and wildlife on site.
Suitable for
- Adults
- Seniors
- Teenagers
- Wheelchair users
- Hearing impaired
- Limited mobility
- Parking provided
- Suitable for beginners
