Plant prints on paper

As it is 1st January 2013, and I am having a ‘holiday’ today, thought I would start the year with a post. These are some of my recent experiments on printing plant images and colours on paper (360 gsm watercolour paper).

I used diluted vinegar and a few pieces of rusty iron and layered plants and paper, weighted it all down with some of my rock collection and w a i t e d. I made sure the paper was damp – well quite wet really!

Here are the before and after images.  The before being before I took the leaves and flowers off the paper. The first two images show part of a dock leaf and pittosporum flowers and leaves. Not much transfer of plant colour.

The next two images are of lemon balm leaves, aquilegia flowers and another unidentified leaf (plant has a beautiful blue flower ‘cone’  see below).  The plant material was pressed between a folded piece of paper.  Some of the plant colour from the aquilegia has transferred to the paper (see the left hand impression).  These are, to me, ghosting images, formed by the plant material resisting the water which has been coloured by the rust and the dust off the stones weighing the paper down.  They are delicate images and I was really pleased with them as some of my first attempts.  I now have India Flint’s book, Eco Colour, so now that the Christmas season is over I will be able to concentrate on eco printing – well, in between all the other household duties…  And, my freezer has found a new raison d’être!

I wish everyone a bountiful and successful 2013.

Now follows an image of the blue flowered bush – if anyone knows what it is, please let me know!  I used one of the pointed leaves.