Making Art with Flowers
One of the many things that I do is work with the flowers from the garden; this is one of my best-loved layers in life. In the upcoming weeks I will share with you some of the processes I use to make interesting papers from flower petals and leaves… color and form from all different plant species and what colors can be achieved onto paper. These papers can be used as pages in a new and exciting journal or as collage paper when making an abstract multi-layered painting or even as beautiful and one-of-a-kind writing paper, to name a few of the things that can be done with these one-of-a-kind pieces of paper.
In the Beginning
This time of year, at the end of a garden season, I begin to think about next year’s possibilities. The property we live on is all backfill so creating a container garden has been the answer to my gardening woes. I must have a garden; it is in my blood, my heart, my soul. To sift soil through my fingers into a pot, plant seeds or seedlings, water and nurture them and enjoy their colors and fragrances brings me joy. The mailman is beginning to bring seed catalogs and, oh, what fun it is to look at them and dream of all the delightful promises of the future garden.
We moved to the Pacific Northwest four years ago. The climate is about 180 degrees different from the Northeast US, where I lived most of my life before coming here. We’ve long, cool, wet springs that is not helpful to grow warm loving plants, like tomato or cucumber. I’ve had to rethink the garden and have created a different kind of garden which is another path I will go down with you in the future. Someday, I might build a small greenhouse and see if that will help but the other problem are the clouds that hide the sun until summer arrives. That means I would need to add electricity so I could grow plants under lights. For many years, I have set up a simple seedling station to start seeds. I am a minimalist when it comes to this kind of thing. If you have a 3-foot bar panel grow light, a few books, a seedling tray, a bag of seedling soil and seeds, (and of course access to water and plant food) starting your own plants is easy. I’ll show you.
Over here, when the rain goes away, the aridness of the area begins. The container garden must be watered at least every other day. Paying attention to what is growing around my neighbor’s houses has given me clues about what to grow. Checking out nurseries and greenhouses has been another way to learn what will do well here. I often visit the local botanical gardens and listen to lectures there. I am looking for plants to use in the art studio; not the normal way to look at all the possibilities when choosing what is going to grow in my yard!
What works and What doesn’t
This has been a hit and miss experimentation. I’ve always loved horticulture. However, I’m not an agronomite—is that even a word???? Agronomy is the science and practice of growing large-scale field and food crops. This isn’t my thing. In high school, I excelled at botany; learning plant structure, genetics, physiology, and classification was interesting. Trees aren’t my thing either so arboriculture can be ignored. But plant physiology, examining how plants grow, function, and respond to light, water, and nutrients is my thing.
I grow plants for the blossoms and leaves. Those beautiful, soft and sometimes gushy petals are what is so interesting. I like to eco print and dry flowers and then use them in the art studio. This is what I will be sharing with you. (A word of caution here: always use gloves and a mask when eco printing and wash your hands well when you have finished. If you get a funny taste in your mouth, stop what you’re doing, wash your hands and air out the room your working in. Always have access to fresh air.) I look for pansies and primrose, daisies and roses, and to my surprise, iris and dahlia will work well in some of the eco printing processes I do. But bulbs like tulips and daffodil have this slimy goo inside the petal that makes a mess and does not imprint color on paper. Using ‘the normal’ techniques shown in videos of eco printing tree leaves is fun but time consuming.
Something to Think About
In the Northeast, by October 13, the areas maple tree leaves have turned reds, yellows and oranges. What I find fascinating is that those colors are in the leaves all the time; they are hidden by their natural green pigment, chlorophyll; the stuff plants need to absorb sunlight to fuel photosynthesis. This is how they grow and live. The thing is, in autumn, maple trees stop photosynthesizing, their brilliant other colors show up as they get ready for winter. What I’ve found in my eco printing layer of life, is that most flowers do not have the same color on the inside of the flower petal as the outside. Therefore, whenever I crush a petal, I never know what pigment color will be absorbed by the paper. Then, I also use various mordants to fix the color to the paper and they will change the color imprinted on the paper, too. Eco printing is a mono printing method, never the same print each time. And in this is the fun.
Moving forward
I hope you will join me as this autumn and winter unfold. I’ve thousands of flowers I’ve dried that I will be using in creating art. Once a week, I will show you the results, so you won’t have to guess what flowers work for which process…. at least all the flowers I’ve been able to experiment with. I do have a farmer’s market up the street which sells all kinds of flowers and did ask if I could raid their compost. Yes, I could and I did eco print with them and made a small journal for the owner in thanks.
The biggest problem I have is that I’m always seeing new plants that other people are growing in their yards or at the greenhouse or nursery, and I want to rush up and pick them (and I do mean steal them)….. not the brightest thought, but, hey, I’m human, I must admit. All this year, I’ve resisted those amazing salmon-colored roses up the street in my neighbor’s front yard. I should knock on their door and ask if I can pick one. I’m so curious about what color they will print. My daughter has nightmares of me being arrested and her having to bail me out. But this is what happens to a mixed media artist who has found a small piece of what the plant world has to offer. In the winter months, I will go to the store and buy bouquets, and I will show you flowers which will work. Then, you will have your own eco printed papers to use. Or you can contact me at Bookshelfanatomy@gmail.com and I can show you some of the eco prints you can purchase from my ever-growing stash. I sell them at vendor markets, too. Either way, we can enjoy this layer of my life together.
With a Grateful Heart,
Claudia E. Heyer