Artist's Date to a Cyanotype Show

David and I attended the opening of the show "The Light Divides and the Story Multiplies" in Pittsburgh last Saturday night, and I came away with a wonderful sense of inspiration and fresh possibilities.  

Each of the 6 artists used cyanotypes -- the same system that makes sun prints -- to create their art.  (You can read my post about making basic sun prints here.)

Dan Hendrickson, photographer, artist and curator of the show, printed a digital photo using cyanotype and added layers of watercolor to create Archaeology of Venice, 2024, above.  I love the dreamy effect of adding the watercolor and gouache to the print.

The beauty of attending the opening of a show is that you often get to meet the artists, learn how they made their art, and what inspired them.  We got to speak with Christine Lorenz about her use of dried wild strawberry leaves to tone her cyanotypes.  I was fascinated to learn new uses for the plants I love.

One artist I didn't meet, but whose work inspired me was Michele Randall.  Randall took ocean waves as her subject, using photos and the ocean waves themselves to create her cyanotypes.  

Randall created Flotsam and jetsam, 2024 above, and the work below 

I love the way she added gold and white inks to her prints.  In her artist's statement, Randall notes, "I am interested in drawing attention to the sublime beauty and fragility of the ocean against the backdrop of environmental threats.  I want to invite the viewer into a moment of contemplation and impart the nostalgia of an unblemished world."

Cathleen Richards, an artist and boutique travel agency owner, melded her love of travel to Jordan with cyanotype printing in her artwork Worn by Time, 2026, above.  

Richards printed digital photographs of the ancient city of Petra, and a historic tile mosaic floor onto a linen blouse, then added embroidery in the traditional style of the region, imbuing the garment with her cherished memories, weaving deeper connections into a simple shirt.

I hope you make the time to visit The Light Divides and the Story Multiplies before it closes October 30, 2026.  For more information about the show, visit The Associated Artists of Pittsburgh website here: https://www.aapgh.org/

Experiencing this art opening sparked fresh ideas for me about using photographs to make cyanotypes, and adding layers to prints.  I felt so excited about new art potential that I woke up at 4:30 am unable to sleep any longer!

I decided to use this photo of the morning light glancing over a meadow.  I love the contrast, the long lines of light & shadow, and the textures of the wild plants catching the sunshine.

I needed a black-&-white negative to create my cyanotype.  Luckily, Jacquard, the company that sells cyanotype supplies, has a free & easy-to-use photo editor here:  

https://www.jacquardcyanotype.com/

I created the negative above, printed it on a transparency specifically made for my printer, and used it to create the sun print below.  Note: it's important to use a transparency made for your type of printer.  The wrong material can melt on the drum and ruin your printer.

The weather was overcast, and I set a timer for 15 minutes, but I overexposed the print so it looked more like nighttime & moonlight than morning sun.

Inspired by Michele Randall's ocean prints, I added acrylic ink marks to my dry print.  I like the result -- like lightning bugs flashing in the dusk.

I exposed a second print, above, for 5 minutes so it looked like daylight. When it was dry, I added watercolor washes as Dan Hendrickson had.  I love the effect!

These are test prints, and I plan to make more photographic prints the next time the sun comes out.  I had some difficulty with a warped drawing board that I used under the paper, negative and top glass. It's important to have the negative pressed right against the paper to make a clear contact print, otherwise the image goes fuzzy.  I have found a level board to hold the paper flat against the top piece of glass.

My mind percolates over loads of different photos and images that would work well for this project.  All from attending one art opening.  I can see why Julia Cameron recommends that artists take themselves out on "Artist Dates" routinely.  

What sort of art date would you like to take yourself on? Make a list!

Wishing you a deep well of inspiration to fuel your creativity.

Sun Prints

This fall when I was out hiking, I collected leaves from trees, ferns and weeds. Back at home, I pressed them in books to flatten them.  I tried to collect a variety of shapes and types of leaves to use in sun prints, also called cyanotypes.

Below is the two-part mixture product I used to make my sun prints.  

The process takes a bit of preparation, requiring you to add distilled water to the powder in each bottle, then wait 24 hours for the mixture to activate.  After 24 hours, you mix equal parts of Part A and Part B, stir it up and paint it onto whatever you want to use for printing.  

In this photo, you can see examples of paper cyanotypes I made.

After trying paper sun prints, I bought some 100% cotton napkins and painted them with the cyanotype mixture.  

You have to let the mixture dry before printing, and you have to do all of this in dim light, away from the sun.  I set up a painting station and drying rack in my pantry and kept the napkins in the dark while they dried.

Finally, I was ready to make sun prints!  

I laid out a napkin on a drawing board, arranged the pressed leaves, and put a piece of glass over the top to keep the leaves from being blown away by the wind.

After 20 minutes in afternoon sunshine, this is what the napkin looked like.

The cyanotype mixture changes color from yellowish green to bronze in the sun.

The final step is to rinse the print in cold water, which will set the print so it is no longer sensitive to light.

You can see the yellow-green mixture washing out from the areas that were covered by leaves.

You rinse until the water runs clear, then hang up your print to dry.

Here are two of the four napkins I printed.  As time passed, and the afternoon sun moved closer to the horizon, I had to expose the napkins longer, up to 30 minutes.  But I could always tell when the napkin turned bronze in the sun that the print was done.

You have to be careful when laundering your cyanotype fabrics not to use bleach or detergents with phosphate.  Also leaving them to soak too long can wash out the blue dye.  Hand washing is recommended.

But that's worth it for the thrill of creating things for your home that reflect the beauty of nature!

Happy Creating!