What does the Time of Day have to do with EcoPrinting?
Coreopsis one of my favorites for ecoprinting
This photo was taken in a field at about 7:00 am.
I picked some of these wild coreopsis early in the day because I wanted to experiment with these flowers.
I’ve noticed that the wild coreopsis that I pick wilt pretty quickly. I’ve tried to put them in water as soon as I get them home, but that doesn’t make a big difference.
It’s summer. The weather is hot. Which of course the only time I can find these wild coreopsis. They will bloom for about two months, July and August, here in Oklahoma.
It seems to me that if I picked the flowers early and then steamed them right away, I could keep some of the moisture in the plants from drying out.
I took these flowers right home and laid them out on wet printmaking paper. I’ve soaked the paper in alum and water as a mordant. I’ve written about mordants here.
The paper and plants are stacked between these 9 inch x 12 inch porcelain tiles. Then I add the bundle to my old electric skillet. I bought it at a yard sale and use it just for eco-printing. And steamed the bundle for 30 minutes.
Here are some of the papers that came from that bundle. I love the runny color.
What I discovered in this experiment is that the moisture level in the flowers, leaves, and stems plays a big part in getting the runny color I’m always searching for in my eco-printing.
Here is an example of coreopsis from another day. I picked them in the evening. The mordant was the same, alum and water.
This look definitely has its place art created using ecoprinting, but you can see that the moisture level in the plants has a big effect on the outcome.
Have you noticed that the time of day that the plants are picked changes the outcome? I would love to know about your experience. Just send a short email telling me about your ecoprinting.
