I did a few more experiments with cooking bundles this weekend.
In this one, which was steamed for about two hours, the Japanese maple gave me some lovely purple-grey colours, and a nice mix of dreamy shadowy leaf shapes and more distinct leaf prints.
This piece of old linen was also steamed - again, I really like the mix of subtle and distinct shapes, and the gentle colours. The plant materials were rose leafs and chopped maple.
This piece of silk organza took its colour from smoke bush - great purple-greys and olive greens. The smoke bush in my yard is just starting to come into bloom, and I included some of the unopened flowers - they made the spots that you see. What fun!
I tried one piece wrapped on a copper pipe (usually, I use a wooden dowel, a PVC pipe, or a piece of iron). The results were very green, as I expected... even though I used smoke bush leafs.
Finally, the following two pieces came from a happy accident. I unintentionally left a bundle sitting in its bath for several days after the cooking. The bundle had maple leafs sandwiched between a piece of light linen and a piece of silk organza. The resulting prints are strong on both the linen and the organza - laid out next to each other in this photograph.
I wish I had some very colourful pieces to share with you but... you know, it's not my thing. I admire the work of others who get and love great colours. Like my friend, Peta Bailey, who is a consummate eco-printer. If you want to see a glowing palette, check out her blog at studiopeta.com/blog. She actually did some of the prints on a trip to France - I love the image of her wandering in a French village, pinching the odd leaf, buying old linen in a French market, and then finding a way to steam her bundles - what an adventurer.
That's it for me tonight - back to Judith.
Guess what? My neighbor across the street just planted TWO plum trees with very deep purple leaves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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