
Botanical printing is a direct contact printing technique.
Also called eco printing, natural dyes, pigments and tannins in leaves are transferred to paper or cloth with prolonged high heat to create prints. Sometimes flowers, bark, roots, and berries are also used. No paints, inks or external dyes are needed to create these beautiful monoprints.
In this introductory class we’ll start by taking a brief foraging walk outside.
One of the rewarding parts of botanical printing is experimenting with local leaves, so each person will create a silk sampler with their foraged leaves.
Some leaves that print reliably will also be provided and feel free to bring leaves from home you’d like to try. We’ll return to the classroom to learn how to prepare our leaves and silk for the steamer to get good, clear prints.
As our bundled samplers heat, we’ll discuss procedures in more depth, and eat our bag lunches.
After lunch we’ll open our samplers and review results. Building on what we learned, next we’ll bundle up our silk scarves. As they steam, we’ll look at some examples and take time for Q&A, before the always exciting “reveal”! We’ll then review our results and discuss next steps.
Students should bring the following:
- Bag lunch
- Scissors
- Permanent marker
Optional:
- Garden shears
- Leaves from home
- Notebook,
- Camera/phone
- Apron
- Rubber/vinyl gloves.
- Dress for a brief walk outside.
Please bring water/snacks and lunch if needed, as there are no food facilities at the school.
NOTE: Be aware we may cancel class if a minimum number of registrations is not reached. We work to balance teachers’ need to plan for a class with students’ busy schedules — not an easy task. Please register as early as possible!
General Age Policy:
All classes are for adults (18+) unless otherwise noted.
Class Minimums:
Be aware we may cancel 5 days before class date if a minimum number of registrations not reached. We work to balance teachers' need to plan for a class with students' busy schedules -- not an easy task. Please register as early as possible!