#eco-print

This is my first attempt at eco- printing. I got a few faint outlines, however, most of it turned out as faint smudges of colour. I used bramble leaves, ferns and flowers (that I got from the super- market).

An experiment in the making, pleased and surprised with the outcome.   One of two silk shirts I eco-printed on May 7, 2020, done a day after I did a remote studio demo on May 6 with three other shirts.   New York offers great potential for eco-printing as it did when I lived in Florida.

Asked to do a remote studio demo for Fall Kill Creative Works, from our home in Poughkeepsie, NY during Covid 19, in May 6, presented a challenge.  Yet, I jumped on the offer.  Why not?  Here in New York our two year old garden is just coming to life in springtime, so I relied mainly on green vegetation and the few flowering plants popping up like violets.  

Via Zoom I showed how I did three shirts.  First one, a cotton long sleeve shirt, with top collar polyester and cotton mix, placing violet flowers, fern fronds, catmint leaves with stem, ajuga flower, scented geranium leaf (from potted plant inside),     Folded the shirt over and added more plants material and then made the bundle with a copper pipe to steam.  Prior to this I soaked the cotton shirt in a mixture of 1 part cow’s milk to 5 parts water to help adhere the transfer of the plant to the fabric.  Something done only for cotton and linen, since it’s more difficult to get a transfer from a plant based fabric to plants themselves.   Soaking in milk increases the protein content of the fabric making it more likely to transfer.   

Can see image of plants faintly including violets.  Green on the bottom sleeves and shirt from the copper pipe.  Cotton is doable, but from my experience unless you use eucalyptus leaves and or onion skin torn in pieces, the result of the plant image is much more faded.  

Next, a linen short sleeve shirt, also soaked in milk, with same plants as cotton shirt, but added a torn small pieces of red and yellow onion skins, vinca flowers, and some mustard garlic leaves.  Folded over added more plants, then bundled with a long aluminum nail, slightly rusted.  

Ta da!  The onion skins win a prize for brighting up this linen shirt, with a soft background of the other plants.  No surprise, like cotton, linen shows some of the other plant images, but not as clear as on silk.

Third one, a sheer silk sleeveless shirt with a polyester lining, using similar plant material as the linen shirt.  Folded over added more plant material and bundled with a long aluminum nail.  Sprayed silk with 50/50 white vinegar to water, help set the plant transfer, as a mordant.

You can see the image of some of the leaves with the red and yellow onion skins.   Using sheer silk makes the transfer less dramatic.

Steamer with one bundle on the bottom and two on top, all three shirts.   Silk sleeveless shirt the smaller bundle on top.  Steamed for about two hours.  Unbundled the next morning.  Then shirts dry, ironed with steam.  Heat permanently transfers colors. 

The next day I decided to eco-print two silk shirts, fabric best suited for eco-printing and experimented with spring plants in our yard.  

First a silk long sleeve shirt with coral bell leaves and violet flowers and leaves, a couple bleeding hearts and other plants I used the day before.  I then folded over added more plant material and used a copper pipe to bundle.

After steamed for about two hours, I unbundled the next morning.  Happy with the coral bell, violet, garlic mustard leaf transfer.  Also, another plant that pops up this time of year, called Robert’s Herb, Geranium robertinum.

Violet leaf left a bright green heart shaped impression and flower a splash of purple color.

Second silk long sleeve shirt, covered with an assortment of plant material using a copper pipe to bundle.

Exceptional transfer of lines and color of plant material, my favorite, this silk long sleeve shirt.  Bleeding hearts on the stem, in a row, along the top.  Wild berry plant leaf left a dark purple color with definition in the upper middle along the buttons.  Fern fronds at the bottom.  Violet flowers a faded purple color, no impression of outline.

String outline seen on back, I like it.  Looks interesting and makes it more of one-of-a-kind.  

Tutorial-Creating beautiful Collages with Ecoprinting

How to Create an Ecoprinted Collage

This is a simple, easy to do technique that comes from the heart of Nature and enables the ecoprinter to create as many as 4 silk scarves at a time in a single bundle! The results are random, unstructured and created by layering (or piling) leaves haphazardly onto the surface of your fabric. It involves one (or two) mordants, 2-4 silk scarves (Or larger…

Leather and watercolor paper-beginning an ecoprinting journey

Hi all! As an all around silk artist who works not just in plants but in dyes (natural and synthetic), block printing and hand painting, in this newsletter I’m back to Ecoprinting and touching on two areas I’ve been asked about-Leather and Paper!

Leather. Who doesn’t love the touch, the smell and feel of leather? It is everywhere as hand bags, garments, horse tack, books, shoes, upholstery and…

Silk shirt, I think it’s raw silk, slightly rough surface, recently eco-printed with plants from our garden.   Transpired a more vivid print from plants.

Begin with gathering plants rose with stem and leaves, fern, hibiscus, jatropha, dune beach sunflower, ylang, ylang.  Lay out silk shirt and spray with half white vinegar and water.   Gather other supplies like rods to roll on and string and strips of material to wrap with.

Lay plant material on shirt and then spray again with water and vinegar mix.

Bundle and steam for several hours.

Wait until the next day and unwrap and remove plant material.  The smell is amazing!

2 Artists Studios! Our chickens sometimes claim the studio front porch! Silk work by Theresa

Saturday Dec 16 from 11-3! Come see the art studios of 2 long time working artists and see the variety of, dare we say, amazing art! A perfect place to pick up those last minute hand crafted gifts 🙂

Meet our ponies, Helen and Shadow, feed a peppermint to Bella, our alpaca…yep-the chickens will visit you…

Harvesting and Ecoprinting by Moon Cycles

When I was in college at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, I lived in a small place on the Tar River near my family’ s farm. Driving home late one night after an evening class, I slowed at a little home to turn into our long dirt drive and noticed my neighbor in her garden.  She was silhouetted against a bright moon and was obviously at work picking pole beans. The next day I asked my…