Giant Forest Ferns

These ancient enormous sword ferns grow wild along the steep sides of the roads in the hills where I live. The winter rains have made the spring here full of them.They grow in the shade of very tall trees which dwarf everything, so I didn’t realize how tall they were until I took a couple leaves home and saw they spanned the whole length of a 36 inch (91 cm) sheet of paper.

Though this looks like a block print or an etching it is actually a historical photographic process from the 1800s called a cyanotype. Instead of the silver solution used in black and white analog photography, cyanotypes use iron salts to produce images in shades of Prussian blue. The photo chemicals are the same used in making architectural blueprints.

My botanical cyanotypes are hand-printed on heavy watercolor paper and are each one-of-a-kind monoprints. I have an extensive background in printmaking, but these are “contact photographs” made outdoors using natural light and real plants and branches. There is no camera lens and there is no carved wooden block, no etched plate, ink nor printing press. I spend a great deal of time planning and arranging the composition of the branches on the photo sensitive paper before exposing the contact photograph to achieve a perfect balance of positive and negative space. I enjoy creating the illusion of a “scene” as if each botanical print were a snapshot or a painting.

Each of my botanical cyanotypes made with hand-laid plants is unique. There are no duplicates because there is no photo negative and no etched plate.
This is an original monoprint on heavy acid-free cotton watercolor paper. It is signed on the back side. It would look best if matted with a border of at least 3 inches (10cm) and framed under glass.

This extra long print ships rolled in a tube.