Monday, September 9, 2013

What do you do with those eco dyed papers?

Well, one thing is make an accordion book!


 
 

Recently, I was gifted with several Monarch butterflies by a friend whoes parents picked them up off the ground (already deceased) in the 1960s while on vacation.  I love the added touch to the cover.





















I wrote this Steve Jobs' quote on both sides that reads "have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become".


and a close up of the cover.........


Just for fun, I thought I would share these before and after photos, they help demonstrate how the paper was dyed.


After soaking the paper in a water/alum mixture, I placed fresh plant material on the paper.  Here you can see dark red rose petals, a hardy geranium leaf and a wild blackberry.  After" smooshing" the pages together and steaming them for two hours, you get this.........................


Amazing, huh?  The leaf printed yellow green, the dark red petals printed blue-ish purple and the berry printed a really nice dark red.  I consider this my art/science project 'cause there is a lot of stuff going on in this process that I have not control over.  No matter what you do, there will be surprises.

A little time consuming but so worthwhile.

8 comments:

elle said...

goodness, science indeed and surprising results. Good art!

Julie said...

What a great little book. I am trying to contemplate Steve's quote as I am still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up!!!

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

May be time consuming, but the results are unlike anything you will find at your local craft store. And talk about one of a kind prints! Beautiful and oh, so unique.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I have a question. If I don't have alum, is there anything else I can use? I can't get e-mails, so hope you'll let me know on my blog.

Halle said...

I love what you did with the eco-dyed paper! The quote meandering down the open book is wonderful!

rivergardenstudio said...

Wow! I love your eco-dyeing results, and that you found a new way to do this. And what a beautiful book, with monarchs even. You are a wonderful artist!!
roxanne

Unknown said...

OMG! This book is gorgeous! xxoo

Dianne said...

really gorgeous!