for years i've been wanting to do sunprints, and one day last month everything seemed to align just right:
one day off + a sunny day + a hankering to be creative + one very zen deck = sunprint success!
the only other things needed were a bowl/tray of water, and finding some fine plant specimens from the yard, which was half the fun.
to make the sunprint, you just need to place an object on top of the sunprint paper, blue side up, and then hold it in place by covering it with the acrylic sheet. leave it to cook in the sun for a few minutes, then you are ready to give it a bath in some clear water for only a minute.
once immersed in the water, you'll see the print begin to develop.
it was fun poking around the yard looking for just the right "designs" to use for my prints. here i used italian and curly parsley. the little purple flowers in the photo at the top are from my catmint plant.
i was particularly taken by this lovely greenery, which appeared to happily be living in its own weed patch in the shaded corner of the yard. the shape very much reminds me of a lotus flower, so i made several prints with this one.
i laid them on the deck to dry, one by one as they came out of their water bath, and enjoyed the decorative feel my deck was taking on.
then i apparently started to lose my zen focus, and was printing anything within reach of my little creative station on the deck. pokey is always close by as he monitors all progress of the potted tomatoes, herbs, and snap peas. good pokey.
now that i have a nice stack of these lovely prints, i haven't quite decided yet what to do with them, but i assure you when i do, i will post a "part two."
uh-oh...giving me ideas...again.
may have to order this.
Posted by: sazzy | 14 August 2009 at 08:51
am having a hard time waiting for the holiday stamps...
just sayin'
Posted by: sazzy | 14 August 2009 at 08:52
I loved this. So beautiful. Does the sunprint paper come in colors or do they all print blue?
The print of Poky made me LOL.
Posted by: V-Grrrl at Compost Studios | 25 August 2009 at 18:01
somehow, through the pathes of flickr i found your blog and loved the sunprints so much i ordered some in the us. i couldnt find them in germany. so today i tried some prints and i like them so much. thank you for the inspiration!
Posted by: uta | 19 September 2009 at 04:27
somehow, through the pathes of flickr, i found your blog and the sunprints. after trying to get them in germany i ordered them in the us. today is my first sunprint day and i love it! thank you for the inspiration!
Posted by: uta | 19 September 2009 at 04:29
I've been making sun prints since the 1970's! Yep, I'm 52. You should try antique bottles to get a 3-D affect.
Posted by: kathy greenia | 29 December 2009 at 17:10