Thursday 30 April 2009

Cyanotypes on fabric at Missenden Abbey

I went on a weekend course at Missenden Abbey, Buckinghamshire to learn the craft of making cyanotypes (blueprints) on textiles. The course was run by Ruth Brown, an expert in the technique.


After coating the fabric with the cyanotype solution and drying in a darkened room we used objects and plant material as stencils and exposed the fabric to UV light. Above is the fabric before exposure.

After exposure the print is washed in water to stop and fix the print. The print turns blue when washed.


I found the process magical in it's transformation of fabric and really enjoyed experimenting with plant materials as stencils and trying different fabrics. The course was a really good opportunity to learn a new technique and play around with ideas.

I would like to use small areas of cyanotype print with other processes and try making larger prints outside using natural daylight and need to have a think about how I can do this the way I want.

3 comments:

  1. I was under the impression you could attach your print on the inside of a window and it would produce the same result?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, if you look at most of my other cyanotype prints they were all done in daylight.

    ReplyDelete

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