Botanical Printing with Linda Illumanardi from February 2023 ACG Newsletter
Four students (one a member of ACG) joined Linda for their first botanical printing session on Saturday, February 11, printing local leaves on both paper and cotton fabric. Linda prepared some cochineal dye so that participants could have that lovely bright pink on their paper for possible Valentines cards!
The tannin of the day was made from Laurel Sumac leaves, harvested right here in our foothills. When combined with a bit of rusty water, a rich, dark background is made on the background of the fabric. Tannin + iron creates a fairly stable compound, resulting in a deep, natural color in the scoured and mordanted fabric. Linda scours the factory chemicals out of the fabric before infusing it with natural metals to stabilize the natural leaf pigments and dyes. Feel free to stop by after lunch (between 1-4) on any Saturday (that’s without rain) for the month of February, and take a peek at their morning work!
