Boston Flora

Tag: cyanotype

  • Saturday, June 13, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Printing with the Sun: Full Day Cyanotype Workshop & Book Launch

    At Hollister House in Washington, Connecticut on June 13, join award-winning cyanotype artist Madge Evers for an exciting, full-day cyanotype workshop celebrating the release of her new book, Printing with the Sun. Cyanotype is a camera-less photographic technique for creating stunning art prints in dreamy shades of blue. You begin by coating high grade paper with a light-sensitive solution. Madge will show you how to work with patterns, layering and composition to create two original botanical prints. You will also get to try the wet cyanotype process—a playful, unpredictable variation that transforms classic Prussian blue into a range of rich, organic tones. After a break for lunch, learn to apply the cyanotype process to textiles! Madge will guide you through preparing and coating fabric and printing your designs. You’ll finish with an original cyanotype on a cotton tote bag—a functional, wearable piece of art to take home along with all your prints.

    The workshop fee includes all materials. Bring a bag lunch. Water and plenty of snacks are provided. Madge will be happy to sign copies of Printing with the Sun, available for purchase at the workshop. (Allow me to shout out my husband’s 1979 book, The Keepers of Light, a history and workbook of non-silver printing techniques, which sparked the renaissance in historical photographic processes.)

    Madge Evers is a visual artist who uses alternative photography, mushroom spores, and painting to depict plants and imagined flora. Her work has been exhibited widely throughout the East Coast, and she has participated in artist residencies in New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Ireland. Evers lives and works in western Massachusetts and teaches workshops throughout the northeast.

    HHG members $130, nonmembers $145. Register at https://hollisterhousegarden.org/event/printing-with-the-sun-cyanotype-workshop-and-book-signing/

  • Saturday, September 10, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm – Beginning Botanical Cyanotype

    Cyanotypes are a compelling and simple way to capture botanical forms and create compelling pieces of art. Learn about the history of the cyanotype process and the work of botanist Anna Atkins, who created the first photographic book Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions in 1853. Led by Madge Evers, students will observe the mixing of the light-sensitive emulsion used to create cyanotype and its application to paper. Students will create their own cyanotype prints to bring home. Pressed plants will be provided, but participants may also bring their own.

    Madge Evers lives in western Massachusetts where her art often begins in the garden. She began making mushroom spore print art in 2015, and since 2016, her work has been shown throughout the Northeast, including at the International Print Center, the Vermont Center for Photography and the Fitchburg Art Museum. She is a 2021 finalist for a Mass Cultural Council fellowship in photography. Madge forages for fungi and plants in fields, on roadsides and in the woods. She recently stepped away from teaching high school after 25 years, so when not composing spore prints or cyanotypes, Madge usually can be found somewhere in the garden.

    This workshop will take place at Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge on September 10 from 10 – 1. $35 for BBG members, $45 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/beginning-botanical-cyanotype