Chlorophyll Prints

When I stumbled upon this inventive printmaking technique I was immediately fascinated by it!  Whenever I learn of a new-to-me medium, method, technique, or tool... I must follow through and learn all I can about it.  Often I self teach as was the case with chlorophyll prints.  It is all experimentation and some results are better than others.

The process utilizes the UV rays of the sun, and masking to expose leaves and create a positive and negative image.  This can be achieved using a contact negative, or anything that will block light from hitting the leaf.  I tried a variety of things: contact negatives, lace, transparencies, stencils...  you sandwich your chosen image, and leaf between plexi-glass plates, clamp and set in the sun for anywhere from a few hours to a few days depending on the conditions.  Then you wait.... There is also a method of preserving your prints using a chemical process with alcohol, glycerine and copper sulphate, but I am not sure I really mastered that part...

I created my leaf prints primarily for the act of creating... not necessarily for any product, or higher purpose, but more for the sheer joy of discovery and play.  If you would like to learn more about how these prints are made, here is a comprehensive article for you to read.

A purchase I made of a photograph of a chlorophyll print by Megan Bent. I titled it The Quarantine Years. This is what started my exploration into this fascinating medium!