June Wild Grass (18 x 36 inches, Original botanical cyanotype on paper)

(18 x 36 inches, Original botanical cyanotype on paper)

Although this looks like an etching or block print, it is a cyanotype, a type of 19th century cameraless photography also known as blueprints or sun prints.

It is difficult to make one this size, 3 feet long, as the glass needed to lie on top of the cut plants is as long as the paper or longer. Glass and plexiglass this size is heavy and hard to move without the plants underneath sliding out of position or the glass breaking or cracking.

Every one of my botanical cyanotypes is an entirely unique monotype as each blade of grass or twig is laid by hand in that exact composition only once. I spend as much time planning and arranging the composition as I do exposing and rinsing the final print. There is no copper plate; there is no ink or printing press to make more than one copy.

This print is the same size as the other wild grass print titled “June Breeze” with the main difference being that the composition is more tilted in the other as if the wind were bending the grass. Made with wild grass that pops up regularly in my own overgrown garden on a very hot June day when it was 95°F (35°C ).