“To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon the verdure is the most perfect refreshment”
-Jane Austen
This past summer, standing in my Brooklyn garage studio next to my Charles Brand press, I was thinking about making prints. After a long absence from working with the press, I wanted a direct process to create fresh images quickly.
Simultaneously my mind went overhead to the garage rooftop garden: boxwoods smuggled from France, wild rose bushes from the Cape, tangled honeysuckles, my favorite cosmos, wildflowers dug up on the side of the highway on a trip back from Vermont. Climbing the stairs to take a look, I pulled some of the greenage and went back to the studio to start a test.
I inked up a Plexiglas plate, piled the pickings on top, placed the paper and rolled it through the press. Lifting the blankets for a first peek, the botanicals were smooshed onto the paper, chlorophyll stains and plant fluids oozing all over. Looking like a mess and out of control I began to brush off the compressed foliage to reveal the new image. Tacking it to the wall, it was clear I had something I could work with, firmly planting me back into my print making ways.
Framed Prints available for sale by clicking the images below.
