Queen Anne’s Lace cyanotype

The calming effect of the colour blue

How I made this piece

Blue is now known to lower stress and anxiety and is the natural colour of cyanotypes

The individual flowers tiny and delicate and perfect for making detailed fine shapes in cyanotype. I collect The flowers from the roadsides around my village before they are mown around late April into May. The verges are a mist of white and covered in insects until the plants are cut back. I think of Queen Annes Lace as a symbol of the beauty of spring in the British hedgerow

Cyanotype is an early photographic technique discovered in the 1842 and I never tire of experimenting with it. I coat the paper with the cyanotype chemicals and dry it in a dark space. I then arrange objects on the paper and expose it to sunlight. The length of time in the sunlight dictates the depth of the blue.

Each piece is unique, no two pieces will ever be the same. (not every piece works!) The way I mix the chemicals, the strength of the light, the length of time I leave them exposed makes every piece as unique as the beautiful objects I collect to make them

When I made this piece I was so pleased with the lovely tones of light and deep Prussian blue with the delicate silhouettes in white.