I have always loved giving each piece of my Cyanotype art a Name.
My first pieces were all given names, literally ‘names’ which meant or referred to the colour Blue.
There have been so many beautiful names throughout history and from different cultures and religions, I was spoilt for choice; as each artwork was finished, I read through my printed list, looking at the colours in the print and the botanicals used to select a name that felt right and fitted the piece. Many of these have unusual spelling and are hard to pronounce, so what was I thinking!
These are a few examples of what I mean:
Aoki An evergreen blue tree
Neelanjan Shining in blue colour
Qing A name for a greenish blue colour
Nilima The goddess blue, lover of blue
More simple names followed, for the Bridgeton Collection, named after the female cast of series one and two, for the Herb Garden, after the herb used.
Lately, I am more inspired by the emotion the piece evokes as it comes to life, or by the story behind it, and now they feel more like ‘Titles’ than names, giving them a connection, elevating them into a memory box for me and providing an explanation for the audience.
For example:
Awakening- The Morning Glory flower opens in the morning for only one day to reveal its beauty.
Simplicity- Cow Parsley not brash or bold just simple white umbels on green stems with simple cut edged leaves.
Up- A handful of Honesty (Lunaria)‘balloons’ -let go and they will travel up, up and away.
Latest works and practises.
I am always looking for ways to use offcuts, or pieces that didn’t quite work. I make gift tags and decoupage wooden items with some of them. Inspired by a collage of a Robin I made using offcuts and sold in a Christmas exhibition, this year I am venturing into more Collage work with Cyanotype.
This one is on a wooden artist cradle and uses tea and coffee-toned photograms. I love the rich colours and speckled background, with shades of browns and blacks. I have titled it Ombre
‘Collage de Bleu’ is a little more structured, and ’Chic’ came to mind (with Casual Charm), so I thought the French term for Blue Collage would suit. I might do a small series of these, keeping the name, just adding the next number.
This next piece focuses on the Gold and Blues. Small umbel photograms are bordered by pieces of various sizes in Prussian blue and gold from the addition of Turmeric. I have named this one ‘Ambition’ after the ‘Blue Gold’ stone, which is said to inspire you to achieve your major goals and help you stay optimistic when problems arise. The blue goldstone we know today originated in Italy during the 17th century. While Italian monks were attempting to make gold, they accidentally spilt copper shavings into a vat. This created goldstone, which the monks realised could become a valuable man-made crystal.
