Ecoprint Tip #1

When I was sick and in the hospital a couple of years ago, I had strange thoughts and visions. That's the kind of thing that happens when you have a really high fever. One of the things that came to me was that I want to get away from working with toxic art materials, and that's what drives my interest in ecoprints.

Here's a tip for those of you doing ecoprints with leaves. Look for leaves that stain. These are likely to be leaves that will ecoprint well on paper and fabric.



Here in Southern California we have Liquid Amber trees -- a type of maple. They stain the sidewalk, and they work really well for ecoprints.



Other leaves that I use include mulberry, gingko, cottonwood, eucalyptus, evergreen pear, fig, elm and birch. Eucalyptus also gives a nice scent!

New Day

It's time to start blogging again! We finally have a sunny day here in Southern California, after a week of torrential rain. The cats are taking advantage of it to soak up some sun.



Here's a new painting I've been working on. It's 48 x 24 inches, repurposed acrylic latex paint on canvas. That's house paint, to you!



I'm not sure what possessed me to use so many cool colors. I usually work in a warmer palette, but it's pretty, nonetheless. What do you think? (Click on image to see it larger.)