EMILY JEFFORDS
CYANOTYPE ART
In this workshop, we are exploring the chemistry of blueprints and the power of the sun with artist Emily Jeffords. Emily shares with us the process of cyanotype with a step-by-step guide on how she creates beautiful pieces of art using foliage and found objects. Utilizing a mixture of chemicals, the action of light and a mastery of techniques, let’s explore the process of creating inspiring silhouettes!
This workshop includes Emily's technique in a video tutorial and an accompanying box of tools and materials (including Emily's preferred thick cotton paper, the tools & chemicals to process cyanotype art (through a small business collaboration with a US-based photo studio), and a classic white wooden frame to show off your favorite piece (also in partnership with a small mom & pop shop we're excited to support).
Cyanotype is a photographic printing process that dates back to the mid-1800s that was frequently used by engineers as an effective process to produce copies of drawings (or blueprints). The process uses two chemicals: ammonium ferric citrate and potassium ferricyanide. In this workshop we are using hot pressed watercolor paper that is sturdy enough to withstand a coating of these chemicals (frequenlty referred to as Chemical A + Chemical B) as well as a water bath before the finished print is produced.
Emily lives in Greenville, South Carolina with her husband and two daughters, and works out of an 1890’s white-washed studio called the White Whale. She most frequently works with oil on canvas and is best known for her abstract, impressionistic landscape paintings as well as her delicate cyanotype collages. “Painting brings me so much peace and gives me time to meditate on the beauty in the world and the grace I feel while living in it. My highest goal is to convey that same peace and grace to the viewer. I create art to satisfy a need deep in my soul to create, to use my hands to say, with color and form, something that my words cannot." Visit her website and her Instagram page to learn more.
We look forward to seeing what beautiful shapes inspire you and what finished works of art you create using the process of cyanotype. Happy creative making!
Emily Jeffords'
Podcast Interview