Nature has been the inspiration to many artists throughout history; it certainly has been for me, not only in color and shape but as well in form.

In 1842 Sir John Herschel created the first cyanotype by coating a piece of paper with a solution of iron salts, exposing it to the sun and followed by a water wash to print an image of white on a deep blue background. The most beautiful shade of blue, Prussian Blue.

He used this method of photography to make copies of his notes and diagrams.

The term ‘blue print” comes from the use of cyanotypes.

Anna Atkins, a very talented illustrator from the 19th Century, created what is known to be the first photographic illustrated book in 1843 called Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions. She created three tomes to be exact.

The invention of cyanotypes has inspired many artists and I am certainly not the exception.

I have been experimenting with this process for the last decade, sometimes printing local plants when visiting new places, or simply just for fun.

Here is a small collection of cyanotype prints with mixed media from my last impressions.

Shop the collection below.