Tomatoes and Lemons

                                               I am one who believes you reap what you sow.  And for a while now, I have been sharing my creative talents at our church.  Among other things, I am finalizing all our craft activities for VBS this year and I am excited to share those little goodies with you on my blog as well.  But I was also asked if I would be interested in helping teach Sunday School for the month of June.  Not just any type of Sunday School, but Super Sundays, as it was named.  This is a time when you have the same group of kids for 4 straight weeks.  Unlike our regular Sunday School, 1st through 3rd graders switch every Sunday between Storytelling, Art Station, Cooking Station and Games.  As fun as the regular Sunday School may be, this change would make it able for the teachers to focus on one lesson and go more in depth.  I was on board and excited to work with a new friend and excited for her to share her creative love, cyanotypes!  Cyanotypes is something I have been wanting to explore more and really learn about.  This got me thinking; when sharing your God-given talents with any non-profit organization, whether it be a church or food bank, you are rewarded by feeling your work has purpose and helps to define you.  But it's times like these, I can see the hand of God putting exploratory mediums in my path.  It is only then up to me to take hold and enjoy the ride...


                                               My friend, Gina Moreland, does not consider herself an artist.  I beg to differ with her, but I do understand that "artist" is a sacred word to many and my hope is that one day, she too will see herself as I do!  Her passion is cyanotypes.  Beautiful blues and whites capturing nature and unusual images alike.  She has decided to step out of that comfort zone and open herself up to sharing her talents.  This is a big step, as I remember it was a big step for myself to finally live in that special space.

                                               Our Sunday School class titled "Using Artist Tools to Explore God's Greatness" asks the students to stop and take notice of the world around them.  The beauty they see in a cloud, flower, flowing water, and even the inter-workings of their own bodies.  God created these things for us to observe and enjoy and appreciate.  It has been a wonderful class of exploring nature and capturing the essence of it through this unique photographic process.

                                                We had 2 sheets left over that Gina gave to me for my own creative exploration.  Below are the images and a little bit of the process to create a cyanotype...

Once the chemicals have dried on the paper, you can begin to apply your objects.  This is watercolor paper.  This photo is dark because I was in a low lit room.  UV lights can start the process on the paper, not just sunlight.  You can see a little of the yellow tint the paper has where Gina applied the solution.

For my objects I used green tomatoes and lemons.  You have to work fast.

Do you see around the fruit where the paper is still yellow?  It is just beginning the process..

After a few minutes in sunlight, it will start to change.  Do you see the bluish color around the fruits now?

This blue will become darker.  

You can see where the chemical is even changing the lemons blue.

Excitement to see what the end result will be!!!

Once it has been in sunlight for about 6 minutes, it should be ready.  At this time, you rinse the rest of the chemicals off really well.  

Then you add hydrogen peroxide and watch the magic...

Can you see where I am pouring the peroxide, it is a darker blue? 

Rinsed and ready to dry!

A closeup of the many shades of blue!

I just love how the lemon veins went beyond the corner!  That might be my favorite part!

Final product!!!!

Here are the 2 side by side I made!  The one on the left is not totally dry at this point, so it is a little darker.

Many thanks Gina for sharing this process!  I have enjoyed it immensely!!!  I encourage you to go on facebook and "like" Gina's new page titled "The Other Side of Someday":

http://www.facebook.com/pages/TOSOS-Fine-Art/348880271847050

I hope learning will never cease on this artist holiday-

hannah