Solar Photograms with SolarFast Dyes and Cyanotype CEXTN011-202460

 

Thursday, 6/27/2024, 11am-3pm

Ocean Campus, Visual Arts 102

 

Instructor: Vanessa Marsh 

 

Join us and create a selection of solar photograms, a photographic process that involves laying objects and other elements onto sensitized paper and exposing the paper to sunlight. Cyanotype and SolarFast dyes are a great addition to the tool kit of any mix-media, collage or photographic artist and the process relates closely to various forms of printmaking.

 

This class will detail the practical sides of both Cyanotype and Solarfast dyes as well as ways of combining them. Students will learn a variety of skills including the preparation of materials, coating the paper and processing images. We will explore the results of different exposure times and multiple exposures and discuss how an object’s characteristics, like transparency and shape, will affect the final image. We will also explore ways to use cut paper masks and opaque paintings on mylar to create different effects.

 

There will be a wide variety of objects on hand to experiment with and students are also encouraged to bring objects that inspire them. Suggested objects are flat-ish, opaque-ish and have a defined silhouette. Things like; leaves, feathers and flowers; buttons, jewelry, yarn, dollies and lace; drawn or painted imagery on transparent paper, or printed transparencies; and cut paper shapes.

 

You will come away with a selection of prints and you’ll have the skills to continue making cyanotypes and SolarFast prints at home.

 

Cyanotype and SolarFast dyes are non-toxic and clean up with water. However, they can cause staining, so wear clothing you don’t mind getting stained or bring an apron.

 

All necessary materials are included.

 

Suggested additional materials:

-Blue tape- one roll

-Sharpie

-Notebook for taking notes

-Scissors and/or exact-o knife

 

Instructor bio: Vanessa Marsh (b.1978, Seattle, Washington) is a Portland, OR based visual artist. Marsh creates imaginary landscapes and atmospheres through a mixed media process based in photography. She received her M.F.A. from California College of the Arts in San Francisco in 2004. Marsh’s work has been the subject of solo and group exhibitions at venues including Dolby Chadwick Gallery in San Francisco, The SFO Museum, The Penumbra Foundation in New York, photoEye Gallery in Santa Fe, NM and The Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. Marsh has been the recipient of a Penland Winter Residency and Fellowship (2023), a Jentel Foundation Fellowship (2018), a Rayko Photo Center Residency (2014), a MacDowell Colony Fellowship (2007), and a Headlands Center for the Arts MFA Fellowship (2004). Marsh’s images are held in institutional collections including the San Jose Museum of Art, the San Francisco Art Commission, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. Marsh has worked as a Program Developer for CCSF City Extension for 9 years.