Rachel Rector: Impressions of Light on the Prairie: Cyanotype Workshop

In this workshop, attendees will explore the prairie in Matfield Green collecting nature items to use to learn to make your own sun prints using traditional cyanotype analog processing using the sun or UV light as our source. The cyanotype is a photographic printing process that produces blue prints using coated paper and light. The process was discovered by the scientist and astronomer Sir John Herschel in 1842. Herschel used the cyanotype process so that he could reproduce mathematical tables along with other notes and diagrams.

We’ll provide all necessary supplies, but participants are welcome to bring anything they’d like to make prints of or print onto. Fabric, cardboard and paper can all be printed onto. Flowers, bugs, photo negatives, sticks, bones, or anything you can think of can be used to make your prints. You will take home original prints on paper and fabric.

About the Presenter:

Rachel Rector is a fine art film photographer whose work utilizes experimental film, cameraless photography, and historical printmaking techniques to evoke the ethereal, daydream quality of a nostalgic moment in nature. She often adds poetry, collage, and textile elements to her hand-printed photographs to convey the sentiment of the natural space. Her images have been published in Polaroid, Huffington Post, The Hand, Lenscratch and displayed in galleries throughout the U.S. Rachel has developed educational workshops believing that teaching 18th-century processes like cyanotypes and anthotypes captivates students’ senses and encourages them to become more engaged with their environment. She is currently enjoying living in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tickets