BOTANICAL TONING

Botanical toning is a central element of my Cyanotype practice. While the Cyanotype process is traditionally known for its distinctive Prussian blue, I was drawn early on to the potential for transformation through toning. Initial experiments began with everyday kitchen waste materials such as coffee and tea, where naturally occurring tannins shift the blue tones into a spectrum of greys, browns, blacks, and, on occasion, pinks. The unpredictability of these changes, shaped by time, temperature, and material, continues to be a source of interest within my work.

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From these beginnings, my practice expanded beyond the kitchen into the forests and garden surrounding my studio. I now work with collected and foraged botanical materials, including sycamore leaves, oak galls, witch hazel, and various barks, using them to tone my prints. Often, the subject matter of an image will inform or directly determine the choice of toning material, allowing each work to develop through a responsive and place-led process.

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What continues to excite me about botanical toning is its openness: the abundance of materials yet to be explored, and the potential for ongoing experimentation. Each print becomes a record of process, place, and time.  Never fully repeatable, and always evolving.