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Anji Grainger will teach you to use nature to create beautiful imprints on paper & other surfaces. A gel plate is a great way to make natural eco-prints & in this 2-day course, you learn ways to layer & build our natural prints. A strong emphasis in composition & design is included. Leaves, bark, flowers, grasses & feathers as well as bubble wrap, string & anything that leaves a pattern, all work well with this process.

Classes will be from 9:30 am to 3 pm Thursday and Friday. We will be looking at using nature to create beautiful imprints on paper and other surfaces. Included will be lots of tips and tricks to use when creating at home. We will have a lunch break each day.

The class is held at the Cascadia Center for Arts & Crafts which has an altitude of 3,914′, so be sure to bring a water bottle and a sweater!

Nature Printing Supply List

Items you need to bring:

One gel plate Any size will work but I recommend no smaller than 6” x 6”

• One piece of plexiglass slightly larger than the size of your plate

• Acrylic paint in tubes: various colors (you will need one tube of white and one tube of black)

• Brayer

• Palette knife

• Roll of paper towels

• A round watercolor brush – medium in size and a liner brush

• A few watercolor paints to add depth at the end.

• A water container

• Micron pens – white and black (optional)

• Fresh plant materials that you gather each morning from your garden or on a walk. This can be done each day before class. Note, wilted plants can be difficult to work with so fresh is better. Plants that work well:

• Grasses

• Leaves with lots of veins

• Flowers with flat or small centers

• Anything with lots of visual texture

• Other natural options:

• Flat stones

• Moss

• Feathers

• Two water containers

• Assorted papers and surfaces.

Paper Suggestions:

• Hot-press Watercolor paper

• Drawing paper

• Any smooth printing papers

Additional items you may want to bring:

•Tissue paper.  Any kind you might have lying around the house.  We will use this for patterning as well as lifting.

•Deli paper, if you have it.  I will have a small amount that I will bring, but I was thinking that some of you may like to make collage papers and deli paper works great.

•Plain copy paper – the kind you have in your printer.

If you have craft stamps and stencils at home, bring those.  We can build layers with stamps. Anything else lying around that you think might make a pattern.  Perhaps, think outside the box.