Tanya Prather, Ecoprint Artist on Fiber & Clay
Trace minerals in the water (iron, copper, aluminum) may influence color and transfer in subtle ways. The method of compression impacts whether the resulting image is a direct print or more nuanced and abstract. The season of foraging, the soil in which the plants grew, the freshness of the botanical material, and a myriad of other infinitesimal factors make it impossible to ever reproduce results.
Each ecoprint is guided by my hand and vision, mindful toward color, contrast, form and balance, but the image takes on a life of its own. It is a process requiring both intention and surrender.
While it is beautiful in itself to make a very direct print, immediately recognizable as the plant from which it was created, I often find joy in choosing to work less literally. I challenge myself to use the plants as my “palette” of color and texture, to create visually vibrant images that are compelling in themselves. The finished ecoprints often appear as landscapes to me, evoking a sense of time and place, each image embodying a moment.
