Art Prints With Jello!

I'm taking a class at the Arboretum on nature journaling.  Last week I finished sewing a coptic journal, which I will show in the near future.  I had always heard of coptic journals, but never knew how to make one.  Now I love my new journal -- and I'm going to keep track of all the wonderful (and not so wonderful) things that grow (or not!) in my yard this year.

This week in our class, we found leaves and flowers to bring into our classroom.  We had prepared "jello plates" for printing (instructions can be found in the wonderful book Mixed Media Nature Journals by L.K. Ludwig.)  It's basically making "Knox Blox" with all water instead of fruit juice, and pouring the hot liquid onto a cookie sheet to make a smooth surface.  I can tell you from experience that trying to transfer a cookie sheet full of liquid into the fridge can make a huge, sticky mess on the floor.  (Hint -- you can leave the gelatin on the countertop to set for a few hours, and then put it in the fridge to firm up -- MUCH easier!)

Anyway, you can brayer acrylic or watercolor paint onto the surface of the gelatin, gently press your flowers on, and then make prints.  The first print will come through with the flowers appearing as negatives on the color.  Then you can pull the flowers off the gelatin and use them to print onto another piece of paper (the third picture above).  Then you can create another print from the paint that has been left on the gelatin from the flowers/leaves you just pulled off.  The first two prints above are from that final process.  I think I'll make another gelatin plate tonight and play with some of my backyard leaves tomorrow.

Happy Mothers Day!