“Create something beautiful that brings joy to others.” Claudia Hollister and her floral cyanotypes
As a third generation Oregonian, I have been fortunate enough to grow up surrounded by beauty everywhere you look. I found gardens to be my church, and my grandfather’s rose garden was a special place to wander and imagine. This is why I am a devoted gardener. Nature has been my inspiration to create something beautiful in my art, my north star!
From a young age, I was a spirited child who had a big imagination. My parents supported my curiosity about art. Their encouragement allowed me to follow my dreams and talents as a practicing artist. College further informed my way of seeing things differently and using materials in a nontraditional format.
Three Generations
I jumped into practicing and selling my art right out of college. As a jeweler working in lost wax casting I included imagery of flowers, plants and butterflies in a contemporary art nouveau style, to adorn objects and containers in silver. Later designing for silver and crystal companies. I also designed the seashell series of molds for Godiva, and reproduction carving for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ending this phase of my journey with a show at Cartier’s, NYC.
When the silver market crashed in the early 80’s, I shifted my focus to working in porcelain. First teaching myself and then creating hand built color inlaid vases and teapots sold throughout galleries in the US. Then years later transitioned to large wall installations for hotels, corporations, and the most rewarding children’s hospitals.
Peony
In 2008 I decided to follow my heart and shifted to painting in encaustic.
This medium provided a way to express visual mystery to imagery, blurring the lines between illusionary depth and sculptural relief. By utilizing multiple materials, paper grounds, and adding dimensional vessels and flowers to the paintings I found my style. It was while I was teaching encaustic at Pacific Northwest College of Art [PNCA] that I was introduced to Cyanotypes.
Cyanotype is an alternative photographic process developed in 1842.
Originally I used the cyanotype process for printing on various art papers in the backgrounds of my encaustic work, and have continued the practice.
Luscious Anemone .jpg
However during COVID-19 lockdown everything changed. I turned to my garden, deciding to take on a 100 day challenge on Instagram to ease my mind into a positive place.
My process involves alchemy, nature, artistic license, technology and timing. I start by sensitizing my paper with a combination of ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferric cyanide, sensitive to UV light. This paper will be set to dry in a dark room.
Beautiful Vintage Tiles
I photograph my images in my studio using an iPhone from which I create a negative transparency film.
The dried paper is placed on a panel with the negative film on top in direct contact, you can also use plants. Setting glass onto and in the sun until reaching the correct exposure time. This may take more than one print. I start with a 6 minute test print and adjust when needed based on the time, angle of the sun and the temperature outside.
Next I drop the exposed paper in water and I watch the magic as the print oxidizes and a positive image appears. After drying and photographing the final print I would post it on Instagram, for a 100 day project. Doing this as a daily process taught me to view my garden in a new light, capturing its beauty and spirit. Though most of the first year prints were failures, what I learned was invaluable. Today these basic steps in my studio to printing remain the same.This is my fourth year of documenting the cycle of season blooms, and every year brings new gifts and a handful of special prints.
The element of surprise in the imperfect process of printing cyanotypes is something I love, not to mention the depth of Prussian blue hues that can’t be duplicated in any other material. There is often an unpredictable outcome to a print that can’t be repeated, I like to think of it as a gift.
All this said, you need to start with a good photograph and produce a good negative in order to create an excellent print. One should count on putting in the time, throwing away many more prints and negatives than you keep. Good work doesn’t happen overnight, so perseverance is required.
Many of my current backgrounds for my new Visual Poetry series of Cyanotype Collages are completely experimental. I may print 6 pieces of paper and only one will turn out. I utilize different kinds of papers and techniques using the cyanotype solution, always reaching to stretch my journey and creative process developing new floral metaphors.
My personal goal as an artist has always been to create something beautiful that brings joy to others. When I look at the world today I feel it is even more important to bring beauty and share it with others, if only for one calming moment.
I think of my work as vintage modern, although iPhones are high tech the actual process was developed in the 1800’s and is still very hands on. I still have so much more to learn and explore as I continue to move forward on my cyanotype journey. I plan to create larger cyanotype collages for a couple of upcoming shows, which will come with new challenges and problems to solve.
There are many current cyanotype artists' work that I admire, here are a few.
Julia Whitney Barnes for extremely large cyanotype print installation over the door of the Drying House.
Rosalind Hobley for her stunning prints of roses.
Diana H. Bloomfield for her amazing photography and cyanotypes.
Emma Powell/ @emmaobscura, story telling cyanotypes.
Alexandrea DeFurio for her narrative cyanotypes.
Edward S Curtis for his early cyanotypes of native Americans.
A few painters, embroidery artists, too many to list.
Uzo Hiramatsu, his work is simple and complex at the same time.
Yukakimi Akiba for stunning detailed stitching on photographs.
Hinke Schreuders for masterful embroidery on photographs.
Timothy McDowell for being a master painter, printmaker who is not afraid to experiment, and tease your eyes to see what’s not there.
I want to thank you for your interest and this opportunity to talk about my work.
Vintage Fritillaria
Loop de Loop
Marvelous Spring
The Butterfly Effect
Insta @claudiahollister