By Page H. Gifford
At the Oct. 27 meeting of the Fluvanna Art Association, members brought nature into art through the simple, hands-on process of leaf printing, capturing the beauty of leaves as seen through an artist’s eyes.
Nature has always inspired artists, from landscape painters to botanical illustrators. Leaf printing offers a more direct connection: The natural object itself becomes part of the artwork.
Artist and FAA Vice President Alyce Walcavich led the group, showing members techniques for printing with acrylic paint or silkscreen ink. Members brought a variety of leaves to share, including maple, oak, and other familiar shapes.
Walcavich suggested painting the underside, where the veins are most prominent, using enough paint to coat it evenly. Studying a leaf, you begin to see more than its shape or color: delicate veins, intricate patterns and textures that often go unnoticed. Those familiar gifts of nature inspired a morning of artistic exploration. Many discovered that leaves with distinctive edges and deep veins worked best for the prints.
Participants worked together around the table, selecting leaves, sponging on paint or ink, and pressing them with their hands or a brayer before revealing their work. Artist Lyn Ficke got excited about overlapping her purple leaves with a yellow fern and other orange and blue leaves. Bev Bowman printed one opaque leaf surrounded by ghost prints of leaves and stems.
Everyone had fun learning, sharing, making mistakes, and enjoying small successes. Even for an artist like me, the process was challenging enough to loosen up the perfectionist in us.
Perhaps the greatest discovery of the morning was that inspiration doesn’t always require looking far or traveling somewhere else. Sometimes it is right outside the door, in our backyards, just waiting to be picked up and seen in a new way. Finding creativity in an ordinary leaf brings the outdoors to the art table.
