The true colour of the Cotinus

PLEASE CHECK THE REST OF MY ECO CLASSES LIVE, ONLINE SELF PACED AND IN PERSON HERE … YOU CAN LEARN WITH ME FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD.

The Cotinus (smoke tree) is a shrub or small tree that grows in the warm temperate Northern Hemisphere. The leaves are deciduous and a big favourite of the botanical printers. It has a strong tannin content and always offers a great print to those using it on both paper and fabric. There was a Cotinus Grace in the gardens of The House of an Art Lover in Glasgow (Scotland) and it is one of the first leaves I ever eco-printed years ago. I remember using just a ferrous bath and getting a strong reddish print on my Art paper. I was shocked by the strength of the print. That was before … then I learned a lot about mordants and techniques …

I am a natural dyer and a botanical printer and my focus is always on the process. Day in and day out I test, research, read, learn and push the boat of my knowledge. What if is my moto… and I teach others locally in day workshops what I have found, my latest process. That is until March 2020 when the Covid pandemic kicked in…. As many self employed artists relying on physical workshops my world changed and I found myself out of a job. Online had never attracted me because I like interaction with my students but in March 2020 I heard about Zoom… Teaching live online… I could not be that difficult.. I switched on my lap top and decided to give this a go… What a dilemna, I had so much knowledge to pass on and no contact with students who were stuck at home in lockdown…. Online live on zoom became my daily routine and I shared details of my new botanical printing classes … To the World… and students… booked… not just from Glasgow or even Scotland, they booked from Belgium, the USA, Hongkong, Thailand, Australia and so on… I like it a lot.

In May 2020 I decided to teach a one off class online, botanical printing with the Cotinus leaves, I wanted to connect with many, I offered a short class but offered to many … 25 participants … the spaces filled up so fast… I increased to 50 and again within a few days the spaces were all taken so I took a big breath and opened the remnant 50 spaces… A 100 spaces workshop… what a dream, students from all over the world all eco-printing together the one leave … how exciting would this be. And the spaces filled up… two years later there is a group of over 500 participants from all over the world have taken part and has shown us how connected and resilient we could be in time of Covid.

In Septembre 2022 we will have a celebration in the Glasgow Botanical Garden and an exhibition about The Cotinus project. Because of Covid we need you to book a “FREE” space if you want to visit, please use the link below to do so.

If you want part of The Cotinus family join us either for one of the workshops or order the PDF for a self paced methods. Either or you will be able to join our FB group.

WE HAD AN EXHIBITION ABOUT TRUE COLOUR OF THE COTINUS EXHIBITION IN GLASGOW IN SEPTEMBER 2021:

A free two days exhibition of the beautiful art work generated during True Colour of the Cotinus workshops and some sharing of digital connections between participants.

PIGMENT EXTRACTION SELF PACE CLASS IS AVAILABLE ON TEACHABLE… It will be released on the 24th of December… if. you want to book a space look below. It is available at the very early bird price of £10.

BOOK A SPACE IN THE PIGMENT EXTRACTION WORKSHOP

I hope you will join the COTINUS FAMILY …