Coming back to cyanotypes after sporadic dabbles the last couple years, I find myself trying to push the limits further. Being essentially out of the art/IG world for several years while I was ill, my wet cyanotype method became a runaway train and, as a result, seems to have almost completely detached itself from me as the originator of it.

So I’ve been exploring how I can push the process further, to get even further away from the blues and greens, and have been getting some lovely grays and blue grays and oranges, a whole new muted palette. So much seems to affect non-traditional cyanotypes, like the weather, sun or no, temperature, whether it’s hot or cold.

I’m still working with my usual botanical imagery. Now that the weather is changing and we’re in fall, with winter approaching, I’m looking forward to the bare branches and dead plants of winter— or, rather, I’m looking forward to taking photos of them. Last winter it snowed and I was able to take some amazing photos of the dried dead seed heads and branches against the snow, which have been some of my favorite images to work with this past year.

The rain has arrived so there may not be too much cyanotype making for a while, although I tend to usually have some cyanotypes lying around outside for ridiculously long exposures. I tend to leave them out even longer in the cold weather, as I have no desire to open my garage studio door when it’s rainy and cold!

I’ll be interested to revisit these experiments when it’s hot and sunny again. I know I will get questions on how I’m getting these colors without toning, and I’m afraid I’m going to be incredibly annoying and say I’m keeping these experiments under my hat for the time being.

I also want to say— if you’ve messaged me through my website and I haven’t responded…feel free to message me again or, even better, message me on Instagram, on my @kristamccurdy account. I briefly alluded to my health earlier, and, without going too in to it, the health issues I’ve had the last several years have left me with some perpetual executive dysfunction that I fight, often unsuccessfully.