Enso and Leaves

Enso III, September 2016, 4 x 4 inches

I have a collection of dried leaves that I keep flat, under plexiglass, on my long table. I love using them to print leaf shapes on my paintings.

detail of Leaf I, September 2016

Above, I used a maple leaf for Leaf I. The leaves are pretty durable. I paint the back side with acrylics, watercolors or printing ink, place the paper on the painted leaf, and use a wooden spoon to rub the ink from the leaf into the paper.

Leaf I, September 2016

When I'm finished printing, I gently clean the leaves with a wet rag. In time, pieces of the leaves will start to crumble off and they evolve into a new leaf. This is evident in the first image, Enso III, September 2016, at the top of this post. I've had that Alder leaf for over a year now.

In nature nothing exists alone.

Rachel Carson

joining Sunday Sketches