I spent my summer in the Vail Valley, a charming community nestled in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, creating cyanotypes from the plants around me. It’s a passion I’ve pursued for the past two years, and I love discovering new species on my hikes and clipping favorites to produce vibrant blue sun prints. To capture larger botanical elements, like grass fields and trees, I photograph them with my iPhone and convert them into negatives. Using simple household chemicals, natural dyes, soap bubbles, and cling wrap, I can create a range of tones and textures within my prints.

As summer transitions into fall, I’m seeing subtle environmental changes daily. This time of change spurred the idea to incorporate last fall’s and this summer’s cyanotype prints into two large grid paintings. These artworks allowed me to artistically showcase an impressive assortment of over 30 plant varieties sourced from my garden, hiking excursions, and sketches inspired by the flora in my neighbors’ yards.