Precious Paper Cuts

Paul spied this interesting wabi-sabi leaf this morning.....it was so full of texture!  I especially love that little hole...and those black speckles!

I think my looking skills have rubbed off on him. But he found me....so maybe he already had good-looking skills. Pun intended.

I was supposed to be picking up my studio yesterday...but I kept getting distracted by bright shiny objects and finding things to play with.

I came across some intricate paper cuts that Paul's sister Liz purchased when she lived and taught in China.  She bought several....and recently she shared a few with me. The paper is like tissue...and I can't even imagine how the artist made these fine cuts. I'm in awe!

I have a couple in frames...but when I came across the rest in my stash I wondered if I could sun print them. Luckily I had some pre-treated dry papers ready to go. I wouldn't want these to come in any contact with anything wet. My prepared paper was a little small....but big enough to let me know if it was going to work.

I sandwiched it between two pieces of glass so it would stay nice and flat and set it in the sun for about 6 to 8 minutes.

Here it is fully processed and ready to rinse.

And here is is after....it worked perfectly!

It seems like a wonderful way to honor...preserve...and share these very fragile paper cuts. Next time I talk to Liz...I'm going to get a little more information about what she knows about the artist. I prepared more paper last evening so it would be dry for today....and spent the sunny morning printing.

I tried the same paper cut with a couple of leaves as an overlay. I think I like the original better....it doesn't need a thing. 

  

Here's the rest of my printing session. Believe it or not....I'm still on my first bottles of solution. The four little vases at the bottom are also some of the precious paper cuts.

I also made more prints with my baby ferns...and this time with a very subtle second layer.

This was an underprocessed fern print that I didn't like. I coated the paper again and over printed with a wabi-sabi leaf. I love the deep dark blue I can get when I double print. 

Here's a close up of one of the small paper cuts. Isn't it precious!