Before I left for Cordova, Alaska a week or so ago, I planned on collecting seaweed, pressing it and using it in multiple ways: gaining a deeper understanding of its color for painting, framing a few pieces to visually reference it when drawing similar forms, and to echo the work of Victorian women at sea during the late 19th century who created albums of pressed seaweed as flowers were not available to them. It wasn't only women at sea, though. It became such a huge trend in the 1880's that even Britain's Queen Victoria engaged in collecting, pressing and preserving seaweed in embossed albums.
I was going to bring a borrowed flower press from my school but it is larger in its dimensions than my backpack could hold. I was happily surprised when all enrolled in the
Prince William Sound College (
University of Alaska Anchorage) Environmental Science course in Cordova were gifted a small, portable one shortly after we arrived.
I didn’t have much free time during the week, which was fine as we did so many hiking and kayaking adventures. In the late evenings, I walked the beach and collected just a small bit of seaweed and only two types. Plus, I pinched the stems and flowers of two slender plants to press. When I returned home a week later, I put the press below my desk and under heavy items. The photo below is of the filled, gifted botany press:
When I was out walking last weekend here in Fairbanks, an idea of overlaying the pressed seaweed on one of my finished paintings entertained my thoughts. It would just be a trial experiment to see how it looked before planning a new painting to actually do it with. The seaweed would have to be laid on top of the glass within the frame housing the painting and then another plate of glass placed over it. Otherwise the seaweed would eventually damage the watercolor painting. I would also label where the seaweed had been harvested from to add a geographical element to the work.
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Tonight I opened the press. It was like opening a mystery box. Each botanical specimen was intact. The slender stemmed, preserved plants with flowers will go into frames along with their names written in both English and Latin.
The amber, translucent colors of the larger seaweed surprised me with its beauty. Seeing each will change the colors I use to paint them.
I took my framed painting Puzzle off the wall, removed the glass from another framed work and positioned the seaweed between both plates of glass as I had imagined while out walking.
I then lowered the top glass pressing the seaweed between both.
It actually looks so much better than I could capture in these photos. The seaweed sustains its amber, translucent qualities.
Too, it adds depth to the work, which I favor.
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The seaweed and flowers have been returned to the press. Its back under heavy weight ensuring the specimens within are well preserved and protected. The top glass is back on a framed work. Both it and Puzzle are back up on my walls.
Now to paint that new windowpane piece and decide how much seaweed to place above it. Looking at the photos above, I one minute think I should continue to use all the seaweed, and in the next think I should use less. We will see. They may look very different above the piece that will be painted with their placement in mind.
Next month, I am in Northern California visiting my son, Ian. I will collect and press seaweed from there for another painting. I will also briefly be in Southeast Alaska and will gather seaweed there, too. I will create a triptych of paintings with pressed seaweed included from each coastal place I visit this summer. I am so glad I have time off to work on my art. I have much to do. That’s a good thing.
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