HERB CRAFT: PAINTING and POUNDING

Lovely renderings on Fabric and Paper

 

HERBS are in bloom! It’s thyme to harvest their delicate blossoms and leaves and utilize them to reproduce vignettes of color and texture.

The following crafts look difficult but are actually quite simple.

 

HERB PAINTING: Use Acrylic Paints to transfer mirror images of your fresh picked HERB leaves and blooms to fine paper to make stationery; or onto fabric to render almost lifelike images that are not only beautiful, but also lasting. Here’s how to do it:

 

You’ll Need:

1. Fabric such as Cotton tee shirts, or Silk Scarf. (pre-laundered)
   
   
2. HERB flowers and leaves
   
   
3. Acrylic Paints
   
   
4. Paint brushes and dabbers of all sizes
   
   
5. Paper towels
   
   
6. Supportive Paper Plate
   
   
7. Tweezers or “pick-ups”
   
   
8. White Vinegar for after rinse
   
    
   
    
   
   How To:
   
   

1. Prepare work surface, spreading old newspapers or plain paper.
   
   
2. Pour a small amount of several paints on the “pallet” paper plate.
   
   
3. Brush HERB Leaf or Flower underside with a small amount of paint- the underside describes the veins and support system of petals and leaves. Use paint sparingly. Test on scrap paper for too much paint, uncovered spots, and blurring- which can be a sign of too much pressure.
   
   
4. Carefully, with tweezers, lift the HERB piece and place it on the paper or fabric- painted side down- careful not to smear. With a bit of practice, it will look just right!
   
   
5. Cover with paper towel and press from the middle of the specimen out to the edge. Remove the towel and grasp the HERB- and lift straight up!
   
   
6. When finished with your work, let dry for 24 hours before pressing with a cloth wrung from white vinegar to set the paint.
   
   
7. Your lovely work of art will be both wearable and launderable!
   
       
   
    
   
    
   
   HERB POUNDING: Transfer color from your HERB leaves and blossoms to fabric directly by pounding living plant parts with a mallet or hammer.
   
    
   
   You’ll need:
   
   

1. Cotton garment, such as tee shirt- or tablecloth, place mat, and napkins; Baby shirts and socks; Silk garment, such as a blouse or scarf; Light Wool garment, such as a scarf.
   
   
2. HERB leaves, blossoms, and stems.
   
   
3. A suitable board or table for pounding- cutting board, slab of wood - covered with several layers of newspapers.
   
   
4. Hammers: we used mallots- both rubber and wooden; but you can use ball-peen or cross-peen hammers for different effects.
   
   
5. Paper Towels
   
   
6. Scissors
   
   
7. Pen- to mark the direction in which you wish to pound.
   
   
8. Tweezers or “pick-ups.”
   
   
9. (Optional tape)
   
   
10. Acrylic finishing spray – also optional.
    
     
    
    What to Do:
    
    

1. Gather materials and set up your pounding area. You want to be able to hammer and not worry about furniture dents and messes. This is going to be fun.
   
   
2. Place your garment or cloth onto the pounding surface. Place several layers of paper towels between folds so you will only be transferring color to the top layer. (You may want to pound several practice flowers on a paper towel. You will be surprised at the variations of color you elicit. Strike straight down onto the surface.)
   
   
3. Lay your HERB Leaves, Flowers, and Stems on the surface to be adorned- arranging them in a pleasant vignette. Cover with several layers of paper towel. You can lightly tape them in place, but I find that they stay when weighted with paper towels. At first, you may want to mark with pen the direction you will want to pound. Strike and follow the stem- if a leaf- or the center portion of the flower. Gently put pressure on that area to hold in place while you strike the surrounding portion.
   
   
4. Remember: Hammers elicit differing patterns or results. Try several and compare.
   
   
5. Peel back the towels to view your work. You can re-pound the work if you need more color. Your imprint will depend on your strike, the hammer, and the HERB you chose: its color, turgidity, and the stiffness of its fibers- or whether it has an outer waxy layer.
   
   
6. You can “layer in” a picture by starting with background HERB Leaves and filling in the center with HERB Blossoms.
   
   
7. When finished, iron with a low heat to set the designs.
   
    
   
    
   
   With either craft, you can also make your designs on acid-free paper.
   
   You can make note cards, invitations, or your own private stationery.
   
   If you are HERB Pounding you would start your project in reverse, beginning with the HERBS facing you and ending with the acid-free paper or card; front- side down. You may want to graduate to a larger work on acid-free paper. In this case, you would want to stabilize your work with masking tape and pound across the paper
   
   horizontally- then vertically to cover the whole area.
   
    I have seen some incredible results with this technique.