Ash Leaves Faux Cyanotype [Photography]

Posted on July 30, 2022 by Douglas E. Welch

Some leaves from our large Ash tree in the back garden. I have digitally turned this photograph into a faux cyanotype. I have made true cyanotypes in the past, but have been trying out various methods of applying them to existing photos. – Douglas

Here are the steps I used in a current version of Photoshop (but you can probably duplicate them using your own favorite tools:

Create a Cyanotype look in Photoshop

Open subject file (leaves, etc.)
Switch to Greyscale
Remove background
Invert Image
Convert to Color
Create background layer
Fill with cyanotype color
Set subject layer to Hard Light (to take on the color of the background
Filter, Add Noise… to give some grain to the background or use texture file.

Find a variety of books about cyanotypes

Find supplies for making traditional cyanotypes

Pepper seeds rising! via TikTok [Video]

Posted on July 28, 2022 by Douglas E. Welch

@douglaswelch Pepper seeds rising! #peppers #chiles #food #plants #container #raisedbed #garden #gardening #nature #outdoors ♬ Outdoors – Colin Tierney

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Organza Embroidery Captures Awe-Inspiring View of the Forest via My Modern Met [Shared]

Posted on July 28, 2022 by Douglas E. Welch

Organza Embroidery Captures Awe-Inspiring View of the Forest

Embroidery artist Sew Beautiful shows the beauty of forests through their trees. Using colorful thread and a lot of the French knot stitch, the UK-based creative depicts nature scenes featuring tall timber full of leaves as well as bountiful fields of blooms. Contained in circular hoops, each frame offers a picture-window view into a lovely landscape; if you long for getting outside and enjoying nature, Sew Beautiful’s pieces are a welcome visual escape.

Some of Sew Beautiful’s most striking pieces feature the use of organza, a transparent fabric that can make stitches look as though they’re floating. This is exemplified through pieces in which we’re looking up at the treetops from a grounded point of view.

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Garden Scene 18 From the 2022 Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden Tour via Instagram [Photography]

Posted on July 25, 2022 by Douglas E. Welch

2022 Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden Tour

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A Botanical Mystery Solved, After 146 Years via Atlas Obscura [Shared]

Posted on July 25, 2022 by Douglas E. Welch

Yet another example of how archives can continue to educate even a century after their contents were created. – Douglas

A Botanical Mystery Solved, After 146 Years – Atlas Obscura

Something about the painting made Tianyi Yu pause. The artwork, depicting tropical plants crowded together in a riot of color, had been painted in 1876 by prolific botanical illustrator Marianne North. The wealthy Victorian woman had traveled the world, usually on her own, documenting in bold oils the plants and landscapes she saw.

During a trip to Borneo, North had filled this canvas with plants from a particular spot in the forests of the island’s northwest corner. The viewer’s eye might be drawn to oblong yellow fruits from one plant, or pink buds from another, or the rounded leaves cascading down one side of the painting, one of them apparently nibbled by an insect. But Yu, a botanical illustrator who was working at London’s Kew Gardens while pursuing a masters degree, was drawn to clusters of berries, some green and unripe but others black or a bold blue. These berries would solve a botanical cold case more than a century in the making, and connect both illustrators forever.

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Squash Seedlings in the new raised beds via TikTok [Video]

Posted on July 22, 2022 by Douglas E. Welch

@douglaswelch Squash Seedlings in the new raised beds #squash #food #plants #garden #gardening #nature #outdoors #raisedbed #recycle ♬ Dearly Beloved (Kingdom Hearts) – Coffee Date & Gamechops

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Garden Scene 17 from the 2022 Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden Tour via Instagram [Photography]

Posted on July 21, 2022 by Douglas E. Welch

2022 Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden Tour

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From my Instagram Feed

The newspaper that gives back to the Earth – literally via One Earth [Shared]

Posted on July 20, 2022 by Douglas E. Welch

I have seen other projects like this, but not on this scale. Companies need to ensure they are delivering seeds compatible with the local environment, but what a great way to easily get people growing. – Douglas

The newspaper that gives back to the Earth – literally | One Earth

The newspaper that gives back to the Earth – literally | One Earth from One Earth on Vimeo.

What do you do with your newspaper when you’re done reading it? Put it in the recycle bin? Save it for packing paper? Well, one Japanese publishing company wanted you to be able to grow herbs with it! The “Green Newspaper” was invented by the publisher of the famous Japanese daily, The Mainichi Shimbunsha. Published for “Greenery Day” on May 4, 2016, the special edition dedicated to environmental news was printed on 100% biodegradable paper with plant-based ink, and embedded with seeds that, when planted, would grow into flowers to attract butterflies and other pollinators, or herbs to eat. The publisher instructed people to tear the discarded newspaper into small pieces, plant the shreds in soil, and then water the container as they would any plant.

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