[Forgive me, friends, for not sharing this post last week like I promised I would...somehow time just slipped away from me!]
About a month ago, the building that I work in was wrapping up a few renovations, and decided to do away with some framed posters that decorated the hallways. While I wasn't interested in the actual poster, I was interested in the brightly-colored cobalt metal frame. It was free, and apparently I'm a scavenger.
Here the frame was, as I found it:
The oversized frame would have cost me a pretty penny if I went out and bought it. It was in great shape and the perfect color for my red-white-and-blue bedroom (inadvertent Americana, seriously).
Based on the color scheme of my bedroom and its perfect coordination, I knew exactly what piece of art would soon grace the frame: a set of cyanotypes.
If you're not familiar with the term cyanotype, it refers to a printing process that produces a cyan-blue image. The process was developed in the 1840's and used initially to reproduce notes and charts (i.e., "blueprints"); however the process was revolutionized when photographer Anna Atkins began using it capture images of her botanical specimens. The result was a unique blue and white silhouette effect.
Aren't they beautiful?
I purchased my cyanotype prints from the New York Public Library Digital Gallery. I wrote about the extensive collection of digital images offered by NYPL just about one year ago and, now with a perfect frame picked out, I was ready to select my prints!
I chose the Fucus vesiculosus var. linearis (left) and the Polyides rotundus (right), and proceeded to crop my image and select the size of the printed image. [Note: I decided to have my selected images printed by the NYPL printing company, Pictopia Collections, rather than saving the images on a flashdrive and bringing them to Kinko's to print. You certainly have the option to do either.]
About a week after placing my order, the prints arrived, were gorgeous, and were printed on quality photo paper.
Now they were ready to be matted and framed.
Based on the color scheme of my bedroom and its perfect coordination, I knew exactly what piece of art would soon grace the frame: a set of cyanotypes.
If you're not familiar with the term cyanotype, it refers to a printing process that produces a cyan-blue image. The process was developed in the 1840's and used initially to reproduce notes and charts (i.e., "blueprints"); however the process was revolutionized when photographer Anna Atkins began using it capture images of her botanical specimens. The result was a unique blue and white silhouette effect.
Aren't they beautiful?
I chose the Fucus vesiculosus var. linearis (left) and the Polyides rotundus (right), and proceeded to crop my image and select the size of the printed image. [Note: I decided to have my selected images printed by the NYPL printing company, Pictopia Collections, rather than saving the images on a flashdrive and bringing them to Kinko's to print. You certainly have the option to do either.]
Now they were ready to be matted and framed.
But that's not all, lovely readers:
I wanted to also share a special Discount Code for NYPL printing through Pictopia Collections.
Get 10% off your order by using the coupon code 123XYZ when checking out.
Hope you'll all enjoy the vast selection of images the New York Public Libary Digital Gallery has to offer!
This looks lovely!
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