Natural Impression: Taking an Artistic Path Through Nature

Arts & Activities, Nov, 2003 by Jerome J. Hausman

(2002; $19.95), by Carolyn A. Dahl. Watson-Guptill Publications, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003.

For Carolyn Dahl, the nature-print provides a new way of seeing the world. She observed that "even Leonardo da Vinci was fascinated by nature printing and left many prints in his 15th-century notebooks." As she put it: "Learning to nature print is more than making art. It's also about the power of nature to enlarge our creativity if we make a place for it in our lives." This is a book whose contents can be applied to all levels of teaching (K-12). You begin by gathering materials--flowers, leaves, weeds, stones, insects, fish, etc. There will also have to be the paper, cloth, paints, inks and assorted tools for prints to be made. The chapter titles that follow provide some sense for this book's imaginative content: morning glory on my pillow, using the "color-catcher" method, memory-inspired leaf prints, drinking the moon. Step-by-step details are provided: paper bleaching, making leaf rubbings, dried and pressed flowers, monoprinting, photocopy collages. The author goes even further by introducing means for photocopying and computer manipulation. For information about this publication, circle No. 388 on the Reader Service Card.