Alder Catkins & Iron I found an Alder tree laden with pretty cone-like catkins. These are now woody and fall to the ground since they have dispersed their seeds and the tree is busy growing new catkins. I foraged a few old catkins to extract a plant dye colour – my first proper dye bath!! Alder catkins usually produce a dark colour (spoiler: I was amazed at how dark). I’d love to try other plant parts in future, such as different tree barks and pine cones.The female catkins in March/ April.To make the colour wash – and lightfast and create an image, I wanted try making an iron printing paste first. Iron has been used as a mordant (compounds that chemically bond dye to fabric) since ancient times by submerging fabric in iron-rich streams/ springs or applying mud that contains iron (link: Wild Colours, 2024). I remember seeing streams where the water had the colour of a reddish amber indicating the presence of iron (see photos below). Making a simple iron paste involved some effort such as learning about mordants by attending online and in-person workshops, trying to understand chemistry and reading safety data sheets for best practice. I feel like an alchemist now!Iron-rich water in woodland streams that I’ve encountered (Germany & Scotland).~My process and results~Preparations: getting the pH right and painting on my mesh with liquid natural latex.I find that old plastic cards work well as squeegees. And I’m so pleased with my DIY screen printing frame! 🙂My cotton mesh & a test print.Left: soaking the fabric in water with wheat bran | Right: removing the fabric from the alder dye bathInteresting marks and a little Bacopa flower test result.Sometimes my print paste was a bit too runny. Here are two scenes (and memories) involving birds – a robin sitting on my foot and a crow eating a tortilla chip.This illustration is based on a made-up story about having cold hands.I feel like I’ve unlocked a new chapter in my printing story. I still need to get to know the temperament of my chosen materials better and experiment further, but I feel very encouraged so far. My next experiments will involve dried Symplocos leaves as a mordant instead of iron. This means my prints would be made of 100% plant materials! Until then… bye for now!