Eco-printing: Riverscapes

This workshop was part of a larger programme of public engagement projects and exhibition, BY LEAVES WE LIVE, devised and facilitated for pupils from Perth Primary Schools.

Located on the banks of the River Tay, pupils created personal and collaborative works of art in a wide variety of media in an ‘open-air studio’, in response to the public art installation, MEANDER, by Elizabeth Ogilvie and Rob Page sited in Perth’s City Centre.

Following the Project, we exhibited the pupils’ work at Perth’s Civic Hall.

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This project took inspiration from Sir Patrick Geddes - biologist, philanthropist and innovative town planner who grew up in Perth during the late 1800s - who believed in the importance of living in a sustainable manner alongside and within nature. Trees play a crucial role within Perth’s beautiful landscape and Geddes provided the catalyst for the works created by the pupils.

We brought along a large and diverse selection of foraged leaves for the pupils to make eco-printed riverscapes, using a process that extracts the natural dyes from leaves to create prints on paper or fabric - in our case long, fibrous Japanese paper.

We asked them to create individual works evocative of the Tay’s riverbed, observing the leaves floating on the surface, and those sinking and biodegrading beneath in the mud and silt - echoing some of the themes found in the film MEANDER by Elizabeth Ogilvie and Rob Page. They then collaborated with their classmates to create further RIVERSCAPES to bring to life a floating transient world of mystery, colour and depth. Their works evoked fishing nets, river currents and the natural and sometimes man-made flotsam as it appears and disappears on its meandering journey to the sea.