The Book Artist as Naturalist - Nov 7 & 8, 2026

A two-day creative experience, this multi-disciplinary workshop explores the botanical contact printing process (eco-printing) to create images on paper with fresh and pressed plant materials. Directly printing forms found in the natural world has been used for centuries by scientists, naturalists, and artists to preserve the ephemeral beauty of nature!

On the first day (9-4:30), students will learn botanical contact printing immersion techniques using dye baths on assorted paper and several nature printing techinques that don’t require a press. On the second day (10-4), the results will be used to create four books –- two non-adhesive no-sew structures, a multiple signature pamphlet, and a hybrid structure based on the accordion with pockets and sewn in signatures – all filled with rich visual content. Students will receive comprehensive handouts for all the book stuctures and nature printing techniques.

This workshop is perfect for artists, designers, painters, printmakers, book artists and non-artists with interest making books and in the natural world. Knowledge of basic book binding is helpful, but not mandatory. The instructor will bring a variety of plant materials, but students should plan to bring a bag of plants too.

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Host or Publisher The International Printing Museum