Hello Reader,

Long before Instagram, before botanical photography was at our fingertips, there was a woman who found a way to preserve the delicate beauty of plants through sunlight and chemistry.

Her name was Anna Atkins.

As a 19th-century British botanist, artist, and woman, she broke down barriers. A pioneer of early photography, Atkins created what is widely considered the first photographically illustrated book: Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, published in 1843.

Think about that for a moment.

She gathered seaweeds and algae, arranged them carefully on paper, and using a newly discovered technique, these plants became the "negative," blocking the light and leaving their delicate forms behind in luminous white against a deep Prussian blue.

Her images inspire me. She inspires me.

To make a cyanotype, you begin by coating paper with a light-sensitive solution made from iron salts. Once dry, you arrange your botanical treasures—leaves, flowers, ferns, stems—on the surface. Then you expose the composition to sunlight.

Where the sun reaches the paper, the chemistry transforms into that distinctive deep blue. Where the plant blocks the light, the paper remains pale.

Then comes the magic.

You rinse the paper with water, and the image emerges.

🌿 The veins of a leaf.
🌿 The delicate architecture of a fern.
🌿 The silhouette of a flower.

The plant has left its imprint.

For herbalists, I think there is something especially meaningful about this process. It asks us to slow down and truly see the plants we love. To notice their forms and patterns. To gather with intention. To work with sunlight, water, and the botanical world as collaborators.

A cyanotype is more than a picture of a plant. It is a record of an encounter with a plant.

This is the deeper gift of botanical art: the more closely we look, the more intimately we come to know a plant, and the harder it is to see it as merely an ingredient of our herbal formulas. It becomes a being with whom we are in relationship.

✨ Come experience the magic of cyanotypes with us!

The Living Page with Tony Lemos This is a 4-Part Workshop!​ Session 1 – July 30, 6-7:30 PM Session 2 – August 6, 6-7:30 PM Session 3 – August 13, 6-7:30 PM Session 4 – August 20, 6-7:30 PM Learn More

This workshop series will be recorded, and the replays will be available to all registrants.

👉 Learn more and register​

We're thrilled to welcome Tony Lemos at the BotanicWise Women's Gathering in Kempton, PA, on September 18-20! Join us to have the opportunity to explore this beautiful process firsthand and create your own botanical prints. Learn more and register here.​

Yours in Health,

Charis Lindrooth

BotanicWise