Libby learnt the art of developing black and white photographs during her childhood from her father and has always been fascinated by the magic of capturing images and printing them. By chance she discovered cyanotype printing which is an even older photographic process invented by Sir John Herschel in 1842 as a way of copying notes, diagrams and botanical specimens. By using potassium ferricyanide and ferric ammonium citrate exposed by natural sunlight Herschel produced the distinctive white on Prussian blue images which were the origin of the expression ‘blue print’ This whole process enchanted Libby who found this less precise printing technique more to her liking and she began to experiment.
Having grown up near the south Devon coast and gone to school in in north east Scotland Libby is inspired by big skies, large bodies of water and the natural world in general. She has no formal artistic training so everything she produces is the result of trial and error and she has come up with some delightful effects quite by accident! Using a mixture of drawing, decoupage and natural exposure her quirky blue and white pictures have a life of their own. Seeing the details and natural variations of a real flower or a mayfly printed into a hard surface is quite astonishing and one can imagine how revolutionary this technique was in the mid 19th century.
Most of Libby”s work is printed onto paper and some types of paper work better than others. Rice paper, tissue paper, water colour paper all work well and give good sharp images. It is possible to print onto fabric but that requires a lot more chemicals and the resulting pieces must be washed very carefully as the alkaline in detergents will dramatically fade the printed image. It is also possible to print onto ceramics however the pieces cannot then be fired as that process turns the blue to a shade of faded orange.
Libby exhibited a series of tulip prints at the Dyrham Park Tulipmania event and she regularly exhibits at the Corsham Gallery. She also opens her studio for the annual Marlborough Open Studios
