How to hapa-zome print on paper with garden flowers

We planted a lovely little flower garden at home recently and I wanted to explore some more eco-printing with them.

Hapa-zome is a Japanese technique printing/pounding with flowers onto a surface. I decided to experiment with combining hapa-zome flower prints, over some eucalyptus eco prints I created earlier.

How to hapa-zome print flowers on paper

Step 1: Gather flowers, a hammer, paper (I used 200GSM watercolour paper), grease-proof paper and a durable, flat surface.

I chose flowers from my garden to experiment with, understanding that not all flowers have enough pigment in them to work. So I approached this activity as a fun experiment.

Step 2: Lay the flower onto the paper surface and cover with grease-proof paper. Hammer gently.

With this step, it takes some experimentation with how light or firmly to hammer the flowers, in order to produce a pigmented print. I found starting lightly and some flowers fell apart after 1 bang, others held together well for 5-6 prints. Covering with the grease proof paper stops the floral juice from getting on the hammer. For more delicate flowers, you could try a mallet or use a piece of think card instead of grease-proof paper.

Step 3: Repeat this process, lifting the flower and moving it to another area of the page until all the colour is released, or the flower disintegrates.

I found magenta and yellow snapdragons printed beautifully, whereas pink and orange of the same flower didn’t. It’s all trial and error and fun! We have some little wild blue flowers that are incredibly delicate growing in our gutters, which produce lovely colour, but disintegrate immediately.

Step 4: Experiment with various flowers, patterns and surfaces

I really enjoyed exploring and experimenting with a range of flowers and leaves, over my existing eco-prints on 200 GSM watercolour paper. You could also explore different flowers and plants, like natives. I found the flowers printed more crisply on smoother side of the paper. It would be cool to explore on some other surfaces too, like bamboo paper, cardboard, even fabric.

Step 5 (Extra tips): Try Pre-mordanting paper with Soy Milk for longevity

Through my previous eco-printing experiments (see here, here and here), I have found that soaking my papers overnight in a 1:5 soy-milk to water ratio, helped my nature prints take hold on the surface and fix the natural colours.

This is only the third time I’ve printed with the hapa-zome technique, and each time I’ve used watercolour paper I’d pre-mordanted with soy (I use store-bought soy milk with the least amount of additives, with rain water). None of the flower prints have faded or browned yet (the first one I created about 6 months ago). So time will tell if the hapa-zome prints are permanent when the surface is pre-mordanted.

I also found that the prints come out best on white/light surfaces - the colours barely showed over my darker eco-prints.

I imagine some colours and flowers may last longer than others. I’ll be sure to update if/when I notice any changes. I’ll be sure to keep any new findings posted on my blog, so stay tuned.

Yay for nature, experimentation and creative beauty!