the tide chart is my studio clock now
I print by the tide these days. Not by the light exactly, that too, but by the actual state of the water. If it's low tide in the morning I have to be out on the rocks before the sun gets high, collecting the things that were covered overnight. Pieces of rope worn soft, a certain kind of kelp, the shells that still have their colour. Then back to print while they're still wet from the sea.
It means my studio hours are different every week. Some days I'm working at six. Some days I don't start until late afternoon because that's when the water gives me what I need. It makes a mess of any routine I try to keep. But the prints are better. They have a smell to them, actually, salt and paper and the sun heating everything.
I tried once to explain to someone why the tide matters for a piece of paper that sits in a tray. I couldn't find the words. But I keep doing it.
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This is such a different way of working than anything I'd ever manage, but I kind of love the idea of it. I'm totally ruled by the clock, kids have to be somewhere, dinner has to happen, so my painting time is basically 8-10pm if I'm lucky. But I can see how tuning into something like that would change what you make. The materials you're collecting sound amazing too, I bet those prints have a texture you couldn't get any other way.
What do you print onto? Paper, fabric? I'm so curious about the process side of it.
The 8-10pm window sounds hard, honestly. But I'm glad it gives you the time at all, those hours have a different quiet to them.
I print mostly on paper. Good cotton rag, usually. I like how it takes the water, how the emulsion sinks in rather than sitting on top. Fabric I've tried but it never feels right for these particular things, the seaweed prints need the crispness of paper, I think. A friend of mine prints on silk and it's beautiful, but it's a different conversation entirely.
If you ever wanted to try it, cyanotype is surprisingly forgiving. You could do it in that two-hour window and still have time to clean the brushes before bed.