Stella Arbeláez Tascón had a commission to create table coverings for a fundraiser dinner at the Orlando Museum of Art. The table arrangement at the museum was based on a 1979 art installation by Judy Chicago called The Dinner Party. In that installation there were 39 elaborate place settings that represented famous and historical women. The messaging of the Dinner Party was to end the ongoing cycle of omission in which women were written out of history.

Stella decided to use the tablecloth commission to create Eco-prints. With the Eco-printing process, the fabrics had to be soaked and treated allowing them to pick up organic prints from leaves placed on them.

Stella gathered leaves from her yard. She picked leaves from the many plants that were on her property. I volunteered to shoot video of her gathering the leaves which she placed in a wicker basket and I used my iPhone to shoot the footage. When we went back to look at the video, we discovered that I had just shot still photos of her gathering the leaves. Damn, I had done such fluid and careful cinematic camera work. Whoops. I should stick to sketching. Still the photos are nice of her reaching and gathering bundles of leaves.

When the fabric was ready, Stella would arrange the leaves on the cloth surface in a pattern that made the most sense. Besides the Eco-prints there were some block prints of leaves that had been carved onto linoleum. I enjoyed helping with the carving of the linoleum as well and I am proud to say I never stabbed my hand.

Most of the leaves were at the outer edges of the tablecloth and the central area was left clear for the intricate place settings which other artists were commissioned to create. To make the prints, Stella rolled up the fabric tightly with the leaves inside. When the sketch was done, I helped her with the rolling process since 4 hands made the job easier than 2.

With the bundle rolled, it was then tied tight with thin strips of fabric and placed in a large pot where they would all be steamed. Stella had no idea how the printing would turn out. She had researched every step but there were so many variables that she couldn’t be sure the prints would work properly.

After steaming the rolled-up fabrics overnight, the moment of truth came in the morning. As Stella unrolled the first rolled up bundle, I began to ooh and ahh as the leaves were removed, each left a distinct mark behind on the fabric. It is a bit like watching fire works. The most rewarding moment of the process was removing the leaves, and I loved helping. Some leaves left district and clear prints while others were ghostly and faint. When all the fabrics were hung on her clothesline illumined by the sun, there was a glorious variety of prints as the cloths waved in the breeze. I loved the variety and Stella was just happy that the process was working.