I know, looks like six leaves, not three, but it’s a mirror image print. On the left of the middle fold are prints of the fronts of the leaves, on the right, the backs. I think it’s the tannin – which is generally or always (I don’t know the exact truth of this) found on the back of the leaf – that makes this print seem like six different leaves as the backs dye differently to the fronts.
Tannin: “The term tannin (from tanna, an Old High German word for oak or fir tree, as in Tannenbaum) refers to the use of wood tannins from oak in tanning animal hides into leather; hence the words “tan” and “tanning” for the treatment of leather.
Tannin is reckoned to protect a plant from predators and viruses. For once, I’m guilt-free, as I’m not guilty of predation, as the leaves were blown from the euc tree I acquired with this house and all I did was collect them from round the garden.
I’ve been experimenting, further to my blog Taking a Walk in Negative Space in some other prints. I’ll post about this next.