Hello and welcome to the Gelli Arts® blog, today we are lucky to have Birgit Koopsen sharing a new project idea with us!

You probably all have seen or made prints using natural
material like twigs, leaves and even flowers. But have you ever thought of Gelli® Printing with vegetables? It is so much fun and also a great thing to do with your
kid!

Start by cutting all the vegetables so they are ready to
use. Of course you can cut off only the parts you need for printing and use the
rest for dinner. As soon as you start cutting your room will smell as if you’re
making soup, yummy! So just plan to eat soup on the day you do vegetable Gelli® Printing. Two birds with one stone, right?! 

Watch the video here and then find some more ideas in the
pictures below:

As you saw in the video I started with making simple
patterns using cabbage. I’ve cut the cabbage both at the top and at the bottom,
which gave me 2 very different “tools.” One big “flower” with lots of details
and one smaller that looks like iregular nesting circles. I wrapped some
packaging tape around the cabbage leaves so they wouldn’t fall apart.

By repeating the shapes you can create simple but
interesting, organic patterns and I really like them.

Also in the video I used paprika. If you cut it at the top,
close to the stem, it will give you a nice big flower pattern.

Celery also creates beautiful flowers when using the end
part. The sticks create a fun half moon shape, which is fun to create smaller
patterns with. You can also bind two sticks together with some packaging tape
to create yet another pattern.

By combining vegetables like onion and celery, or adding
herbs like thyme, you can create a complete “painting” of flower bulbs with
flowers. These are my favorite prints and they are so easy and quick to make. If
you are using regular acrylic paint instead of open acrylics then you can add a
few drops of slow-dri blending medium so you have a bit more time to create a
nice composition.

Aren’t they just beautiful? I like them so much that I think
they are worth framing, what do you think?

Now, I hear you thinking… will the vegetables affect my
Gelli® Plate, will they make the plate smell bad?

No, they don’t. Not even the onion! I cleaned my Gelli® Plate after printing with a baby wipe and it doesn’t smell at all.

So you are good to go and I hope this post inspires you to
look differently at vegetables when grocery shopping.

Have fun creating unique, organic prints and I hope to see
you again next month for more Gelli® Printing fun!

Happy printing!

Birgit

Products Used:

8″ x 10″ Gelli® Printing Plate

PS: Please—share your prints with us on our Facebook page, or on Instagram using the hashtag #gelliprint #gelliarts and #gelliplate. Tag us with @gelliarts on Instagram and Twitter too! We love to see what you’re creating!!

Remember, we now have Gelli partners all over the world, so it’s easier than ever to find a Gelli retailer near you!