The Northwind Art School at Fort Worden State Park is tapping Connecticut-based artist Fruma Markowitz to provide a “Cyanotype Family Funday.”

Cyanotype photography is a cameraless technique that involves laying an object on paper coated with a solution before exposing it to ultraviolet light and washing it in water. From 1-4 p.m. Aug. 30, Markowitz plans to conduct an afternoon of making prints on paper using the technique as a form of “blue alchemy” where images are created in the process.   

Several decades ago, Markowitz was one of only a few Americans at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, where she explored the cyanotype process.

After graduating, Markowitz became a photojournalist, book jacket designer, portraitist and fashion photographer, teaching courses in Israel before she moved back to the U.S. in 2003, where she’s also taught courses and shown her work in galleries across the country.

Markowitz agreed to come to Port Townsend because one of her few fellow Americans at the Bezalel Academy was Brian Goodman, a photographer and fellow teaching artist at the Northwind Art School, with whom she became best friends in Jerusalem.

“So Markowitz gets to visit Goodman and his family, and teach her beloved cyanotype class,” Northwind Art spokesperson Diane Urbani said.

When asked why this art practice still excites her after all these years, Markowitz said, “You get to be outside. You’re not stuck in a room,” and when you create your sun prints, “you never know what you’re going to get.”

She added, “When that image comes up in the water, it’s like, ‘Oh my God.’ The blues are like the sky, the white is like the clouds, yet there are always surprises when the prints emerge.”

Markowitz noted that the cyanotype solution is non-toxic and safe for people of all ages to use. She will provide all the supplies for the class, while the sun provides the light, making it “the easiest-peasiest thing. It’s really magical.”

Leila Block, a Northwind Art School staffer and teaching artist, said she looks forward to seeing what families create together.

“Cyanotype is so fun,” Block said. “You might be able to make a boring cyanotype, but I don’t think so.”

Information and registration for the class, which participants can join at any time during the afternoon, can be found under “Take a Class” at northwindart.org. This is an all-ages workshop, with a $45 fee covering up to two adults, and up to four youngsters.