Tataki Zome is the Japanese Art of pounding flowers and leaves to transfer the natural pigments (dyes) of flowers and leaves to paper or fabric.
The term comes from the Japanese words tataki meaning hammering, and zome meaning dying. You don’t need many supplies and you probably have most of them lying around your house, which makes it a great activity to do with kids and a neat way to create some unique art.
What you need:
- Watercolor paper or construction paper
- Hammer (or you can use a rock or something hard that works as a hammer)
- Parchment paper (or can use a large Ziplock bag)
- Freshly picked flower petals and leaves
- Sharpie/markers/colored pencils (optional)
Directions:
- Arrange your flower petals and leaves onto your paper. Make them in any arrangement or collage that you like. Be sure that you are on a good surface for hammering.
- Place the parchment paper (or Ziplock bag) gently over the flower so that you don’t shift your design arrangement.
- Start hammering all around your flower petals and leaves that are under the paper. Ensure you get all parts of the flower (in the middle and around the edges). You want your hammering to be firm enough to get the color out of the foliage but not too firm that you crush your foliage into mush and splatter color everywhere.
- Remove the parchment paper and begin to gently peel the petals and leaves off of the paper. If your arrangement shifted during the hammering process, you could try doing each petal/leaf one at a time.
- Repeat the process until you are happy with your work.
After we completed our masterpiece, we used watercolor colored pencils to outline the flowers and to color in spots that didn’t transfer well with the hammering. You can also do this Japanese art on a piece of cloth, but just know that the color will fade when you wash it. These can make a very pretty Mother’s Day card or craft that mom will surely enjoy.
If you have already done Tataki Zome, what other items have you tried this art form on?
