My altered book came to an abrupt halt when it started screaming out for paste paper. And I was out. Last weekend I didn't cook nothing for nobody. I got Zoe around where she had to go, but after that, the paste paper was calling and I shut the outside world out and surrendered to the lure of the paste and paint.
Zoe and I came up with 86 sheets that we kept for our stash.
Here's the recipe for the paste I used. It was smooth, but wasn't as pliable after drying as I would have liked.
Mix 2 cups cake flour with 2 cups water in a saucepan. Stir over medium heat (stir fast and don't stop!) just until it thickens. Stir into 10 cups of boiling water (stir fast and don't stop). When that thickens a bit, take off heat add 1 teaspoon glycerin and a 1/2 teaspoon of Dawn dish soap and let sit over night in the refrigerator. It will keep 2-3 days. If lumpy strain before using. Put some paste in a cup, add some color to your liking. I used 60lb. white laserprinting paper purchased at Staples for these papers. Paint the colored paste onto the paper. make designs in the paint by dragging combs, brushes, your fingers, lids etc., through the paint. Let dry flat, after dry, if it curls, you can iron the paper to flatten it out.
The paste papers can be used for anything! Endpapers in books, collage, greeting cards. My daughter Zoe is 10 and this is a project that she enjoyed - we spent hours making papers - every surface in the kitchen was covered with paint and drying papers! Including the floor, trash bags worked great for laying the papers on.
A note: except for the "feathery" piece, all the other samples here were made with the same "Fluff" lid cut into a funky shape. And, Garth had found a whole tub of fingerpaint and washable paint at the recycling center's "good pile". The tube acrylics made the most vivid colors, but the "kids" paints made lovely pastel - and there was plenty of it. Having plenty is a real treat for art-addicts.
2 comments:
what beautiful paper you made!
Thanks! Now I can get back to Raven book... I saw about 100 crows sitting in trees in sunset yesterday.
I started another book called "This book isn't about you" in response to feeling tapped out from doing graphic design work all day and not having the creative energy to put into my own artwork. I have to work on seeing my work through my own eyes instead of "client eyes". And how we're really looking for a truth about ourselves while reading books. I may have enough truths for awhile! I started thinking about that after interviewing Mr. Meiners from Pine Tree Seeds last week for the paper. He said he looked at his test gardens with a scientific eye, but had a lot of fun in his home garden, and I realized that I have ingrained in me the sense that all my work is serious - it will be judged - and must be well done in order to sell. Hence the paste paper... finding the free and fun part....
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