Book and Paper Arts (page 14 of 15)
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One of the most beautiful and accessible techniques for decorating pages is with paste paper. For centuries it has been used for endpapers, bookbinding, wallpaper, and other crafts. In the 17th century it was widely used by unmarried Moravian women as a way of supporting themselves at home; their work made its way all over Europe.
Recipes vary, but this is one I have used for years. The alum is a mordant, which helps the color “grab” the paper. (For my U.K. friends, alum can be bought online.)
- ½ cup white flour (cake flour is best but if you don’t have it, don’t sweat it)
- ½ cup corn starch/corn flour
- 1 tablespoon alum
- 1 cup + 1 cup cold water
- 4 cups boiling water
Basically you are creating a homemade paste. Mix flour, corn starch, and alum thoroughly. Add one cup cold water and whisk. Add four cups boiling water and keep stirring with whisk. Place over high heat on stovetop and keep stirring. As mixture thickens, turn the temperature down and let it simmer. It is important to keep stirring constantly for an even texture. I let it cook for about 15 minutes. The mixture will become somewhat translucent and pudding like.
Take off [read more]
We recently spent two weeks in north-central France, in a town called Montargis, with Gab’s old friend Jean-Pierre. These are pages from my illustrated journal that I did while there.
The first, best piece of advice I ever received about keeping an illustrated or sketchbook journal was to always, always travel with your supplies and be prepared. I take mine everywhere: walks, restaurants, museums, doctor’s offices, even church – a great place for meditative drawing. If you carry what you need with you along with your sketchbook, you will always be ready to draw at a moment’s notice, no excuses and more importantly, be ready to use small amounts of time where you might ordinarily be staring into space (traffic jams, airplanes, etc.)
If you have never kept a portable studio like this before, don’t worry. Everyone is going to work with different materials to suit their own style and needs, and you may not know what these are until you have tried it for awhile. Also, buying all new supplies can be expensive, although it is perfectly possible to keep a visual diary with little more than a good pen and a glue stick. Just get what you can and add to it when you can. For instance, I couldn’t really afford a whole set of good water color crayons in one go, so I buy one or two whenever [read more]
Join me on Saturday, May 2, for a paste paper workshop at the Garnswllt Hall Activity Centre in Ammanford. This is traditional technique similar to marbling that uses pulling, combing, and other devices to create multi-dimensional designs. Once dry, these paste paper pages can be used for a variety of paper crafts, including card making, bookbinding, and collage. From 10:00 to noon we will make unique paste paper pages. After a break for lunch, we will then use our pages in a variety of crafts from 1:00 to 3:00. The fee is £25. Please pre-register by contacting me at KellyBoler79@gmail.com.
We spent a week in Budapest. I figure I averaged a little over a page a day which doesn’t sound too great, except that is the eternal visual journal work dilemma: do you sit still and draw or move on and explore new things? Do you create an image of your authentic Hungarian meal, or do you eat it while it is still hot? I am getting better at putting in rough lines and filling them in while waiting forever in airports and train stations. The journey – all of the journeys – continue.
I have been working like a bandersnatch lately. Altered books, atlases, paper art. Book [read more]
A few weeks ago I was in Asheville, North Carolina. Lots of walking, lots of journal pages, and lots of leaves. I drew leaves. I photographed leaves. But I wished that there was some way to actually get a leaf onto a page, the ones that I was collecting in my pocket as we walked; a tiny bit of the walk and the day. Last year I made walnut ink for the same reason. Sure, I can buy it, but making something out of the trail and the beauty to make other things of beauty after the autumn has passed, this is – I don’t know – a kind of contract that with nature.
It is possible to incorporate flowers and foliage into handmade paper with impressive results, but I don’t make paper, I only use it for book binding and other paper arts. However, after searching about a zillion journal sites online, I found something perfect. It’s called eco-printing. Silly name, great result.
There are several different methods of eco-printing, but so far this is the only one that I have tried.
