Making Plaster Books

I am making small plaster books

Mostly because it is fun

But also to use up some of my stuff

and there is the possibility of a pop up 

in the near future

I have a dwindling collection

of what I call matt board

It is wastage from a framers

I have had it more than 15 years

I cut it into ~10 x 10cm squares

and join them with strips of cloth

glued with rabbit skin glue

These are then wrapped 

in plaster bandage

 

and then I gesso

with rabbitskin glue and whiting gesso

several times

for a beautiful finish

but still with a little texture

and then it occurred to me

what if I just skipped the plaster step

and just glued

an open weave cotton fabric

to the matt board?

and then gessoed that

We shall see

and next I shall paint

and maybe add some found words

x te

Experiments with Alternate Grounds

I live a long way from shops

and I do a lot via the internet

and the postal service

But I really like to find alternatives

to do things myself

so as I have to buy whiting

a form of calcium carbonate used to make

traditional gesso

I thought I might have a play 

with alternatives

The first two samples

are cuttlefish bone ground in a mortar and pestle

this is mixed with rabbit skin glue

* glue mix

this is chicken bones 

that were loose in the fire overnight

in the morning they were a lovely soft white

crushed in a mortar and pestle

top with rabbitskin glue on fabric

below with the glue mix*

The next two samples 

are made with shell nacre

I found if I heat it with the blow torch 

it separates and becomes very brittle

and easy to break up

it is then crushed in a mortar and pestle

again the top is rabbitskin glue on fabric

and below is Glue mix

This is cuttlefish and rabbitskin glue

which has then been printed with egg yolk

and then dipped in Purple Carrot

and Bloodroot, both dissolved in methylated spirit

the glue used through out to stick down the pieces

is skim milk powder and water

*Glue mix consists of equal parts 

white sugar and white flour

mixed with water

Normally this would be cooked

But I did not do that 

this time

I will repeat this experiment

but next time

I will use my studio spice grinder 

for a finer result

I also now have a darker bone powder

made by enclosing the bones in a tin

and therefore excluding the air

before placing in the fire

and questions

or feedback

please leave a comment

x te

Testing Marks More Experiments

All of these samples are on cotton fabric

which had been previously 

painted/stained/marked with 

Xanthorrhoea Resin in methylated spirits

You could substitute Shellac

they were then gessoed

(rabbit skin Glue and whiting)

on one side only

each was marked as noted

under the image

and then dipped in methylated spirit

to see how it reacted

bought rice paste + white pigment

dipped while wet

Rice paste + white pigment dried

Rembrant Brand soft pastel

White Conte Crayon

White Charcoal

Schminke Soft Pastel

Art Spectrum Soft Pastel

Rice paste + Copper Pigment Dry

Rice paste + Copper Pigment Wet

Rice paste + Terre Vert Pigment Wet

Rice paste + Terre Vert Pigment Dry

This was the rice paste I used here

I will most likely also

try using home made rice paste

maybe also wheat paste.

who knows

the permutations are fascinating

and endless

or maybe that is just me

Any questions

please ask

x te

Xanth and Gesso Experiments

I am going to try and explain what the heck I did

I will admit I had to do a couple of new pieces 

to help me remember

I big reminder to make better notes

(or any notes at all)

The commonality between these pieces

is that they all begin as dipped or painted with 

Xanthorrhoea Resin (Xanth)

and then after they dried were

painted with tradtional gesso

I am working with plants dissolved in methylated spirits

which is a type of denatured alcohol

the idea here is to pull the Xanth 

through to the front

which I did by accident the first time

These have been dipped/soaked in 

methylated spirit (meths)

on the left is cotton fabric 

on the right a book page

both cloth in puffball and meths

left just a dip

right a 10 minute soak

these are both paper

and have had a shape painted on the back

with the Xanth

then into meths with a little Xanth 

contaminating it

on cloth

here I have painted on 

a shape with a mix

of skim milk powder

titanium dioxide pigment

and water

here it is after drawing into it with a Pitt Pen

and then dipping 

the bottom half in Puffballs

and the top in Bloodroot

I did give the white areas a bit of a wipe

a white line after dipping

soaked in meths

dried

drawn with a brush pen 

then painted with white and wiped

old pieces done

with some technique like above

but no notes taken so 

I am not entirely sure

I think I need to do more

these two were drawn with

a thicker Xanth and Puffball mix

before dipping causing them to bleed

working back into pieces with pencil

and a white gel pen

drawing with thicker puffball 

after dipping

If you have any questions

or even just to let me know what you think

and if you are interested in more

please leave a comment

x te

Mark Making on Gessoed Fabric

Small Samples

On Cotton Fabric that has traditional gesso applied

this is a mixture of calcium carbonate (whiting)

and rabbit skin glue

Marks were applied 

and after they had dried they were

dipped into a jar of Xanthorhoea resin

dissolved in methylated spirits

(this is an Oz equivalent of using Shellac)

except for the girl

see her notes

Permanent Ink

Sumi E Ink

Sharpie

Sharpie Girl

dipped into

Puffball

and

Bloodroot

both dissolved in Methylated Spirits

x te

Marks on Wax, Samples

I have been sorting through my vast collection of samples

and thought I might just share them

They are all started with a little clear wax 

on water colour paper

Some also have some indigo wax

made by dissolving natural indigo powder

straight into the molten clear wax

It is often difficult to make marks directly onto the wax

So I make them onto a sheet of tracing paper

(you can use other paper)

then place it mark side down on the cool wax

and burnish well

This coloured charcoal pencils

Ordinary Bic Biro/Ball point pen

Graphite Stick

Indian Ink applied direct

Charcoal

A carbon paper transfer

This is a small piece of Chinese Joss Paper

placed on the wax burnished well

then wet throughly

and then gently rub off the paper backing

and last copper leaf applied to a raised area of wax

I hope someone benefits

from my samples

More soon

x te

Indigo Buttons

I had some buttons left over 

from making up the buttons sets

so on a whim 

I popped 4 into the indigo

I have a mini vat

sitting next to the fire

I left them in for 

48 hours

So pleased with the results

That I have put a few more in

I may even be tempted to 

remove a set or two from there cards

and give them the treatment as well

x te