Tuesday, December 18, 2018

T Stands for Paste Paper


Nan and I went to the Masscribes "Not in My House You Don't Event" where we made paste paper. My workstation set up with a piece of plexiglass, handout, mark making tools, travel mug of tea and a bottle of Stevia drops


The workshop was held at the Sportsmans Club in Norwood. Bystanders were decked out in their Christmoose finery.


The workshop was taught by Nancy Galligan. Her demonstration ready to show different techniques: bruising the paper before pasting, making marks with different tools, under coloring with pastels, pencils, etc. The paper used was Arches Text Wove.

If you don't know what paste paper is, it's basically finger painting for grown ups. A paste is made from flour or cornstarch. There are a ton of recipes for cooked or cold paste. The paste we used was made from Elmer's (formerly Ross') Art Paste.  Acrylic paint is mixed into the paste for color. The workshop was 3 hours long, and it went by took quickly. I realized after the workshop, I didn't take any process pictures


Marks made in the paste with a chopstick


Mat board scraps laid underneath the paper for texture. 


Paste can be applied to many papers even unwaxed butcher paper that's been crumpled. Watercolor papers react best with paste paper.


Back at home, I thought I'd take some process photos. The plexiglass is spritzed with water to hold the paper and the paper is dampened with a wet sponge


A blob of paste is plopped on the paper and smeared with the damp sponge across the sheet.


Most paste paper techniques have the paste portioned into small cups and applied to the paper. Nancy streamlined the process by dropping a wormlet of paint on the acrylic board and picking the color up with a sponge to apply to the paper. An even quicker method is to just drop dots of color directly onto the paper. 

Some of my classmates had commented that there was a lot of wasting of paint as you applied and it got wiped off. You might not want to use your professional grade acrylics. I just used some inexpensive craft paints. For even more vibrant results you can use pigment from Twinrocker.

I didn't rinse out my sponge from a previous sheet of paper so left some blue coloring in the paste. Since I was working with blue and purple paint, it didn't matter to me. If you want clear colors, be sure to rinse your sponge in between.



My cork didn't leave very good marks, but the chopstick did.


You can get some shimmer to your paste by adding some Sparkle Powder from Twinrocker


or some Pearl Ex Mica Powder. I like the sheen the powders give to the paper when dry.



Paste papers left to dry on a plastic sheet on the floor. I had draped a couple of sheets over a clothes drying rack. The paper dried  with ripples, but this can easily be ironed out from the backside or with a pressing cloth if the back is also pasted.

Paste paper can be used as decorative paper for book covers, decorative book end paper, wrapping paper, and it can be used as a substrate for other artwork.

A lot of people seem to make a Holy Grail out of paste paper. It's really quite simple and a lot quicker with the Elmer's Art Paste. It's also very forgiving. If you don't like what you did, let it dry and paste over with a different color. Be aware that pasting over is a bit like using glazes, you may see some of the previous color and marks come through.

The Elmer's recipe makes a gallon of paste. Nancy said left over paste will last 2 to 3 months and does not need to be refrigerated the way left over flour paste needs.

Have you made paste paper?

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

33 comments:

  1. This looks like fun. I used to do this often with the kids in art class when I was still teaching, and they always loved it. Happy T Day, Valerie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kids shouldn't be the only ones to have fun :-D

      Delete
  2. Wow, it looks like you had such fun at the workshop with Nan and your paste paper look amazing! I love the colours you chose 😁. It looks like you have had a busy week too, all your festive makes and decorations look so beautiful! I like your idea of using magnets to decorate the garage door 😁. Wishing you a happy T Day and a very Merry Christmas too! J 😊 x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nan and I had a good time visiting with each other as well as a fun and productive time at the workshops.

      The magnets were an impulse buy from a catalog that had a sale. Since we didn't get lights up outside, I thought it would be fun to have a little decoration.

      Delete
  3. Looks like an amazing workshop! I often made paste papers - but I never got really the results I wished for....
    And as I a not soo keen on making mess I quit it!
    Happy T-Day!
    Hugs Susi

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe making paste paper is an outdoor sport? I've done papers outside on a warm, still day. And just let the papers dry on the grass. No worries about making a huge mess inside

      Delete
  4. wow what a fun workshop. thank you for describing everything as I did not know what paste paper was-may have to try this out some day.
    Happy T and Merry Christmas Kathy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a lot of fun and very forgiving. The Elmer's paste streamlines the process from having to cook a wheat flour paste.

      Delete
  5. It's been a long time since I've made paste paper. Fun to revisit and have background papers ready to go! Thanks for sharing. Happy T day and a Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And fun trying to think what do use all the papers on. Book covers? Writing on? Collage? So many ways to use the papers

      Delete
  6. CJ i have never heard of this before! Looks like a lot of fun!! Happy T day! Hugs! deb

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is! Lots of recipes out there for cooked paste using cake flour or cornstarch. The Elmer's paste is a lot less time consuming to mix up and slopping paint right onto the paper speeds up the process.

      Delete
  7. I'm glad the adults get to have fun, too :) The workshop looks very well-organized, and you got great results. Happy T Tuesday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The instructor was wonderful brought a ton of supplies for us to try. My only complaint was the workshop wasn't long enough :-D

      Delete
  8. Looks like you and Nan had fun at the workshop and it was productive, too. I have made LOTS of paste papers in the past, but made them using liquid starch. It worked great for me. I used an old hair comb (like those used for Afros) and other instruments to make my marks.

    Thanks for sharing your paste paper and tea with us for T this Tuesday, CJ.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We had a great day. Nan and I got to visit, have lunch, and make art.

      Delete
  9. Any day you can 'finger paint' is a good day! :D

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow, how cool! This looks like such fun and clever, too!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I've never heard of paste paper, CJ. Nice results and making it looks like a lot of messy fun.

    Happy T-day and Merry Christmas! Eileen xoxo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is messy fun. I'm pleased with how my papers turned out. Now trying to think what to do with them

      Delete
  12. I have never made paste paper but it looks very fun. I love that you can add all sorts of color to the paste.
    Merry Christmas,
    Kate

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can also add mica powder and fine glitter for some glitz

      Delete
  13. It must have been an wonderful workshop you attended, finger painting for adults sounds real fun to me. You must have many super pages to use for future projects.
    Happy T day wishes.
    Yvonne xx

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have never done this. It looks like it was a fun way to spend a few hours though.I like your holiday decked out audience. It was an interesting venue to be in. Hope you stayed warm with the wind today and had a very happy T day. Hugs-Erika

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I bet your school kids would love this activity

      Delete
    2. Oh, and the guild holds all meetings and functions at the Sportsmans Club. The rental rate is very reasonable.

      Delete
  15. This is so cool CJ! I have never heard of this before! All of them turned out so pretty!! I really love this idea! Thank you! Big Hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  16. No, I haven't made past paper; that is new to me. I will wish you a Merry Christmas, because I won't be on next week.
    We will have a house full of people.

    ReplyDelete