Thanks to Elis Cooke

Yesterday I met up with friends for our monthly play/workshop. We have a teacher/facilitator for these sessions but this winter and spring we have mostly been following our own ideas. Some time ago I had read about a technique on Elis Cooke's Into The Blystic blog and decided I would have a play using her ideas.

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I worked in watercolour as suggested by Elis as this should not stick to the base paper as acrylic or inks would. For the first piece I used a sheet of Saunders Waterford watercolour paper and tore shapes from another sheet of Saunders paper. In addition I used tissue paper, paper doily, nappy liner, sinamay and make up remover pads. I thoroughly wetted the paper and then loosely painted on watercolour and sprinkled salt in some areas. I then left the paper to dry overnight. (This is the hardest part, no peeking!)

This morning I peeled off the various papersand was delighted with the result! (Excuse the colour change....the dried version is nearer the reality). Some of the effects on the main paper surface were achieved where some of the paint crept underneath the masking pieces.

You could if you wished seal the surface with a diluted acrylic medium so that you can work on top or use the lovely textures in collages.

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This second attempt was done on Pittura Acrylis paper. I don't know whether that had any bearing but several of the papers stuck :( I used tissue, paper doily, bubble wrap, face pads, paper towel, tyvek and a hand made paper and salt again.

This morning some of the paper, particularly the dress pattern and the doillies, had stuck to the paper. I particularly like the marks made by the cleansing pads but I will probably tear this page up to use in other work. Don't forget too that you have all the painted papers etc which had been acting as a resist.

The marks under the tissue were made by me scratching with a paintbrush to try and move the paint around.