Week 29

Beeswax as Adhesive

BY GIUSEPPINA “JOSIE” CIRINCIONE | from Collage Lost and Found

illustration

In Week 26, you used plastic wrap and watercolor to create a design. This week, try using beeswax as an adhesive in a collage. Beeswax has a slightly hazy quality and offers a natural soft yellow color. Beeswax will accept rubber-stamped images, and you can use beeswax to adhere small, three-dimensional objects.

Materials

illustration hot pot (like a Crock-Pot)

illustration beeswax

illustration canvas board

illustration foam brush

illustration paint palette

illustration 2 colors of acrylic paint (1 lighter, 1 darker)

illustration paper towels

illustration optional: heat gun

illustration patterned tissue (such as a dress pattern)

illustration craft brush

illustration tape

illustration quilting iron

illustration paper collage elements

illustration optional: rubber stamps and inkpad

illustration

1. Paint the board

Plug in your hot pot and fill it with beeswax, so it can begin melting. Start with either a canvas board or a piece of linen matboard. Use a foam brush to cover the board with the lighter-colored acrylic paint, then use paper towels to wipe and blot off a good deal of the paint. Add the darker color over the top of the first coat, but only in sections. Wipe off this color as well. Let the board dry thoroughly, or dry it with a heat gun.

illustration

2. Overlay the tissue paper and wax

Lay patterned tissue paper over your board where you want the pattern to be. Look for tissue that complements your composition. Using a craft brush, apply a layer of melted beeswax over the tissue. Cover the entire board.

illustration

3. Smooth the wax

Wrap excess tissue around the back of the board and secure it with tape. Using a quilting iron, smooth the wax over the board to reveal more of the texture and the printing on the tissue. Scrape up the excess wax and put it back in the hot pot.

illustration

4. Remove wax

Remove as much or as little wax as you like. I like to remove most of the wax.

illustration

5. Collage

Cut out collage elements you want to add. Set an image on the board (it will stick naturally). Then brush over the element with beeswax.

illustration

6. Finish the piece

Go back with the quilting iron and remove the excess wax. Be careful not to remove too much wax, or you may remove part of the image. If desired, burnish parts of the image with your fingers to make it shiny. You can stamp on the wax also, if you like, using permanent ink.