Technique from Sas

Precious Bundles

These came about after a workshop at Art and Soul with Sas Colby in 2007. The title of the class was "Book as Power Object" and we created books that held personal memories and were sealed shut by thread, wax and/or wrappings of some kind

Book as Power Object

One of the techniques Sas demonstrated was the use of gesso and shellac to give a vintage or antique look. She showed us an old newspaper on which she had used this technique. It looked fragile, very old and somehow valuable.
I did a series that I call "Precious Bundles" using the technique. I gathered foreign newspapers - French, Italian, Chinese and Spanish - folded them in quarters and left them out in the sun for a few days. Then I gessoed both sides, while still wet I placed a collage image in the center of the front of each folded paper. When dry I used Bulls Eye shellac on both sides. (This is quite smelly and pretty toxic, so obviously work in a place with good ventilation). After the shellac dried -fairly quickly - I wound the papers with different coloured hemp, centering a large embellishment (number disk, old coin, jewelry doughnut, etc.) on the front of each bundle.
Bits of the foreign text show through the gesso and shellac layers, adding to the mystery of the pieces. These sit atop a pile of suitcases in our great room and every time I pass by and see them, I picture by-gone days, secret manifests and embassy deliveries of Precious Bundles.