Hand-Dyeing Tissue Paper
Hand-Dying Tissue Paper: 10 techniques and 10 creative projects
Gill Barret
Search Press
Introduction
As a child, I remember doing all sorts of things with tissue paper. So I look at this medium with a smile or memory. It to me, symbolises fun, play, exploration. Maybe it has the same hold on you. Now it’s our chance to renew this love in adulthood, although some methods could also be taught to a younger audience too.
This book is all about colour, mixed media and trying out to see what happens…
Intrigued?
About the author
Barret, inspired by nature and flowers, uses mixed media to basically play - with success. Using a wealth of media including wax and ink, she creates a colourful scene. Known for her work in local art galleries and this book, her website also sees her as a tutor, one who we too can do an online course with. Check out her website for more information here.
One last thing, her website on the front page says ‘Gill sees flowers in everything’ - not a bad persona eh?
Who will enjoy this book
Those who have a love of nature and flowers, as well as the more messy side of creativity. Be prepared to get hands messy with wax, ink and many other materials to dye the tissue paper to your aspirations.
The creative content highlights
I will list a few of my favourite things from the book’s content:
The method she uses is actually very clever. Throughout the book we see her trademark of using Japanese techniques, traditionally on fabric used on the delicate medium which is tissue paper. For those who are familiar with this fragile paper, you can only imagine that this is a skill to take time to learn, so patience is needed - but oh what results.
The first half of the book is taken up with techniques. Here you will learn how to use wax, inks etc as well as the pattern creation methods - for example one of my favourites is the Technique 7 Tie Dye - again we might have all tried the Tie-dye t-shirt phase, but this careful application on tissue may be new to us.
The way she makes her flower patterns is also a go-to (see Technique 8). Have you heard of or used wax resist paste? You will here.
The second half of the book is all about the projects. So once the methods are learned, we need to know what to do with them. In this section you will find everything from gift tags to candle jars.
My personal favourite is the image of the notecards on page 84/85. The patterns and colour and just so beautiful and this method works really well well printed onto this small form of art.
As you get more experienced, you will be able to progress onto more complex projects, for example maybe a wall mounted piece. What I really love about this medium and her way of teaching, is that it is a method which can become as “big” as you want it to be. If you are less experienced or simply do not have the time to make big art, then you can keep it small, yet still experimental. But it is a method which has room to grow - the ideas are endless as the results cannot be pre-calculated to an exact standard - each result will be new and worth trying.
Last notes
At the end of this book, you will find plenty of support as to getting “stuck” and also the templates you need to make some of the work. Gill Barret is not just an author, she has learned on the job - this book is a teaching tool in itself.
Where to purchase
