"Get Plastered" Maggie Hickman Smith July Meeting 2015

This month our workshop was led by Maggie Smith who has developed a technique of working with plaster onto paper and calico, applying colour and then stitching into the result. She brought lots of samples to inspire us and some beautifullyfinished pieces as you can see below.

Maggie demonstrated how to mix the plaster; one rounded tablespoon of polyfilla, one small dollop of PVA, one larger dollop of white matt emulsion. We all waited in a line like Oliver with our bowls to receive the polyfilla! This was mixed to a smooth creamy consistency with a fork.

Maggie then showed us how to apply the plaster, first to paper then calico with a spreader and then how to markmake into the plaster with various items - corks, sticks, card, printing blocks.

After lunch we were shown how to add pieces for texture such as scrim,  tissue and threads and how to use masking tape as a resist.
These pieces were left to dry and then colour was applied using Koh in Noor.

It was a very interesting day because it was like nothing we had tried before and it was also good fun. By the end of the day we all had lots of samples and lots of ideas how we might use this technique. We took our pieces home to experiment with stitch and use them to make cards or part of book covers.
Thank you Maggie for introducing us to a very different technique in a very fun way.

Sample with stitch applied to book cover