Artist Jo Howell tells us how to re-imagine old books as new objects for the winter holidays.
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Introduction
Hello!
I’m Jo Howell and I am an artist who is attempting to navigate my way through life with fibromyalgia. For those of you that haven’t heard of it think along the lines of ME and CFS. For me it means lots of pain, exhaustion and brain fog. It means that I have had to find new ways of working that don’t cause a flare up.
There have been storms in the UK and the rapid changes in air pressure have intense effects on my functionality. Simple repetitive activity that can be broken down into stages is the best way for me to make work and accommodate my need for rest.
These are my stars.
You will need:
Step 1 – construct the frame of your star out of sticks
You will need 5 sticks to create each star. Line up your sticks on a sheet of newspaper to create your star shape.
Step 2 – Glue gun the joins
Once you have lined up the five sticks to create a five pointed star you will need to carefully use the hot glue gun to secure the joins.
I started on one side of the star and let each join dry before turning the star over and gluing the joins from the opposite side. If the glue dripped it would stick to the newspaper sheet underneath.
Step 3 – Stick your star to paper
I used four sheets from a book to create two large sheets. Prepare one large sheet with a PVA and water mix. Then lay the star frame on top of the glue.
Use the second large sheet you prepared and sandwich the star frame between the 2 sheets.
Step 4 – cut around the star leaving approximately 0.5mm
Once the two papers are nice and dry with the stick star in between. Carefully cut around the star leaving around half a centimetre of an edge so that you can fold it over and stick it down with PVA.
Step 5 – let the first layers of the star dry
Fold around each edge of the star and secure it with PVA glue. This will give you a good substrate to build up your Papier-mache layers of the star.
Step 6 – prepare your paper
The book I am using for Papier-mache is called Heroines of Mercy and it was won by a little girl for regular attendance at church in 1919.
I love repurposing books. Usually I would be cyanotype printing on the pages but weirdly the paper is not good enough. Perhaps there were cotton rag shortages after World War I. Paper from before the 1950’s is often good quality because it has a higher cotton content.
The paper was a musty yellow and wanted to crumble like sawdust so rather than waste it that I should use it for Papier-mache instead.
The book also stinks because it is old and water damaged. The fly poo and orange toned pages are absolutely gorgeous when saturated in PVA glue. These pages are from a little girls book from the Christmas after the First World War. It was never read because it’s a church themed book but I really admire the sneaky attempt to inspire young girls with Heroines of Mercy.
Pull the pages out and tear them apart.
Step 7 – start pasting
Mix up PVA glue and water at a ratio of 5:2. That’s five parts glue with 2 parts water. Stir this with the paintbrush until it is an even consistency. Use the paintbrush to apply the glue to the star.
Start at the edges and use strips long enough to fold around the edge for strength then saturate the surface of the paper with the mixture as well.
You only want a couple of layers of Papier-mache to keep the weight down but for it still to be strong and robust.
Take care to paste over the points of the star as well.
Step 8 – Finish your decoration
I really like the quality of the old paper as a texture in its own right but you may want to paint them. If you do paint them it’s best to use acrylic.
I also opted not to varnish because I covered all of the paper in PVA glue instead. Any clear wood or paper varnish should suffice .
Other versions of paper star construction that you can try at home!
If the 5 stick star is a bit too Blair Witch project for you then you could try using lollipop sticks instead. The stars they create are almost the same size but use more pieces in the construction. I created the star below for work at Arcadea Disability arts. We put 2 stars together to create table lamps for the Christmas party.
To make this type of star you will need:
- 10 Lollipop sticks per star
- Glue gun
- 4 sheets of A4 paper per star
- Tissue paper
- PVA glue
- A paintbrush
- A container
Glue the lollipop sticks together in the shape of a 5 point star.
Use 2 lollipop sticks to create each point of the star.
Once you have glued it use 2 sheets of A4 paper to cover each side of the star. This will give a robust skin for you to papier-mache to stick too.
Rip up tissue paper into squares and cover the star on one or both sides – depending upon how you want to use them.
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy creating your own versions at home. Feel free to tag me on your own versions on Instagram as I love to share them!