COLLAGE PAPER (or WASTE NOT, WANT NOT)

In a related post, I show a 3D artwork created with my newly released 9"X12" stencil Tangled Pods, shown here --

That related post contains detailed instructions (with corresponding photos) for creating this piece:

My substrate for the above artwork was a picture-page from an old calendar.  The 3D base was created with matte gel medium (gloss gel medium would have worked, too.) The next step was to use a palette knife (or an old credit card) to spread the gel thru the openings of the Tangled Pods stencil.

What I didn't show in that related post was what I did with the gel-coated stencil.  Letting leftover gel dry on the stencil would have spelled disaster!  So I immediately lifted the stencil from the artwork, quickly turned it over, and pressed it (wet side down) onto another old calendar page -- thus creating a 3D reverse-print image.  After that, I pulled off the stencil to wash it.

The original reverse-print looked like this while the gel was still wet -- 

After the gel had dried to near-invisibility, this reverse-print paper became "catch-all" paper, used for cleaning my brushes of various acrylic paints as they were being used in another project.

Here are the results so far:

CLICK THIS IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT, TO BETTER SEE THE 3D TEXTURE.

What I plan now is to cut the paper abov into pieces for use in collage.

My brand-new 9"X12" Tangled Pods stencil is one of the most versatile I've ever created -- quickly becoming a favorite! 

Here, I've traced a portion of this stencil onto the cut-out bottom of a disposable foam plate --

My next step will be to use a ballpoint-like stylus to indent the outlines.  Then, this will be used as a printing plate.
Inspiration for my 9"X12" Tangled Pods stencil came from my seeing this tree --

http://lh2treeid.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html

According to the above webpage, this tree goes by three names --

Sophora japonica;

Japanese Pagoda Tree;

Chinese Scholar Tree. 

As that webpage says, these seedpods resemble strands of pearls.  I agree!