Assemblage – stickin' it to 'em

After the background of the support for my assemblage is finished, the details can be added. Flat images such as handwritten letters or photographs are glued in place with an archival pvc glue, covered with a sheet of waste paper and burnished. On smooth surfaces a bone folder does a good job but on dimensional surfaces a soft cloth or just fingers work better to push out air pockets. The only other items I would adhere with a liquid glue would be pressed leaves that are thick and rigid enough that the glue won't show through. Skeletonized leaves are tricky because they are brittle so I either dab the surface sparingly or use a mix of 1 part wheat paste to 3 parts white glue (rather than the 50/50 as in the recipe below from my bookbinding workshop). Wheat paste takes away the shiny look that dried white glue tends to have.

WHEAT PASTE GLUE (BOOKBINDING PASTE)

1 heaping TBSP flour to 7 TBSP water:
Mix flour in two parts cold water until smooth.
Add remaining water & stir until smooth.
Microwave 1 minute then stir; repeat 5 times.
Strain lumps with a nylon stocking.
When cool, mix 50/50 with white PVA glue.
Store in a jar in the refrigerator.

Do yourself a favour and buy a 3/4” mini-whisk and a Pyrex 1-cup measure for cooking. This is a slow drying paste but it virtually disappears if it accidentally oozes out. Straight PVA will look shiny. Label this stuff so nobody eats it for yogurt or something! You can also use wheat starch and I’ve heard cornstarch gives a clearer paste.

I rarely use a glue gun for assemblage as I find the glue eventually peels from some surfaces. I 'art' like I sew: when I put it together, it stays together and anyone who has the desire to take it apart is in for a battle – even if it's me. One of my favourite glues is Zap-a-Gap. It's one of those dangerous-if-you're-careless super glues but this one fills gaps and it's the only one I've found that will stick rusty metal to most other surfaces. Mind you, I have a tube of E-6000 I haven't tried yet. Or liquid nails (sorry Michael).

Nothing irks me more in a piece of my artwork than a bit of shiny glue, Zap-a-Gap or any other kind. A little watered down matte gel medium brushed over the offending bits take down the glare.

For really heavy-duty sticking I bring out the construction adhesive and the modeling paste. I'm talking horseshoes and chunks of slate – heavy things. Construction adhesive is smelly but it does the trick. Grumbacher Modeling Paste is more versatile so it's my first choice of the two. For those of you who aren't familiar with modeling paste, it's an acrylic medium that's somewhat grainy and about the consistency of......Jello pudding. You can apply it to anything from canvas to concrete. It can be thinned, colored with acrylic, shaped or textured wet, carved, or sanded dry. You can even mix things like short strands of sisal rope into it for texture. It's a wonder product! I usually color it to match my background, apply some with a palette knife, push the item gently onto the surface and use a paintbrush to remove the excess. Unless I want the excess to show:

Any items that can have holes drilled in them can be attached with wire, screws, nails, rivets, ribbon, sisal, butcher twine. Depending on the weight, after drilling I may add some modeling paste and let it dry, then use the screws or whatever.

A caution when you are using found objects, particularly rusty ones: use work gloves and safety goggles! I was breaking a small, thin piece of rusty sheet metal and a piece managed fling off into my eye, even though I was wearing glasses. It was safety goggles from then on. Luckily, no damage was done.

There was a time I tried to hide the method of attachment but it's so much easier and more interesting to make it a part of the story or mood you're creating.


This assemblage tells the story of my father's family and their pioneer lifestyle in the 1920's. A few of the 'artifacts' are bits and pieces of junk I found in his welding shop that he was happy to part with. He's the baby at the far right in the rusty washer that I found in one of his toolboxes. Although he saw some of my earlier work, this assemblage was created 8 years after his death. It was created for an art gallery show called 'Found'. To my surprise, I found that on relocating from the west coast of British Columbia to the center of the province, we bought a house less than 2 miles away from where his second oldest sister homesteaded in the 1920's.