Years ago, I started decorating plain sheets of paper with acrylics and inks. The papers were more beautiful and the made the origami process more interesting and personal for me.
Amanda Jolley is an artist who incorporates origami imagery and folding into her encaustic artworks. Her beautiful work inspired me to try making my own origami using encaustic wax medium. With a little guidance from Amanda I was able to make my own gorgeous origami papers!
The Steps
First, I painted bold strokes with black sumi ink onto the rice paper that had already been cut into squares. I placed the paper onto the surface of the hot plate set on a low temperature and brushed the paper with the wax medium. I used tweezers to lift the paper off the plate and placed them onto a paper towel to cool. To color the white areas I used oil pastels which made the finished paper a little softer to the touch. Next time, I will use colored encaustic wax which will make the finished papers less sticky.
The finished papers came out durable yet foldable and essentially waterproof. it is important to brush a thin coat of wax onto the rice paper. Doing this will make it easier to fold without cracking. The finished paper should be very strong yet malleable. The strength and translucency was incredible as I was able to fold the most complex tessellations successfully!
Here is a short video on the process.
Supplies:
Yasutomo 6JM rice paper pad
Niji Oil Pastels
Encaustikos Encaustic Medium
Hake brushes
Interesting.