This recipe to make your own paste for collage comes from master mixed-media art instructor Christina Lovisa. Christina’s homemade YES! paste alternative works really well under encaustic. This adhesive is especially handy if you want to work large as you can mix up as much as 4 Litres of Glue!!
Supplies To make paste for collage
- Great Art Wallpaper Adhesive made in Germany – buy from Upwards Art Studio or from Amazon.com
- Container with a measure on the side or a measuring cup
- Glue – choose a glue that is non-toxic. You can use mod podge, white school glue, or white wood glue.
- Water
- Weigh scale
- Something to stir with – a whisk or immersion blender
- Glass jar to store the glue in
Great Art Wallpaper Adhesive Paste + Glue
Great Art Adhesive is a non-toxic, non-acrylic, cellulose-based wallpaper adhesive made in Germany. Cellulose-based adhesives can be reactivated with water so the wallpaper can be removed later. But simply adding a small amount of glue to the wallpaper paste, will create a more permanent bond.
Video: How to Make Your Own paste for collage
Mixing table
Christina isn’t one to measure but I am, so I use a scale and measuring spoons. I think that Christina’s gloop looks like 1/4 cup. I’m adding more glue to the smaller quantities for easy measuring.
In my experience, the mixed-up paste will last about a month before it starts to develop mould, so adjust the quantity to what you’re going to use in that time.
| Water | Wall Paper Paste | Glue |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Litre | 1 Box – 200 Grams | 1/2 cup |
| 2 Litre | 100 Grams | 1/4 cup |
| 1 Litre | 50 Grams | 3 tbsp |
| 500 ML | 25 Grams | 2 tbsp |
| 250 ML | 12.5 Grams | 1 tbsp |
Mixing Instructions
- Mix the wallpaper paste into the water (not the other way around)
- Stir vigorously for 2-3 minutes
- Let it sit for 2-3 minutes to thicken
- Stir the paste again
- Let it sit for 15 minutes to thicken
- Add glue & stir it in so there are no lumps
- Transfer the adhesive into glass jars for storage
- Wash your mixing containers and measuring spoons
Thanks, Christina for giving me permission to share your recipe here.
Of course, there are other adhesives that will work well with encaustic collage. Check out Adhesives for Encaustic Artwork – Monotypes & Collage by Victoria Foster Harrison
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Thank you for this post. I am new to encaustic collage and everything I have read about adhesives is that you can’t mix acrylic and wax. So why do you add PVA to the wallpaper paste? Is it a matter of proportion? As long as the plastic of the acrylic medium doesn’t overwhelm the ‘tooth’ of the cellulose, the wax will stick? But why do you need to add PVA at all? Isn’t the paste on it’s own ‘sticky’ enough?
Wallpaper paste is designed to be strippable… the glue makes the paste permanent. The PVA is such a small amount that there is lots of tooth for the wax to stick. Remember even encaustic gesso contains acrylic.