How to Infuse Your Paper Craft and Art Projects with a Profound Look and Sense of Antiquity

Inspiration often rushes in through the most unlikely of avenues. Although I have been creating and selling various art items for nearly 20 years, it was not until a visit to the Titanic Artifact Exhibit, that I can say my creations truly took on a quality of deep finesse that I had always struggled to obtain.

Although the 'meaning' of the Titanic exhibit did not elude me, I have to admit that I was struck most deeply by the aesthetics and beauty of the salvaged objects. Their submersion had lent a sense of ancient-ness and preciousness that was almost unfathomable. There were bottles, menus, letters, jewelry, and hundreds of small belongings. But a little Victorian-type calling card, entirely legible, but tattered, with plumped edges, creases, and so-slightly blurred ink, conveyed perfectly the sense and energy of unimaginable destruction. It was holographic and almost ineffably oxymoronic in nature; the sweet little personal items juxtaposed with the absolute reality of the terror and icy, black depths.

The items actually seemed to "hold" the experience, and there was a sense of hyper reality present-the same hyper reality that I have felt in the presence of births and deaths and other extreme moments. For me, it was impossible to separate the emotional pull I felt, from the pleasing aesthetic qualities of the objects; the sense of Art was intense. This was IT--the quality missing from my collages, my cards--asense of authentic alteration: with experience, time, weathering of the depths, of loss, finality.

Soaking papers in water based solutions is a technique that will impart a sense of alteration and effect into your projects that is easy, and yields amazing, satisfying results. Soaking is a technique that is both highly experiment-able, yet controllable, and the varying outcomes are endless. The results range from subtle to drastic, and are indicated for all types of projects.

What to soak and why