Recipe for Turp Paper

A fellow UGRA-ite sent out some information on Turp paper today. I had to google it to found out what the fuss was about. I stumbled onto Sally Turlington's blog and was enchanted. Wow - this is a pretty amazing technique. I'll be heading over to whole foods later today to pick up some Citrasolv and will post my pictures when I've tried my hand at this fascinating new technique. Take a look at some of Sally's work:

And here are a few page's by Jennifer Rowland:

A little about Turp Paper (written by Sally):

This technique is done using pages from National Geographic magazine and Citrasolv or turpentine. I recommend Citrasolve only because it has slightly less toxic fumes than turpentine. Both solvents work equally well. Citrasolv is a cleaner and degreaser that you can find in many grocery stores, especially whole food stores. It is a natural product that smells intensely strong of orange.

Here is Sally's process:
1. Work outdoors on a plastic drop cloth as the process is very messy and the fumes are quite toxic. Pour the Citrasolv or turpentine into a container.
2. Starting at the front of the National Geographic magazine and using a big paintbrush or sponge brush, paint a very generous amount of Citrasov or turpentine on both sides of the pages. The pages with lots of colored ink are the best.
3. Continue turning the pages and painting both sides of every page throughout the whole book. When you are done, the National Geographic will be very wet.
4. Let the wet book sit closed several hours but don’t let it start drying because the pages will stick together.
5. After a little while, start from the front of the book and peel apart the pages. If you like what you see, tear those pages out of the book. If not, close the pages again. Continue checking the pages every so often.
6. You can mash on the closed book or twist it slightly to help manipulate the mingling of inks. You might even add more turpentine or Citrasolv to some of the pages that seem too dry. (Sometimes the pages at the very front and back of the magazine don’t work well. Maybe there is a different kind of paper or ink on those pages.)
7. Also, great patterns can be made on the pages by blotting or swiping with a crumpled paper towel directly on the wet page or through a stencil or piece of punchinella (sequin waste). Or try drawing with a stylus or stamping with a rubber stamp or other item with a raised pattern. (Remember to rinse your stamp off right away afterwards.)
8. Eventually, you will tear out every page or spread, and let it dry completely. The longer you can let the pages cure outside after drying, the more the smell of the solvent will evaporate. My pages eventually lost all their odor. “The resultant paper is rich with color and has the look of a National Geographic page!