How to make papier-mache 'flowers' - drying in a microwave oven

These little paper mache forms began as flowers, although once they are finished they remind me just as much of shells, seed heads and tiny natural forms.

I make them from a soft air-drying paper mache clay, spreading it roughly over tissue paper rather than trying to control the edge too precisely. The tissue gives me something to work against, and when it is torn away the clay keeps a rather lovely irregular, deckled outline.

They can be left flat for brooches and other jewellery components, or cut towards the centre and overlapped slightly to make a shallow cone. A small disc of paper mache can also be added in the centre.

For this film I speed up the drying by using a microwave in very short bursts. Every microwave and every paper mache mixture behaves differently, so I would always begin with only a few seconds, check it carefully, and repeat only if necessary. It can also simply be left to air dry.

Once dry, I use a fine pyrography tool to burn small marks into the surface, rather like stamens. I then add acrylic gilding size and touches of gold leaf around the edge and sometimes into the centre.

When I am happy with the surface, I strengthen the back with a thin coat of epoxy resin. I don’t want a high-gloss finish on the front - the contrast between the matt paper mache, the burnt marks and the small areas of metal leaf is what interests me.

These can become brooches, necklace components, rings, additions to larger paper mache pieces, or they can simply be a starting point for something else entirely. Made much larger, the same idea can even become a bowl.

There is plenty of room to take the method in your own direction.

In this film

00:00 - Introduction
00:15 - Porzella Paper Mache Clay and other materials
03:50 - Drying in the microwave in very short bursts
04:35 - After drying
05:20 - Adding marks with a pyrography tool
06:40 - Applying acrylic gilding size
07:30 - Adding gold, silver or copper leaf
08:00 - The central disc or flower whorl
08:30 - Strengthening the back with epoxy resin

A practical note: if you use a microwave, keep the drying times very short and stay beside it throughout. Do not microwave anything containing metal leaf or other metallic material. The pyrography tool also becomes extremely hot, so use it on a suitable heat-resistant surface.

☕ Come and share a coffee with me in the studio
buymeacoffee.com/HilaryBravoStudio