“Being creative is not so much the desire to do something as the listening to that which wants to be done: the dictation of the materials.”
Anni Albers

Today we continued on working with Gelli Plates (technically this is a gelatine plate but the commercial name used is ‘gelli plate’)but in a different way from last week. Roll a color onto the gelli using any acrylics paints. Right away, stamp into the surface. If you lean on the stamp and hold it a couple of minutes it leaves a good impression. Let surface dry (you can use a hair dryer to speed up the process). Add another layer of paint to the gelli and while the paint is wet mash a piece of paper down onto the surface. Let this dry -well. You can meanwhile use another gelli so that while your paper is drying onto the surface of the first one you can keep making stuff. I find that patience is the magic word in using this process. Eventually when you peel away the paper it will LIFT OFF all the layers of paint on the gelli plate. This technique requires hours of trouble shooting and adding layer upon layer. You can get fantastic Venetian Walls effects: peelings, flaking, torn and uplifted colors, the sense of what’s on top is underneath and what’s underneath is on top. The stamps and patterns can come and go under and over the layers. Deterioration, decay, peeling, layering, exposing, surfaces built up and scraped away, etc.

You can also try using acrylic matte medium as a layer instead of paint to lift off the paint on the gelli.
Remember to always store a gelli plate on a plastic surface as they will absorb material like newspaper.
You CAN use thin transparent papers for this process although sometimes they will rip and tear when being pulled off the gelli. You can use Bristol paper or card stock for a nice heavy durable paper for the prints too.
Explore the gelatine plates using all kinds of paints: heavy body acrylics, Open acrylics, fluid acrylics and any old craft acrylics.