Use a surface that allows good air circulation, such as a supported bamboo screen, a large papermaking mould, a plastic florescent light grid, or a window screen. Cover the drying surface with lightweight, dry Pellon. Remove your wet, pressed sheets from the post, and lightly lay them flat onto the dry Pellon surface. Do not press them down. Make sure the sheets are not touching or they will want to adhere to each other, causing some restraint, and preventing full shrinkage (although those conditions can also produce interesting results). When the sheets are dry, you can squash them into a box and transport (or ship) them anywhere. Then, all you need is a spray bottle, water, your imagination and hands, and perhaps some clamps and weights. Mist a sheet and wait until it relaxes; heavy sheets may need a second misting after the first is absorbed. The sheet will expand to nearly its original dimensions, but it as it dries, it will shrink back to its air-dried size. The object is to interrupt the second-round shrinkage by restraining certain areas of the dampened sheet, and letting other areas shrink back. The possibilities are endless, but here are a few ways I have used this technique: While wet, tear the sheets into basic 2D shapes, and then gently stretch and/or crease them by hand into 3D shapes, working on a few at a time in front of a light fan or heater. Make your shape, set it down, and periodically come back to it, re-stretching and enforcing the shape as it dries. Bone folders work well for sharp creases. Think: origami. Stretch the wet sheets around objects by clamping them. Make curly leaf-like shapes by first tearing the general outline of a leaf from your wet sheet, then slowly stretching the center, where the main vein would be, Re-Shaping High-Shrinkage over a curved wire, and clamping at either end, leaving the sides free to shrink back. For more complex curves or bends, use more clamps. Use larger clamps for larger surfaces. I have used the wheel of a manual press, table edges, plates, and bucket edges. To prevent marks from the clamps, you can pad with small folded pieces of Pellon, felt, or fabric. You can also stretch the sheet around something like a ball, and crimp and tie one or both edges, easing the ball out when dry. Weights are another great way to restrain the paper. I like to use a collection of ocean-rounded stones in various sizes. You can make the gentle curve of a book page in motion by folding the sheet at the spine edge, draping it over a rolled towel, and weighing it down with stones. To create a rough, gathered cup shape, slowly stretch the center of a round sheet over a large smooth stone, a cup, or a bowl, and bring the edges towards the base, and weigh them with smaller stones, fishing weights, wrapped letterpress furniture, or whatever is available. You can also tack or nail the edges to a sturdy surface. When the shaped sheets are dry, you can moisten and rework any area within the shape that you don't like. When you're satisfied, remove the clamps, weights, wires, or any other armature devices, and you will have a durable, stand-alone shape. Dried shapes can be glued or sewn together or to other surfaces, nailed to wood, and so on. The objects are as durable as your paper. Very thin sheets are more delicate. I began working with this technique fifteen years ago, mostly using abaca, flax, and hemp, and the works I made then are still intact. I have several samples I keep crammed into a bin that only come out when I teach; some of these are over ten years old and remain in great condition.
