I subscribe to two American magazines: Quilting Arts and Cloth, Paper, Scissors. Both of them frequently mention an art material called "Gel Medium", used to stick/glue/adhere things together. As I am using more and more "mixed" media, other than fabric, I'm wanting to glue and not just sew.
Can anyone who might read this, tell me what "gel medium" is, so I can find the equivalent here in South Africa??
Here is what we have here, and what I have used:
Wallpaper paste comes as granules, that you mix and whisk with water to the thickness of paste you want. It forms a gelatinous, clear mass, that also dries clear. It's used, not just to hang wallpaper, but to do papier mache. It's my favourite: it works well, it's cheap and has a nice finish, and I'll be so happy if this is the same as the mysterious "gel medium".
"Modge Podge" is a runny substance, used for decoupage (ie paper). It comes milky and dries clear. It also works well to stick things to each other. It's good, but it's expensive.
Clear, water-based varnish. I bought this in a hardware shop once, when I was needing a lot of Modge Podge, but the Modge-Podge just proved too expensive. It worked just as well as Modge Podge. I wonder if "Modge Podge" is just a brand name of water-based varnish?
Wood glue, also known as craft glue or white glue. It is also available in a "Quick-Dry" version. Where does this fit in? It's white and dries clear. You can water it down to whatever consistency you like, it both sticks and "varnishes" to a nice finish. I've also wondered whether Modge Podge is a watery form of wood glue (?)
I can't imagine that "gel medium" is some foreign substance we don't have here. It must surely just be a matter of matching the names! I don't know how the above relate to each other, but they are all water-based.
I'll be grateful for any help. :)
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5 comments:
Karen,
I get my mediums in the fine art paint section of our art supply or craft stores in the region of the liquid acrylic paints. Golden or Liquitex are the brands I see most often.
Jackie (hope this helps and yeah, they're expensive)
Hi again,
There are a lot of mediums out there. I've used polymer medium the most as a paper glue in collage, although soft gel medium is great when the textures get thicker. Matte medium is more like a colorless gesso.
good luck,
Jackie
hi! I just found your blog! gel mediums are basically acrylic products without color. they are used as glues and as a transfer agent to transfer an image to a substrate. You can get gel mediums online thru Dick Blick. they come in gloss and matte and I prefer the matte but gloss works well as a glue. they can also be used to seal a work instead of a varnish. if you have any other questions, just email me! ciao!
Karin I have found Winsor & Newton Acrylic Matt Medium and Gel Medium at many art shops here. You can get cheaper brands but when I needed it they were out of stock. I'm sure CNA keeps Dala gel medium. I've used thinned Ponal white glue for sealing collage cuttings on both sides but I'm not sure that it's the same as the gel medium.
Thank you all so much. We have two shops here with fine art sections and I'll look there to see if I can find the brands mentioned. I hadn't actually thought of looking among the fine arts materials. That stuff has always just been for the "real" artists ;) you know...
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