Over the weekend, I made rice glue. Sounds quaint, doesn’t it? Like something a grandmother might have done for decoupage. I’d been meaning to try it for ages as a more cost-effective way to stretch and straighten my Chinese Brush Painting (CBP) compositions.

The prep was slow. As a CBP newbie, I watched countless YouTube videos to familiarize myself with wet-mounting, since I missed my teacher’s annual workshop back in August. While the principles are the same, execution depends on factors like climate, air humidity, the size of the artwork, and available workspace. Once I settled on a glue recipe and method, I started sourcing materials and improvising where needed. Palm bristle brushes were impossible to find, so I used Bunnings fence paintbrushes instead, which worked surprisingly well.

With all my ingredients ready, I cooked the glue: a mix of wheaten rice flour, water, alum powder, and glycerin. Stirring it on the stove felt like alchemy as the mixture thickened into a cloudy paste. Then, I waited for it to cool.

Why alum and glycerin? The alum helps repel insects that love paper, and the glycerin slows the glue’s drying time, making it easier to remove the artwork later.

Once cooled, it was time to mount my composition. At this stage, the glue can be thick and gluggy, so I added a little water until it reached the consistency of honey. Then I laid my artwork face down and misted it with water from a spray bottle. This step relaxes the paper fibres; it’s like a kind of spa therapy for my art. Then, using a hard-bristle dry brush, I smoothed from the centre outward to remove air bubbles, letting the paper soften and settle for a few minutes.

Next, I brushed glue onto the surface with a soft brush. Starting from the centre, I worked left to right, then up and down, ensuring the paper was fully saturated.

Then came the backing paper. While specialised backing papers exist, I used my usual “half-cooked Xuan paper with the rough side down. First, I prepped the backing paper by rolling it inside an empty kitchen roll, making it easy to unroll over my artwork. Then, slowly, I rolled it out, leaving an inch of extra space all around. Again, using the hard-bristle brush, I smoothed from the centre outward, lifting and re-brushing to remove any trapped air.

With the artwork glued and brushed, I carefully moved it to a drying surface. Some people use their wall or a door, but with freshly painted walls and a high-traffic household, I used an MDF board from Bunnings. I brushed glue along the edges, then flattened the composition. Finally, a little ritual of lifting an edge and blowing air underneath. Some call this “breathing qi” into the art; practically, it just makes it easier to remove later.

…and then we wait. Twenty-four hours before seeing the results. The hardest part.

I kept walking past the board, tempted to peek or peel it off. But I resisted the temptation.

The next morning, I gently lifted the edges. One piece popped off easily; the other required a butter knife along the edges. Both artworks had transformed overnight. Wrinkly, fragile paper became soft and flat; the ink settled beautifully into the fibres, and the colours appeared more vibrant, ready for framing.

The whole process was strangely cathartic and a tiny exercise in trust: Stretching wet paper with faith it wouldn’t tear, leaving it alone to dry, letting time do the finishing work.

In many ways, my first year of art practice has shown me that both art and life are often like this: do your part, then step back and let things become what they’re meant to be. In a world of instant everything, wet-mounting over the weekend reminded me to trust the process, pause, let the paper breathe, and allow myself to do the same.

Wet-Mounting Rice Glue Recipe

(From Barbara Mekelburg, followmybrushmarks)

• ½ cup of gluten free rice flour
• ½ teaspoon of alum
• Mix together and then stir in:
• 2 cups water
• 2 drops glycerin

Summary Instructions

1. Workspace prep: Clean your board and lay down your painting (art-side face down).Ensure the board is bigger than the painting by at least 2–3 cm. Have everything within reach (brushes, paste, spray bottle).
2. Cut the backing paper: Cut backing Xuan paper 1½–2 inches (≈4–5 cm) larger than the painting on all sides. Place it rolled (not creased) nearby.
3. Humidify/mist the painting: Lightly mist the back of the painting with a spray bottle to relax fibres (don’t over-wet the painted surface).
4. Apply glue paste to the backing paper: Lay the backing sheet flat on the board. Using a wide soft brush, apply an even thin layer of wheat-starch paste across the entire backing sheet. Avoid puddles — the paste should be smooth and even.
5. Initial pressing: With a hard-bristle wide brush, press the backing paper onto the painting, rolling or brushing from centre to edges. Use even strokes, but do not drag heavily. If tiny bubbles appear, brush outwards, or lift the edge carefully and press again.
6. Drying: Lift the artwork right-side up and place on a drying surface (board/door/wall).
7. Edge Sealing: Apply some glue paste to the edges of the backside to seal.Flatten your artwork so it lies flat on the drying surface.
8. Wait: Let your art dry slowly at room temperature. Typical drying time is 24-48 hours.
9. Trim and Finish: Once dry, remove from the drying surface. Trim backing edges, mount to mat or frame.

Resources

• Art of the Brush, ‘Wet Mounting How to Flat Your Artwork on Rice Paper’.
• Henry Li, Blue Heron Art ‘Learn How to Wet Mount Chinese Painting with Pam’

This post was first published on my Substack, Studio Hours.