There are Japanese tissues that are quite thin,
which minimize the problem of the hinge being
seen through the art paper. Getting the hinges
on to thin paper without cockling can be a challenge. Two things that are most helpful, here,
are the use of hand drying with desiccated blotter
and microdot application of the paste. Blotter
cards can be dried out in a heat press and can
be stored in a clean cookie tin. These blotters
have the ability to draw moisture out of the hinges in a minimal time. If well-cooked starch
paste is strained through a piece of silkscreen
silk and is spread thin on a clean piece of glass,
the paste can be picked up onto the hook ends of
a piece of Velcro, that has been afixed to the end
of a bit of board, and that paste can be used to
create a dot pattern of paste on the hinge. The
hinges is then quickly and gently pressed onto
the art and is blotted dry. This must be practiced
extensively, since getting the paste to form clean, separate dots that will stick requires some
experience. When the hinges are secure, (their bond should end just before they meet the edge of
the art)they can be passed through silts in the
back mat and can be attached to the back of
the back mat with linen tape.
Hugh