SPATTER WORK

In selecting ferns for this beautiful work, take the narrow and deeply- cleft leaves. You will want all sizes, but more small ones. In press- ing, do not have them all straight ; bend them in various forms — that is, drooping and many little graceful ways.

Take a large board ; it must be very smooth, soft and light; put strips across the back that it may not warp. A fine wire sieve made round. The frame of this is six inches in diameter, one inch and three- fourths in depth. Fine wire gauze like a flour sieve is set three-fourths of an inch from one edge which is the top. The handle is set in the top, sloping down ; is live and one-fourth inches long, one-half inch in diameter where it is set and one inch at the other end. Two dozen papers of fine needles will be none too many for a large picture ; a horseshoe magnet to pick up falling needles, and a very stiff tooth- brush.

To Make a Cross — Tack your bristol-board smoothly on your lap- board, lay the cross pattern on the paper and slightly outline with a pencil ; take off the pattern and lay on the ferns and vines as you wish them to be seen on the cross ; put on the pattern cross, and pin very smoothly. A narrow strip should be cut from the right side of the pattern, the whole length, under the right arm and the end also under the left arm. Put on the shadows with the rest of the pattern, and be sure there is not the slightest space between. Put more ferns on the pattern with ends projecting over.

A descending dove with a fine branch in the mouth is a great addi- tion. Take some dove picture, cut the wings close to the body, then pin all on, spatter ; when a little dark take off the lower wing, spatter ; then the upper, spatter ; then the body, spatter ; then the branch ; small birds and angels are pretty among the ferns.

Pin each tiny cleft down, or the dampness will curl your leaves and spoil your picture. When all this is done, take a saucer a little more than half full of hot water, rub your India ink in the water until as thick as thin cream ; place a newspaper beside you ; dip your brush very lightly in the ink and spatter first upon the paper, and when the ink is most rubbed off the sieve, spatter your picture. Do not be discouraged if you do not see it grow black for many minutes, it will be all the nicer; continue rubbing your brush on the sieve until it is- perfectly clean. Your best spatters are when you see no ink on the sieve.

After the leaves you put on last are sufficiently black, take off one at a time and put immediately in pans for future use. Spatter the removal

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of each leaf. Take off your shadows, one at a time, spatter. When all shadows and outside leaves are off, and you have spattered last, take off the cross, pin down the leaves that were under the pattern, spatter till dark enough ; then take all off and spatter over the whole. Keep the upper part of cross light. All leaves, etc., intended to be light, ^must be left on till the last. The base of the cross should be very dark. Look at the inside of your sieve often, that spray may not form drops and blot your work. If you should blot it, or find large spatters, tear off a small piece of blotting paper, dampen it, and touch the blot lightly till all soaked up.

Ati Anchor is pretty with birds among the ferns. Also a harp, with cupids, birds, etc.

Spatterwork can be made as fine as an engraving, and with care, patience and good taste a beautiful picture can be produced. The work when once commenced should never be left till completed. The leaves will curl up after being dampened and the ink spoils in a few hours.

To Make a Screen for Fire Place — First have the frame the right -size for the chimney, and then cover it with white domestic. Do the spatterwork on coarse white Swiss, and then stretch it tightly over the frame you have made. A pretty design is a scroll, surrounded with leaves, clusters of grapes, etc., arranged according to the artistic taste of the maker. Have little bunches of leaves and grapes in the four corners. The effect of this on Swiss is beautiful.

For the Photographic Method — Cover a sheet of paper with a weak solution of salt in water and some white of an ^gg well beaten ; after it is dry, take it into a dark room, and with a tuft of cotton pass over it a solution of nitrate of silver (fifty grains to an ounce of water) ; dry it in the dark, and the chloride of silver formed on its surface will receive the impression. Then arrange your ferns between two plates of glass, and cut the paper to the same size as the glass plates ; place it under them and expose to the sun in the same way as a photographer prints a por- trait. Watch it until dark enough, and before removing the paper from the glass take it into a dark room. Here place the picture in a solution of hyposulphite of soda, which will dissolve the chloride of silver, but leave the decomposed material (finely divided black silver), which forms the black background, while the shadows of the leaves will be white.

342 SUMMER HINTS,