Helen Hiebert's Blog, page 23

What’s on Cranberry Island?

The Sunday Paper #364

May 23, 2021

I had a lovely interview with Matthew Reinhart on Paper Talk. Matthew is a world-renowned children’s book author, illustrator and paper engineer, known best for cutting and folding paper into gravity-defying pops in his acclaimed pop-up books. His New York Times bestselling titles include Harry Potter, a Pop-Up Guide to Hogwarts, Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy, DC Super Heroes: The Ultimate Pop-Up Book, and Mommy? created with children’s book legend Maurice Sendak. Matthew loves every second of his work and enjoys sharing new crafts with creators of all ages on Youtube each week. Enjoy our conversation!

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These unique paper collages by Dorothy Eisner (1906 to 1984) will soon be on view at Gleason Fine Art in Boothbay Harbor (May 27 – June 29) on Cranberry Island in Maine. For 24 summers at the end of her life, Eisner was an enthusiastic member of Cranberry Island’s large artistic community. This brief story about her life is fascinating, with details about growing up in Manhattan and attending the Art Students League to discovering the work of Matisse and Picasso and developing her own style.

Dorothy Eisner’s “Camp Basketball” collage- 14” x 22” Courtesy of Gleason Fine Art 

I wrote about this installation of paper doves by Michael Pendry back in January, but Washington National Cathedral has now reopened, and it is worth another mention along with this stunning photo. “Across religious traditions and even across cultures, doves are symbols of peace and hope,” says Kevin Eckstrom, the chief communications officer of the cathedral. “When you go into the space and you see this flock, it’s almost like they’re pointing towards something. They’re all flying in the same direction, but at different elevations and in different ways. And the ambient air in the cathedral makes them all move. It’s a moving installation.”

Washington National Cathedral: Doves — Photo: Danielle E. Thomas

The May project in The Paper Year (my online membership program), is called Architectural Row. It is so fun to see the interpretations of participants! This is Gerry Murano’s version from Tucson. She shared Your Home is Your Castle in The Paper Studio. This accordion-type book structure collapses to fit in an envelope, and she created the piece as a housewarming gift for her cousin.

©Gerry Murano 2021, Your Home is Your Castle

Check out this video that shows how an origami waterbomb tessellation was used to design the wheels for an off road vehicle that can transform from one shape into another to adapt to the terrain.

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Paper Tidbits:Enter the Handmade Paper Wheel of Fortune! $100 gets you a batch of unique handmade papers donated by artists to support Hand Papermaking Magazine. These won’t last long!The Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, NY is looking for a Development Associate and a Program Manager.I’m delighted that so many people share my interest in unique papers from around the world. Check out my current Curated Paper Collection. Learn more about each sheet and add a set to your paper stash or collection.I am a member of the Craft Industry Alliance, which is a fantastic membership organization that provides all kinds of valuable information and networking opportunities related to running a craft business. The cost of membership is going up in June, so now would be a great time to join and lock in your membership rate (so worth the $69/year).

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In the Studio:

I’m developing the content for my summer Paper + Light online class, which opens for registration tomorrow. Years ago, I learned how to make Chochin, collapsible Japanese lanterns. This form traditionally begins with the construction of a wooden armature. Back in the 1990’s, an artist friend attended a workshop at the Paper & Book Intensive with Richard Flavin and Tim Barrett and learned how to construct the armature in foam core. She knew I would love it and taught me. Once I learn a structure, I cannot stop thinking about ways to adapt and transform it into variations. Here you see a few – can you envision the armatures that can be constructed from these pieces?

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

Party Light Try It! Workshop, The Papermaker’s Companion, Package of 3 Films, Papermaking With Garden Plants & Common Weeds

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If you read this blog regularly, would you consider making a donation to support the research, writing, design and delivery of The Sunday Paper? Or, perhaps you’re interested in promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

Thanks to everyone who has already pledged your support!

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SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

I occasionally have affiliate links in my blog posts – links to products in which I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!

The post What’s on Cranberry Island? appeared first on Helen Hiebert Studio.

Papetura

The Sunday Paper #363

It has been awhile since I’ve had anyone in the studio, and it was so fun to offer a private lesson on Friday. Judi and Anita were interested in sculptural papermaking with abaca, so I introduced them to a variety of ways to work with this amazing fiber.

Here’s an interesting history of abaca. A few years ago, I asked Elaine Koretsky, the founder of Carriage House Paper, how abaca – a fiber from the leaf stalks of banana plants – came to America. I knew that she’d been selling it through Carriage House for years. She explained that in the 1970’s, she discovered that abaca was being used by some specialty mills in Massachussetts and Connecticut to make filter papers and teabags, because it has both wet and dry strength. She visited the research and development departments of those mills, and was told that originally they had tried using paper mulberry fiber from Asia, which worked, but it was very expensive, so they sought an alternative and discovered abaca. Koretsky obtained samples of the abaca pulp in sheet form, and found it wonderful to work with. The Koretsky’s (Elaine, her husband Sidney, and daughter Donna) started traveling to Asia, and after introducing abaca to artists in America through their workshops, they started importing and selling the fiber. Elaine passed away a couple of years ago, and bringing abaca to artists in the US is part of her long and varied legacy.

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This looks like a great show. Crossroads: Book Artists’ Impassioned Responses to Immigration, Human Rights and Our Environment, curated by Maria G. Pisano, is now on view through September 5th at the Hunterdon Art Museum in New Jersey. “We are at a crossroad, our world is changing in myriad ways: refugees and migrants are being displaced, our environment is visibly in peril and there are constant conflicts/wars between countries and nations. These changes are jarring and artists are reacting, lending their voices and presenting book works that reflect our tumultuous times. The artists in this exhibit showcase and share personal stories, positive and reflective changes that they observe, alongside concerns for our current policies towards immigration, climate change and equal rights.”

Thomas Parker Williams, Paradise Lost

Papetura is a new video game that features gorgeous animated paper sculptures. The storyline is about Pape and Tura, who have to face dark and flaming monsters that are trying to burn down their beloved paper world. Click through to watch a video that shows the paper sculpture in motion.

Ziya Tarapore is a member of my Paper Year membership program and recently posted her intriguing work in The Paper Studio (my free facebook group). About the work, she says: “The timelessness and spirituality of Nature informs my work. My background in woven textiles informs my practice as I manipulate wet paper as though it were fabric. I am hugely motivated to save our planet from waste and destruction, transforming found packaging materials into artwork.” © Ziya Tarapore, Water”Fall”, hand dyed cardboard, packaging material, and paper on a framed canvas, 33″ x 49″

 

This is a fascinating obituary about the inventor of the post-it note.

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Paper Tidbits:In person workshops are resuming at various institutions. If you want to learn to make paper in NYC, check out the workshops at Carriage House Paper.And there is still so much to learn online. Check out Dieu Donné’s online workshops and Global Perspectives in Hand Papermaking Series.I am a member of the Craft Industry Alliance, which is a fantastic membership organization that provides all kinds of valuable information and networking opportunities related to running a craft business. The cost of membership is going up in June, so now would be a great time to join and lock in your membership rate (so worth the $69/year).

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In the Studio:

I’m delighted that so many people share my interest in unique papers from around the world. And there is so much behind each sheet in my current Curated Paper Collection: the maker, the process, the potential for using the sheets, the history, and more! I also love learning about my customers and why they are purchasing the papers. One recent purchase came from the Fine Arts Library Material Collection at the University of Pennsylvania, where I’m guessing it will be joining other papers and all kinds of materials – how cool is that? The collection is available while supplies last, and they’re going fast.

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

Party Light Try It! Workshop, The Papermaker’s Companion, Package of 3 Films, Papermaking With Garden Plants & Common Weeds

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If you read this blog regularly, would you consider making a donation to support the research, writing, design and delivery of The Sunday Paper? Or, perhaps you’re interested in promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

Thanks to everyone who has already pledged your support!

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SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

I occasionally have affiliate links in my blog posts – links to products in which I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!

The post Papetura appeared first on Helen Hiebert Studio.

The Burden of Invisibility

The Sunday Paper #362

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mamas out there – you’re the best :)!

Here’s a little tribute to my mom, whom I’ll see today (I’ll have to get a new photo – this one is a couple of years old). I credit her with introducing me to the arts in a variety of ways. She taught me to sew and hired me to make holiday cards and gifts. When I was in middle school, she hired an artist friend to teach me and my friends to draw. I also witnessed her making art – she took painting classes at the local university, and when we summered in New Mexico, she would go into the mountains to do plein air painting.

Doris, Helen & Lucah (Gran, Mom, Daughter/Granddaughter)

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My friend and birthday buddy Sarah Horowitz has a show up through the end of the month at Froelick Gallery in Portland. Sarah hand paints Japanese papers and draws on them with ink. Take a look of her new work in the gallery (in person or online) through May 29th. I interviewed Sarah on Paper Talk awhile back.

© Sarah Horowitz, Dark Blue Pines II, 2021

Here’s a fun round up of paper pendant shades.

This is a fascinating article about the acquisition of courtroom sketches (on paper) involving high profile people. These sketches document history in the making. Here’s a courtroom sketch of Rodney G. King during his civil trial against the City of Los Angeles in 1994. The illustration was among more than 200 by the artist Mary Chaney that were recently acquired by the Library of Congress.

Mary Chaney Family Trust, via Library of Congress

 

I stumbled across the powerful work of Veronica Jackson, who has an ongoing project—The Burden of Invisibility. As a black woman marking space, her work responds to the travails of her ancestors. I love what she says: “My artwork is grounded in the belief that studying visual culture is a transformative experience. As an emerging cultural producer with a social justice practice, my goal is to engage audiences who may benefit from the ways visual culture incites the imagination to see the world differently, and eventually empowers and provides them the agency to creatively contribute to it.” Here’s to the power of art!

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Paper Tidbits:Did you catch my interview with Mindell Dubansky on Paper Talk?

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In the Studio:

I’m having fun looking for paper. My second quarterly Curated Paper Collection is now available and features a set of unique papers from around the world. Follow @helenhiebert on instagram, where I’ll be sharing more about each of the papers in this collection over the next twelve days. I’m currently on the hunt for papers for Q3 and Q4 and would love to hear from you if you have a paper I might be interested in.

This image shows a partial selection of the papers in Curated Paper Collection #2.

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

Playing With Paper, The Papermaker’s Companion, Prism, an artist’s book, and Try It! Shadow Ornament Tutorial.

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If you read this blog regularly, would you consider making a donation to support the research, writing, design and delivery of The Sunday Paper? Click on the paper button at the left to learn how. Or, perhaps you’re interested in promoting your business in The Sunday Paper. Thanks to everyone who has already pledged your support!

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SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

I occasionally have affiliate links in my blog posts – links to products in which I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!

The post The Burden of Invisibility appeared first on Helen Hiebert Studio.

An Inner Astronomy

The Sunday Paper #361

I had a lovely interview with Mindell Dubansky on Paper Talk. Mindy is head of the Sherman Fairchild Center for Book Conservation, Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she is Preservation Librarian and book conservator. She writes on the book arts, particularly in the areas of 19th century publisher’s bindings, hand papermaking, bookbinding, the history of book-shaped objects and American decorative paper arts. In 2016, Mindell had the first exhibition of her personal collection of 250 book-shaped objects at the Grolier Club in New York. She is currently working on another Grolier Club exhibition, to open in January 2023, about American decorative paper art from the 1960s through 2010, based on the Paper Legacy Project and collection that she recently created for the Watson Library. Enjoy our conversation!

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Here’s a modern-day Blook to add to Mindy’s collection.

Catherine Nash is currently exhibiting An Inner Astronomy at the Tubac Center of the Arts in Tucson, AZ. She describes the work: “… The vastness of space holds an ultimate touchstone for me: the sky is a window to the infinite. Through time, humankind has sought to explain and fathom the mystery of our being: in these bodies, on this planet, in this galaxy through mathematics and science and religion. My studies in archeo-astronomy – the exploration of how varied cultures have explained the mysteries of the stars and sky through mapping, symbols and myth – as well as my own dreaming and explorations have informed “An Inner Astronomy”.”

© Catherine Nash, 2021, An Inner Astronomy

Alex Hay’s retrospective at Peter Freeman in NYC includes the work he’s best known for, including three Paper Bag sculptures from 1968; his painting of a diner check (1966); a picture of a sheet of legal paper (1965); and a painting of a toaster (1968/2018).

Photo courtesy the artist and Peter Freeman, Inc., New York. Photograph by Nicholas Knight Studio.

Speaking of paper bags, I love this witty paper bag art that the staff prepared daily for residents at a Winnepeg retirement center to spread joy and cheer among the residents during lockdown.

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Paper Tidbits:Want to learn to make Japanese paper by hand? Amy Richard has an online class that begins this week.

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In the Studio:

I’ve been out of the studio this past week, visiting my mother-in-law in Northern Indiana. I brought some paper stitching with me to work on. I’m stitching the pages for my new artist’s book, Intensio (an edition of 25). This drawing, Parabolic Eye, is one of eight drawings that will appear in the book. Each drawing spans the fold and moves from chaos to order as the page is turned.

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

Playing With Paper, The Papermaker’s Companion, Prism, an artist’s book, and Try It! Shadow Ornament Tutorial.

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If you read this blog regularly, would you consider making a donation to support the research, writing, design and delivery of The Sunday Paper? Click on the paper button at the left to learn how. Or, perhaps you’re interested in promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

Thanks to everyone who has already pledged your support!

SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

I occasionally have affiliate links in my blog posts – links to products in which I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!

The post An Inner Astronomy appeared first on Helen Hiebert Studio.

Paper Theater

The Sunday Paper #360

April 25, 2021

Do black walnuts grow in your area? I’ve been intrigued by their dyeing potential since I first saw Cave Paper’s O’Malley Crackle many moons ago. I finally got my hands on some black walnuts at the North American Hand Papermaker’s silent auction last fall. Look at that rich brown achieved after boiling – ooh, la la! – and scroll down to see what I did with the liquid.

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Check out these amazing sculptural cyanotypes by Wu Chi-Tsung, whose landscapes are are made by the laborious layering of strips of Cyanotype. He uses xuan paper – traditionally used for Chinese ink paintings – which he scrunches up before applying the chemicals so the sun will leave uneven patterns when the paper is exposed.

An artwork from Wu Ci-Tsung’s “Exposé” exhibition, titled Cyano Collage 094. Photo: Galerie du Monde / Wu Chi-Tsung

I love this: Kamishibai, or “paper theater,” is a form of storytelling that originated in Japan in the late 1920s. Storytellers would ride into villages on bikes, bang wooden sticks together, and gather an audience around the kamishibai box, a small stage containing a sequence of cards that illustrate traditional folktales. The form has become popular in libraries for its flexibility and accessibility.

Oh no! and LOL! This artwork (paper furniture) by Sara Farrington of Creedmoor, North Carolina, is made of heavyweight drawing paper and cardboard. It looks so real that someone sat in it. Workers are putting the pieces back together. You can see this and much more at ArtFields in Lake City, South Carolina.

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Paper Tidbits:The Lucca Biennale in Italy features monumental sculptures create from cardboard during an artist residency in July that will later be exhibited in plazas around the town. Click here to apply for 2022.Want to own a chain of paper stores? Here’s what is happening with Paper Source.

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In the Studio:

Here’s a selection of my black walnut stained papers – from left to right: watermarked cotton, cotton, jute/abaca, abaca, ogawara kozo. I need to perfect my technique (or not) but got lots of interesting feedback about how to apply the stain and dry the sheets without clip marks over on instagram. I am more fascinated with the forms you can create with paper than the surface treatments you can apply on paper. And although I do make flat sheets of handmade paper, the elements I’m exploring are translucency (using translucent fibers, watermarks) and structure (embedding strings and wires). Maybe it is time to start exploring the surface!

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Featured this week in my Studio shop: Check out the welcome video on the home page of my website, The Papermaker’s Companion, Digital download: Package of Three Films, and Playing With Paper.

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If you read this blog regularly, would you consider making a donation to support the research, writing, design and delivery of The Sunday Paper? Click on the paper button at the left to learn how.

Or, perhaps you’re interested in promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

Thanks to everyone who has already pledged your support!

 

SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

I occasionally have affiliate links in my blog posts – links to products in which I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!

The post Paper Theater appeared first on Helen Hiebert Studio.

Go Fold Me

The Sunday Paper #359

April 18, 2021

I have spent a good part of this week reviewing the galleys for my upcoming book, The Art of Papercraft. I felt old asking for a hard copy, since everything is done digitally these days, but my editor honored my request. I love featuring the work of other artists in my book, because there is such a variety of work going on and it makes for a richer book, in my opinion (I hope you’ll think so, too). Above you see my test of the instructions for this Origami Candy Dish, folded (and invented) by then 7-year old/now 11-year old, Trinity Adams of Paper For Water. We’ve still got a few months to go before the book comes out (November 2021), but my involvement is coming to a close soon – phew!

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Oh my goodness. There is so much to love about the Hearts for Love project, started by Linda Mihara who owns Paper Tree in San Fransisco. First, I loved visiting this paper store a few years back (which now houses Miki’s Papers, for those of you who knew that amazing shop in Berkeley). Second, the mission: Mihara starts with a crisis: “Many  Asians, including our most vulnerable,  have become the target of hate crimes.” and introduces a positive action: “Join me in folding 1,000 Origami Hearts as a show of support to the families of those victims who lost their loved ones.” And this says it all: “Let’s counter  HATE with  LOVE!” GoFoldMe appears at the top of the web page (so clever), and in just a couple of weeks, Mihara has received over 4000 hearts, far surpassing her original goal of 1000, which she is currently displaying in the shop window. Click through to find out how you can join the fold!

Check out this amazing work by James Lake, who turns sheets of cardboard into pieces of art. There is a biennale in Lucca, Italy, a town with a cardboard manufacturing plant, that features the work of artists who create on site in several of the town squares. Lake created this piece for the Lucca Biennale in 2018.

Here’s a new twist on the plantable paper many of have seen (and made) into handmade paper cards: the sustainable packaging from the Philippines is made from discarded pineapple leaves that grow into a new plant.

This is a fascinating video documentary about the state of Egyptian papyrus making today. I had never seen a video about the process, which is documented here. You have to see the contemporary technique of slicing the papyrus with fishing line.

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Papery Tidbits:Have you had a chance to listen to my interview with Erica Spitzer Rasmussen on Paper Talk?Are you Asian or Pacific American? Warren Wilson College is putting together an AAPI Contemporary Craft Directory. Submissions are due April 20th.

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In the Studio: 

Last weekend, I attended a few sessions of FoldFest, a virtual event sponsored by OrigamiUSA. I made this simple origami car – you can insert two marbles underneath the hood and roll it around on a tray – with Paul Jackson, a prolific author of an amazing series of books about paper, geared toward designers. Next, I took a more challenging workshop that reminded me of the first origami workshop I ever attended in NYC back in about 1988. I didn’t realize until much later – when I was talking with Robert Lang in a podcast interview – that just like with most languages, you have to start simple and build up your skills over time.

I chose not to pursue origami after that first workshop, because I thought I’d never ‘get it’. In fact, working on The Art of Papercraft almost sent me over the edge again because I chose to feature a few origami projects that I still didn’t have the language for! We ended up hiring a technical editor when I realized I didn’t know enough to guide the illustrator on diagramming the origami and other folding projects. It is tricky, and I’ve learned a lot. And that is just the kind of problem solving I enjoy, especially when I can work with an expert who has thought about the same types of problems a little longer than I have! This is humbling, and reaffirms that I will never reach the end of discovering new things about paper!

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

LandEscape, an artist’s book, Papermaking with Garden Plants, Digital download: The Papermaker’s Studio Guide, and Playing With Paper.

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If you read this blog regularly, would you consider making a donation to support the research, writing, design and delivery of The Sunday Paper? Click on the paper button at the left to learn how.

Or, perhaps you’re interested in promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

Thanks to everyone who has already pledged your support!

 

SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

I occasionally have affiliate links in my blog posts – links to products in which I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!

The post Go Fold Me appeared first on Helen Hiebert Studio.

Paper Clay

The Sunday Paper #358

April 11, 2021

As many of you know, I am obsessed with with paper + light. The second iteration of my online class by the same name will begin in late June (yes, this means if you took it before, there will be new techniques and projects). This is a one sheet wonder too (made from a single sheet of paper), and it is illuminated with a color-changing tea light… ooooh… ahhhh… Add your name to this list if you’re interested in the class and you’ll receive a special discount when registration opens.

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Rebecca Hutchison is one of 45 artists featured in the groundbreaking exhibition Particle & Wave: PaperClay Illuminated. This is the largest and first international traveling paperclay exhibition in the world, with a selection of artists from five different continents. The show can be seen at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA, now until June 6, 2021. Click through to watch a virtual tour of the exhibition on the museum’s website.

Debra Collins recently shared her Zooming Church series in my facebook group The Paper Studio. As with so many things during COVID, she ended up attending church online and had some revelations. She notes: “those Zoom “boxes” pulled me away from the liturgy, yet opened up another sermon, or maybe, a prayer.”

Artist Karla Funderburk began folding paper cranes as a way to cope with the stress and grief at the beginning of the pandemic. At some point, she stopped folding the cranes to calculate how long it would take her to fold that many paper cranes – and the answer was 24 years! She asked for help, and people from all over the country sent her not only paper cranes, but stories of the ones they had lost. She is now touring the installation at galleries across the country. And her website MemorialCraneProject.org includes a showcase of numerous spoken stories about the lives of various COVID-19 victims, written by their loved ones.

Running April through October, Haystack Mountain School’s 2021 online programming will feature 70 presentations across 10 program threads led by an innovative group of artists, designers, writers, curators, and historians. Through their commitment to increasing access to the School, each of these online programs will be presented as free and open to the public.

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Papery Tidbits:One of the Haystack Mountain School’s free panel discussions features paper artist Matthew Shlian, who has been featured on the blog, and Kristin Mitsu Shiga, who I worked with at the now defunct Oregon College of Art & Craft.Did you see The Hand Papermaker’s Drying System video?Check out The Illustrated Accordion exhibition at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center (IRL and online)Awagami’s ’21 Juried Int’l Miniprint Show is now open for all printmaking (incl. digital) created on any type of washi paper. And there’s a free set of Awagami washi papers to first 500 entries.

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In the Studio: 

I had a lovely conversation with Erica Spitzer Rasmussen on Paper Talk recently, an artist who creates handmade paper garments and small editions of hand-bound books. Her current work explores family stories and issues of identity. Her work has been featured in such magazines as FiberArts, Surface Design Journal, American Craft and Hand Papermaking.  Rasmussen teaches studio arts as a full professor at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minnesota (USA).  Her artwork is exhibited and collected internationally. Enjoy our conversation!

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

The Paper Year (now registering), The Papermaker’s Companion, Water Paper Time, and Playing With Paper.

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If you read this blog regularly, would you consider making a donation to support the research, writing, design and delivery of The Sunday Paper? Click on the paper button at the left to learn how. Or, perhaps you’re interested in promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

Thanks to everyone who has already pledged your support!

 

SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

I occasionally have affiliate links in my blog posts – links to products in which I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!

The post Paper Clay appeared first on Helen Hiebert Studio.

Beauty in the Air

The Sunday Paper #357

April 4, 2021

The Paper Year, my membership program featuring a new project every month (like this Butterfly Book) and a community of paper lovers, is now open for registration (through April 10th). Join me tomorrow at a FREE one-hour Zoom event and create your own butterfly book and learn all about The Paper Year.

Register for the Zoom EventWatch the video, read more and sign up for The Paper Year

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I loved reading about the poignant paper cut work of Barbara Earl Thomas, who says “With this work, I offer an alternate view, one that brings the dark child into the definition of the every-child. … My cuts are pathways that carry the child’s curious entreaties, ones that assume the protection the adult gaze should engender.” Thomas enlisted others to help cut the works in Tyvek – I can only imagine the conversations that ensued. If you are in Seattle, this is a must see (at the Seattle Art Museum, now through November 14th). If you aren’t, click through to watch the video and see the slide show of her installation, The Geography of Innocence.

One of my most popular blog posts is about making a drying box for hand papermaking. I’ve even heard from printmakers, who have built this type of drying system to dry their prints. I decided to make this video to show how it works. You’ll find links to more drying system and paper drying resources underneath the video on Youtube.

When Covid-19 began, Chicago printmaker Beth Adler began making daily collages as a way to work through what she was going through. This expanded into prints of COVID-19 houses made on handmade paper, which she sold, donating some of the proceeds to the Evanston Community Foundation’s COVID-19 rapid response fund.

Looking for a job in the paper world? The Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio, is looking for a Senior Program Manager to provide leadership and manage three key program areas: Workshops, Community Arts and Gallery Exhibitions. The Manager designs, plans, executes, evaluates programs; and works closely with other Morgan staff on program marketing, communications, bookkeeping, and fundraising. This is a salaried, full-time position with benefits.

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Papery Tidbits:Have you had a chance to listen to my interview with Kelsey Pike on Paper Talk?Join me on Zoom for a FREE Butterfly Book workshop on April 5th. Register here.

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In the Studio: 

The piece of my business that I slacked on this past year making art, but I feel the energy percolating once again. I work with several artist’s book dealers who show and sell my books to special collections librarians, and 23 Sandy recently placed my book Prism at Baylor University, and Tangential and Interluceo (now sold out) are going to Virginia Commonwealth University; Vamp & Tramp Booksellers is currently featuring a $100 and under catalog.

Louise Levergneux, who writes the 1/2 Measure Studio Blog, put together this fascinating post about how book artists (yours truly included) have weathered the pandemic. She’s feeling hopeful, and I am too. I look forward to releasing my next artist’s book by the end of the year.

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

The Paper Year (now registering), The Papermaker’s Companion, Water Paper Time, and Playing With Paper.

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If you read this blog regularly, would you consider making a donation to support the research, writing, design and delivery of The Sunday Paper? Click on the paper button at the left to learn how. Or, perhaps you’re interested in promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

Thanks to everyone who has already pledged your support!

 

SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

I occasionally have affiliate links in my blog posts – links to products in which I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!

The post Beauty in the Air appeared first on Helen Hiebert Studio.

Paper on the River

The Sunday Paper #356

March 28, 2021

Arnold Grummer’s announces a Call to Artists for Paper On The River (formerly Paperfest). Artists working with handmade paper are invited to apply, and the submission deadline is August 20, 2021. Arnold Grummer’s is also having a March Madness 3-day sale, with 10% off everything including sale items. Click on shop after you enter the show and use the promo code MM10 at checkout.

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I am a fan of the work of Leigh Suggs, whom I met at Penland over a decade ago. Following an election that narrowly escaped attempts to weaponize the US Postal Service, her Postal Quilt series is inspired by notions of security (or false security) as well as the collective labor done by the essential workers who continued to keep our mail moving. Suggs collected thousands of security envelopes from people all over the country (specifically the ones marked by patterns designed to obscure the contents). The focus of making this work with community-harvested materials highlights the complexity and impossibility of true security.  We all rely on these patterns and a government-controlled system to deliver or receive personal and private information. These patterns conceal our private lives, offering us protection or coverage just like a security blanket. This large Postal Quilt (8′ x 10′) is created with over 16,000 interlocked folded paper components. Suggs collected envelopes from 45+ donors and had 4 people helping consistently with sorting, cutting, folding and assembling as she worked on this through the entire pandemic.

© 2021 Leigh C Suggs, close up of Postal Quilt, Folded security envelopes, 96 x 120 x 1 in, photo by Stacey Evans.

The Women to Watch: Paper Routes exhibition will be on display in the South Arkansas Art Center’s Merkle Gallery from Monday, March 29 until Wednesday, May 26. The traveling exhibition features work by four artists showcasing work that utilizes paper as a medium. All That I Love, by Joli Livaudais, consists of 1,200 origami paper beetles of varying sizes made of aluminum, pigment ink, resin, and kozo paper. Each origami beetle in the installation is created from a photograph printed on paper, and the SAAC exhibit features origami beetles crawling along the gallery floor and walls.

UK-based artist Antara of Craftifact has a unique take on making paper houseplants by framing and making them into three-dimensional wall art.

As seen on My Modern Met.

This is an important profile of Faith Bartley and the People’s Paper Coop in Philadelphia, an organization that is turning shredded criminal records into sheets of handmade paper while helping women who come out of prison get back on their feet.

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Papery Tidbits:Join me on Zoom for a FREE Butterfly Book workshop on April 5th. Register here.Need to calculate paper weight? There’s an app for that! Check out Don Farnsworth’s app Magnolia PaperWeight v2.0Check out these two part time jobs in Book Arts at Mills College.

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In the Studio: 

 

Although there is still snow on the ground and senseless acts of violence continue to puncture our lives, I can feel spring in the air and my thoughts linger on hope and transformation. This butterfly begins as a book (look at the smallest cut shape) and as its grows outwards, the book shape transforms into wings.

Join me at a FREE hour-long Zoom workshop on April 5th and create your own butterfly book. I’ll also be talking about The Paper Year, my membership program, that features a monthly paper project and a community of paper lovers.

 

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

The Paper Year (opens for registration later this week), The Papermaker’s Companion, Prism, an artist’s book, and Try It! Shadow Ornament tutorial.

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Sustainable Paper + Craft

The Sunday Paper #355

March 21, 2021

I had the pleasure of interviewing Kelsey Pike on Paper Talk. Pike is a production papermaker based in Kansas City, Missouri. She learned papermaking and started her brand Sustainable Paper And Craft …

The post Sustainable Paper + Craft appeared first on Helen Hiebert Studio.