Helen Hiebert's Blog, page 25

Illuminating 2021 With Paper

The Sunday Paper #345 

January 3, 2021

Happy New Year!
Papermaker of the Week: Meg Black

Hey papermakers! I’d love to feature you in this column. All you have to do is fill out this form.

© Meg Black 2019, Sea Foam I, Mixed Media Wall Sculpture. 122 x 33 inches. Corporate Collection: Westport CT.

Meg Black is an artist who has earned an MFA and Ph.D. in art history. The subject of her work-both as a researcher and a visual artist-is the study of nature and its impact on our sensory experiences. Black creates her work with pulp – largely cotton and well beaten abaca – for two reasons: (1) this material has not been widely used as a painting media, thus she is constantly discovering its potential and is challenged by its capacities which allow her to be a pioneer in this process; and (2) the texture of this media provides an almost three-dimensional quality to the finished surface, thus mimicking nature in all its splendor. Black’s unique process and careful attention to craftsmanship provide a seductive, textured surface that lends itself to the natural subject matter of her work. In 2014, Black was the recipient of a 1% for art grant awarded to her for her installation of six large pulp paintings featuring the white birch, the state tree of New Hampshire. Other examples of her pulp paintings are in hospitals, corporate offices, private collections, and town halls and libraries throughout the United States.

In the Studio: The Paper Year Begins! 

The Paper Year is now open for registration through January 10th! The first lesson will appear in the classroom tomorrow. Click on over to read about the All In Plan vs. the PDF Plan and sign up. We’ve got a great group forming!

If you’re reading this before 12 noon on Sunday, Jan 3, you can still register to attend the informational Zoom meeting. I’ll show you how to make a pop-up lantern there, too.

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Papery Tidbits:

I was saddened to read about the passing of Sara Caswell Pearce, a member of the Paper Studio facebook group. There are several articles about her illustrious work in publishing and art. Here’s one about a project she did a couple of years ago, turning vintage books and papers into works of art.
Do you know about #amonthinpaper over on Instagram?
We are doing a challenge each month over in The Paper Studio. January’s theme is Circles.
Listen to Part 2 of my interview with Nicole Donnelly on Paper Talk (you’ll find a link to Part 1 over there, too)

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I’m participating in the Paper Artist Collective’s #AMonthInPaper challenge over on instagram. Maybe you’d like to, too? Today is Day 3.

If you happen to be in St. Louis this spring, I highly recommend a visit to see Buzz Spector’s work at the Saint Louis Art Museum (Buzz Spector: Alterations). Buzz has been altering books and paper for his entire career, all the while pushing the conceptual envelope.

Buzz Spector, Tower 2, 2016, Courtesy of Zolla/Liberman Gallery, Image Courtesy of the Artist

Check out these paper lights by Bradley L. Bowers. You will find a poetic video where you can see him performing his process at the link.

© Bradley L. Bowers, Halo Lantern

Oh my goodness! I had no idea there were so many ways to package eggs. Check out the variety of packaging. I can’t decide which is my favorite. Can you?

As seen on Design&Paper, © Monika Carbone-Hotchkiss

You’re gonna love this video about the (paper) work of Cybèle Young!

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

All About The Paper Year 2021 Subscription Club, Try It! Shadow Lantern Workshop, Playing With Pop Ups, Handle With Care

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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!

Paper Bullets

The Sunday Paper #344

December 27, 2020

Papermaker of the Week: Nicholas Yeager

Hey papermakers! I’d love to feature you in this column. All you have to do is fill out this form.

Nick Yeager’s ruled-line watermarked hemp fiber paper 11″ x 17″, October, 2020.

Nicholas Yeager has been studying the craft of bookmaking and making books for a long time. Exploring the methods, designs and materials of historic books informs his own artwork. Having studied the history of parchment/vellum making for his BA in Humanities, Yeager has long been interested in how substrates are made and how they have been employed in recording information prior to the digital era. His curiosity about materials and techniques has encompassed every aspect of the book arts, and Yeager expands his knowledge through craft and research. He is currently developing his papermaking skills to replicate a 19th century manual filled with over 1,000 watermarked letters that were used as a guide for students to trace. The ruled-line watermarks, pictured above, are a throwback to 18th century stationery.
In the Studio: Nicole Donnelly on Paper Talk

I had the recent pleasure of interviewing Nicole Donnelly on Paper Talk. Donnelly is a hand papermaker and visual artist specializing in sculptural paper artworks and invasive plant papers. She is the President of the International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists (IAPMA), 2015-2021; and the founder of the creative papermaking studio paperTHINKtank. She is master papermaker for The Brodsky Center at PAFA (2019- present) and for The Brandywine Workshop & Archives (2018-present). She teaches paper and book arts at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art and other institutions. She received her MFA from the University of Iowa in 2009 and her BA from Bennington College. Enjoy our conversation!

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Papery Tidbits:

I am populating my Youtube channel with Paper Tips. Check out my recent videos on how to fold an accordion and paper grain.
Have you checked out The Paper Advisor? Discover my most popular papermaking and papercraft resources – including information about tools and supplies, how-to videos, and paper tips – all in one place!
I’m hosting an online event to kick off The Paper Year 2021 on January 3rd at noon my time.
Watch the video and read all about The Paper Year. Registration on New Year’s Day!

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Did your child or grandchild ask for a pony for Christmas? Hermes Paris made this super fun video showing you how to make a giant origami horse to put under the tree – maybe they’ll get a pony next year?!

Check out the torn paper collage works by Laura Shabazz, who rarely using scissors and believes that ripped edges enhance her work. I agree!

Laura Shabazz creates pieces like The Red Umbrella from tiny bits of hand-torn paper. Courtesy of Laura Shabazz

I’m not a big fan of single-use anything, but since many people are (this company claims that human beings are putting 129 billion face masks and 65 billion plastic gloves into the environment every month) I guess it makes sense to produce a recyclable, compostable alternative to the face mask. Avro Mask doesn’t call these paper, but they’re made of 100% cellulose, the main ingredient in paper.

Frontline Paper is making paper from healthcare workers’ scrubs during the pandemic. They are applying the same cathartic concept they use with military veterans (transforming uniforms into sheets of paper and works of art) to healthcare workers, who are on a different front line.

A Hero’s Painting-A Tribute to John Lewis. Artwork by veteran and artist Mark Oldland on blue healthcare workers’ scrubs.

Here’s a fascinating book review of Paper Bullets, a story about two artists who risked their lives during WWII. They disseminated notes — on windshields, in mailboxes, in the pews of churches and even, most daringly, in people’s pockets — that were painstakingly composed on slips of cigarette rolling papers because real writing paper was rationed during the war.

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The Paper Year opens for registration on January 1st and will continue through January 10th. Since this is a subscription program, you can only join a few times during the year. I’m excited to get started!

Next Sunday, January 3rd, I’m hosting a free live online Zoom event to ring in the new year and kick off The Paper Year 2021. Everyone is welcome! I’ll be showing you how to make this pop-up paper lantern, and I’ll answer your questions about The Paper Year. Register for the event, and I’ll send you a supply list so you can create this lantern with me. Together, we’ll brighten the new year!

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

All About The Paper Year 2021 Subscription Club, Try It! Shadow Lantern Workshop, Playing With Pop Ups, Handle With Care

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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!

The Light in the Dark

The Sunday Paper #343

December 20, 2020

Papermaker of the Week: Nick Pearson

Hey papermakers! I’d love to feature you in this column. All you have to do is fill out this form.

Nick Pearson is unusual in the hand papermaking community as his roots are very much in industrial papermaking and in paper science. As his industrial papermaking career progressed, he found that he was spending more and more time behind a desk and he increasingly felt the need ‘to get his hands pulpy’. So rather than being an artist or an artisan, Pearson is more of an obsessive hobbyist. He has set up a papermaking studio at home with a hollander beater, vat, vacuum dewatering system, hydraulic press, dryer boxes and sizing station. He has a collection of over 40 antique paper moulds and a large chest full of interesting paper samples. His main interests are in watermarking and artists’ watercolor paper. Mostly though, he just makes paper for fun.

In the Studio: Happy Holidays from Helen Hiebert Studio!

Here’s my holiday card to you in video form. I love designing with paper, and in the video I invite you to make this simple lantern with me. Light carries throughout the faith traditions, and as we celebrate the winter solstice tomorrow, I will be thinking of brighter days ahead, in more ways than one!

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Papery Tidbits:

Have you checked out The Paper Advisor? Discover my most popular papermaking and papercraft resources – including information about tools and supplies, how-to videos, and paper tips – all in one place!
I’m hosting an online event to kick off The Paper Year 2021 on January 3rd at noon my time.
Watch the video and read all about The Paper Year. Registration opens 1/1/21!

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I admire how Jennifer Young, an Omaha event planner, makes one-of-a-kind greeting cards that she sells at various outlets around the city. I like how she describes her cards as individual works of art meant to uplift the recipient. Not only do they receive a special message, but they get something beautiful and unique too.

Rebecca Clouâtre started doing collage by creating one a day for 150 days, and by the end of the experiment, a style of her own had emerged. She scavenges used bookstores for the paper ephemera she uses in her dreamy works. Don’t miss the enchanting video of her collages inspired by the natural world.

© Rebecca Clouâtre. Photo by Rebecca Clouâtre

I write by hand so little that when I do it, my hand fumbles over certain letters and phrases. This is a lovely ode to hand written letters, especially thank-you notes written by hand, as an excellent exercise both in mental health and in holiday tradition around gifting time. I’ve been sending a card each day during December to random people. And you know what? It is special to make the time to think about the person I am writing to.

Not only is this custom wrapping paper a neat idea, but I love how The Plot Shop in Alabama came up with a new way of using their printing machinery. They brought in graphic designers to come up with creative alternatives to expand their business (wide format printing construction crews and architects) while making it fun.

Julie Comer, Grace Horne and Jamie Hadden craft custom gift wrapping for artists and families. Staff Photo: Allison Marlow

This is a touching video featuring Marianne Guély, who designed this year’s holiday card – Silver Tree – for Iggesund Paperboard, a Swedish paper company.

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The Paper Year opens for registration on January 1st and will continue through January 10th. Since this is a subscription program, you can only join a few times during the year. I’m excited to get started!

 

 

 

On January 3rd, I’m hosting a free live online Zoom event to ring in the new year and kick off The Paper Year 2021. Everyone is welcome! I’ll be showing you how to make this pop-up paper lantern, and I’ll answer any questions about The Paper Year.

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

All About The Paper Year 2021 Subscription Club, Try It! Shadow Ornament Workshop, Playing With Paper, Mend

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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!

Papermaking With Plants

The Sunday Paper #342

December 13, 2020

Papermaker of the Week: Teri Power

© Teri Power, What Remains, cast cattail fiber and clay

Teri Power uses fibers and colors that she gathers from her surroundings in her paper art. Whether sculptural or flat, the substrate of the work is “of her place”, and the meaning of the work is derived from that fact. That and the fact that in today’s world, so much of human knowledge has been lost in the making of the work. Found objects add another layer of meaning as they must be chosen and gathered.

In the Studio: Papermaking With Garden Plants & Common Weeds

I received a shipment of nine damaged copies of my book, Papermaking With Garden Plants & Common Weeds. I do not have to return them or pay for them, but I hate to throw them out! Some are dog eared, and others have a slightly damaged spine, but the contents are A-OK! I’d love to ship you or a friend a copy! You will pay only $10 to cover media mail shipping & handling.

If you prefer an undamaged copy of the book, I have those too!

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Papery Tidbits:

Save the date & register! I’m hosting an online event to kick off The Paper Year 2021 on January 3rd at noon my time. This is a free event and is open to anyone (please spread the word to your paper-loving friends around the globe). I’ve designed this special pop-up lantern that I’m going to teach you to make – you’ll receive a list of the basic supplies you need when you register. You will also learn all about The Paper Year, my new online subscription club featuring a paper project every month. Here’s to a brighter year ahead!
Have you listened to my interview with Rosston Meyer on Paper Talk?
Have you checked out The Paper Advisor? Discover my most popular papermaking and papercraft resources – including information about tools and supplies, how-to videos, and paper tips – all in one place!

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Matt Lyczak of Kansas City, MO rolled out toilet paper as an appropo holiday display for 2020 in his front yard. He’s hoping to wipe the slate clean in preparation for 2021.

I like these sentiments by artist Huang Li-hsiang: “Paper art requires no educational background nor wealth; all you need is passion,” says the 63-year-old. “A flat piece of paper can become any 3D object, just as an individual has infinite possibilities.” Read about her amazing career.

Some paper sculptures being exhibited at the Louvre in France in 2016. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The Jeonju city government in North Jeolla Province in South Korea has partnered with the Central Institute for Restoration and Conservation of Archival and Library Heritage (ICPAL) in Rome, paving the way for the globalization of Korean traditional handmade paper known as hanji. Under terms of the agreement, the Jeonju city government plans to promote the superiority, durability and tradition of Jeonju hanji in the global cultural property market, which would contribute to expanding awareness of the traditional Korean paper.

So, this is not paper but Kanat Nurtazin uses papercutting techniques on leaves and photographs them in remarkable ways. Click through to view all of the images.

As seen on MyModernMet

A blog reader (thanks, David) told me about Marilyn Scott-Waters, aka the Toymaker and her amazing papercraft tutorials for most (if not all) holidays. Check them out, she even provides printable patterns so you can create your toys with seasonal patterned papers.

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If you’ve followed me for long, you know that I have a thing for paper and light. In fact, light filtering through paper is how I got started in hand papermaking, but that’s another story.

On January 3rd, I’m hosting a free live online Zoom event to ring in the new year and kick off The Paper Year 2021. Everyone is welcome!

I’ll be showing you how to make a pop-up paper lantern. Registration for The Paper Year will be open then, so I’ll tell you all about it and answer any questions.

 

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Puppy update! Stryker is 6 months old. He loves to steal our shoes (as you can see here) and curl up with his big brother Halo, who could care less. I know some of you are wondering about my mother and her assisted living facility. They’ve had an outbreak, but seem to be handling things well. They went from 8 to 14 cases in a week, but yesterday’s tests all came back negative. So far my mother has not been affected, and most of the cases are mild (only one person has been hospitalized). We have an informational session about the vaccine this coming week. My husband Ted just finished up a big freelance assignment and we’ll see what the future holds for him job-wise. Our daughter will stay in Portland over the holidays, so I made felt stockings for her and her boyfriend that I filled and shipped off). We got about a foot of snow yesterday, which makes me feel warm and cozy (when I’m inside). I’m thinking about all of you and wish you and yours a wonder-filled season!

 

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

All About The Paper Year 2021 Subscription Club, Try It! Shadow Ornament Workshop, Playing With Paper, Mend

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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!

A Brighter Year Ahead

The Sunday Paper #341

December 6, 2020

Congratulations to Gill Watson, the winner of last week’s Giveaway. Gill wins a free subscription to The Paper Year Annual PDF plan.

Papermaker of the Week: Christine Higgins

© Christine Higgins, a two-sided tapestry of cotton, abaca, kozo, and pigmented, overbeaten abaca.

Christine Higgins lives in Readfield Maine, where she makes handmade paper art in her unheated garage in the summer and fall. She is also a member of Circling the Square Press in Gardiner, Maine, where she enjoys printmaking processes year round. She sometimes combines her prints and artist made papers.

Because the pandemic limited large group gatherings during the summer of 2020, Serena Sanborn, of “Waterville Creates” visited many Maine artists, filming them in their working environments. This video shows several examples of Higgin’s papermaking processes.

In the Studio: The Paper Year Kickoff Event: A Brighter Year Ahead

Save the date & register! I’m hosting an online event to kick off The Paper Year 2021 on January 3rd at noon my time. This is a free event and is open to anyone (please spread the word to your paper-loving friends around the globe). I’ve designed this special pop-up lantern that I’m going to teach you to make – you’ll receive a list of the basic supplies you need when you register. You will also learn all about The Paper Year, my new online subscription club featuring a paper project every month.

Here’s to a brighter year ahead!

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Papery Tidbits:

Rachel Hazell has a new online class called WrapLove (see below). If you’d like to get to know Rachel, you can listen to my interview with her on Paper Talk.
Have you checked out The Paper Advisor? Discover my most popular papermaking and papercraft resources – including information about tools and supplies, how-to videos, and paper tips – all in one place!

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I had a lovely conversation with Rosston Meyer on Paper Talk. Meyer is a designer, paper engineer and publisher who creates pop up books under the name Poposition Press. Working mostly with contemporary visual artists, Meyer has self published over 20 pop up books, cards and pop up art prints since he started Poposition in 2013. Meyer is one of just a handful of people in the world that self publishes pop up books, entirely managing each project from design to production to marketing to distribution. Enjoy our conversation!



Make present-giving extra-special this year, by creating beautiful hand-made parcels with Rachel Hazell’s WrapLove ecourse. Using materials you have at home, personalize your packaging so that it becomes part of the gift itself. Thoughtful and simple techniques transform your wrapping into memorable, gorgeous creations. Rachel Hazell guides you to create quirky individual papers, and a most elegant box, made to suit every occasion. Lose yourself in colorful patterns and joyful shapes in this light-hearted course, suitable for all levels. Sign up for instant lifetime access to WrapLove – or give the course as gift this Christmas!




Check out this animated origami (note: when you click on the link, wait for the ad to end and then scroll down to find the video). For the third year in a row, the grocer IGA collaborated with agency Sid Lee in Canada to create an animated short film for the holidays: “Made With Love.” This year, IGA decided to use its annual holiday tale to help finance research in the area of pediatric oncology for the Fondation Charles-Bruneau (in Quebec).



The Paper Year 2020 is drawing to a close, but there’s one last project to create: this one-sheet tree.  Hop on over to The Paper Studio, my free Facebook group (you have to answer a couple of questions to gain access) to read more about this month’s challenge and join our community of paper lovers.

This exhibition at the Fuller Craft Museum looks amazing. Curated by Peter Held, Particle & Wave: Paper Clay Illuminated, is a groundbreaking, traveling, international exhibition featuring 45 artists from across the globe who are redefining the potential of the ceramic arts and representing a commitment to their craft.

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

All About The Paper Year 2021, The Papermaker’s Studio Guide DVD, Woven Paper Lantern Workshop, & The Papermaker’s Companion .

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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!

Giveaway – Win a Subscription to The Paper Year!

The Sunday Paper #340

November 29, 2020

Papermaker of the Week: Julie Johnson

Two Bowls. Laminated handmade paper and Ash wood turned bowls. Plant papers made by Julie Johnson; lamination and wood turning by Kailee Bosch. 4″x2.5″. Created for Frogwood’s Distance Collaboration 2020. Photo credit: Lee Mahoney.

Julie Johnson is a plant-based fiber artist from Portland, Oregon. With a degree in Forestry, she has explored the artistic nuances of Pacific Northwest native and invasive plants for over 30 years. For one week, every other year, Julie brings her paper, basketry, dye, and book art skills to cross-pollinate with other artists at a collaborative art-making event called Frogwood – a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit dedicated to arts training, education, and collaborative interaction. Collaborative gatherings like Frogwood include: EMMA International Collaboration in Saskatchewan, Canada; Collaboration NZ in Whangarei New Zealand; and the Hawaii Artist Collaboration in Holualoa, Hawaii. These events draw 50-100 artists together from all over the world for a solid week of making. Participating artists come from a wide variety of disciplines including metal, wood, glass, painting, jewelry, printing, blacksmithing, surface design, etc. Working alongside the tools and knowledge of artists from such different backgrounds, Julie finds the explorations that take place at these events allow her to think, learn, and perform beyond her isolated focus and skillset. She always returns from these “art camp” experiences invigorated and inspired to take her work in new directions!

In the Studio: ‘Tis the Season for… a Giveaway!

One lucky winner will receive a FREE PDF subscription to The Paper Year 2021, a year-long online class featuring a how-to paper project every month. Members of The Paper Year 2021 will get inspired by projects designed to spark ideas that keep you creating for the rest of the month; explore creative paper techniques, including origami, pop-ups, paper weaving, book arts, paper cutting and more; and join a growing group of paper lovers online to learn and share in a warm, encouraging, supportive, creative community.

Click here to enter! 

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Papery Tidbits:

Need some paper tips? I’ve started making short videos. Subscribe to my Youtube channel.
The Craft Industry Alliance is having a 25% discount on memberships. I get networking, discounts and professional development opportunities that are worth so much more than the cost of the membership.

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The headline for this article caught my eye: Vegan Taxidermy. If touching bugs gives you the heebie jeebies, this might be for you! Check out these paper insects created by Stacia Joy.



I enjoyed the projects in this roundup of 7 ways to make your celebrations more sustainable, including this plantable paper card.

As seen in the Alberni Valley News

I like the thinking behind this work by Carol Wortner, on view virtually at the Tombaugh Gallery in Las Cruces, NM. She is exploring cultures of the world through paper via her collection of paper from around the globe, and  gifts of paper from her friends’ travels. She turns these papers into weavings and quilts.

Artist Carol Wortner’s “Flora, Lily of the West”, Tombaugh Gallery, Las Cruces, NM

I love it that this group has figured out how to do an in person event they’ve done for 15 years online. The 24-hour long Drawathon, presented by Antenna Gallery and the Paper Machine printing shop in New Orleans, encourages everyone to sketch. On Dec. 5-6, free drawing activity books, big sheets of brown paper and other drawings supplies will be available at various sites around the city. In the safety of their homes, participants will draw, draw, draw, sharing their creations via the Draw-A-Thon Instagram feed. And, how cool is this? An incredible Draw-A-Thon drawing machine can take any suggestion and produce an illustration to match.

Attendees create spiral drawings at the Press Street Draw-A-Thon Saturday, November 29, 2014 at Art Klub (Josh Brasted Photo)

Call for Entry! During COVID, many artists haven’t been able to obtain the art materials they normally use. Necessity is the mother of invention. What kinds of paper have you been using for your artwork during this unprecedented time? Paper Circle is organizing an online Works on Paper exhibition. Read all about it here, and get your entry in by the end of the year. Oh, I’m one of three jurors, and there are prizes too.

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

All About The Paper Year 2021, The Papermaker’s Studio Guide DVD, Woven Paper Lantern Workshop, & The Papermaker’s Companion .

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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!

Indo-Islamic Style Papermaking

The Sunday Paper #339

November 22, 2020

Papermaker of the Week: Radha Pandey

A display of Radha Pandey’s various papers made in the Indo-Islamic style, along with tools used in the tradition.

Radha Pandey is a papermaker and letterpress printer. She earned her MFA in Book Arts from the University of Iowa Center for the Book, where she was a recipient of the Iowa Arts Fellowship. She has learned European, Eastern and Indo-Islamic Papermaking techniques with Timothy Barrett and teaches book arts classes in India, Europe and the United States. Her artists books are held in over 40 public and private collections internationally, including the Library of Congress and Yale University. Currently, Radha is working on an artist book inspired by Mughal floral portraiture from the 16th century, and how it was impacted by colonialization of plants. All the paper for the edition will be hand made in the traditional Indo-Islamic style. Radha teaches many of these techniques online. Click through to find out about upcoming workshops.

In the Studio: 

I’m loving this watermark design based on Tangram puzzles. Did you play with Tangrams as a kid? They are an age-old set of shapes that you can put together in various ways. This sheet of paper features 24 Tangram sets that I arranged on the computer and then cut to create this watermark. Here you see a double-couched sheet with a dark purple sheet underneath, some plain sheets made with bamboo fiber, and a few other designs. You can see how these sheets dried on my Instagram.

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Papery Tidbits:

Have you listened to my interview with Susan Joy Share on Paper Talk?
The Paper Year 2021 is coming… read all about it and hold your spot here!
Join me for a 3-hour live online workshop through the Maine Media Workshop on December 6th. Spots are limited!
I’m honored to be in such good company at the virtual 15th Anniversary Exhibition at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center.

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Arnold Grummer’s ® is having their annual press sale. Are you stuck at home? Invest in a press for your book and paper art! Presses ship anywhere in the lower 48 for just $9.95 ~ don’t miss out! I own one of these Book & Paper Presses. It’s a great teaching tool for off-site workshops, and comes in handy for pressing small sheets in my studio. And while you’re there, check out Arnold Grummer’s Fall Card Contest and win fun paper prizes!


This is a fantastic video about Ruth Asawa that commemorates and celebrate the release of a set of stamps featuring her amazing work (Her work is not paper, but the stamps are). The USPS created the video which features her son and others talking about her work.


Here’s a new twist on plantable paper. Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, is often celebrated with crackers, those small fireworks. Divyanshu Asopa, founder of 21 Fools, has been selling plantable crackers this year – they are made with handmade paper, don’t explode, and you can plant them and they will grow. How cool is that?

From The Entertainment Times

One of my art heroes, Isamu Noguchi, does it again! He designed his Akari lights 70 years ago, helping a Japanese town revitalize their craft. And now, during Covid-19, sales of these lights have soared at the Noguchi Museum – located in his old studio space, a must-see for paper lovers when visiting NYC – and are keeping the museum in business.

Isamu Noguchi with Akari lights sculptures, 1968. Source: The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, NY/Artists Rights Society (ARS)

Did you catch the Veteran’s Day Google Doodle? Made by Air Force veteran Jenn Hassin, the Doodle consists of hundreds of hand-rolled pieces of paper made from uniforms donated from every branch of the American military.

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

All About The Paper Year 2021, The Papermaker’s Studio Guide DVD, Woven Paper Lantern Workshop, & The Papermaker’s Companion .

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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!

The Paper Assembly

The Sunday Paper #338

November 15, 2020

Friends, if you create unique paper items suitable for gift giving and would like me to feature it during the holiday season, please reach out! As more events get cancelled and we are forced to sell online, I am happy to help spread the word and connect you with paper lovers.

Papermaker of the Week: Don Widmer

House of Glass no. 1 (Farnsworth House), flax pulp painting on paper made from cotton, abaca, denim, and eucalyptus with metallic foil inclusions, 24 x 36 inches.

Don Widmer is a book and paper artist working in Chicago. In addition to making artist books and letterpress prints, Don creates detailed pulp paintings using hand-cut stencils. His subject matter features birds and bats, as well as architecture and industrial landscapes. Recently, a bat researcher commissioned him to create a pulp painting of an Australian fruit bat using eucalyptus fiber (part of the bat’s diet) within the sheet. When creating his architectural pieces, Don enjoys the dichotomy of depicting the manufactured materials of steel, concrete and glass within the soft, organic medium of handmade paper. His stencils for the architectural pieces could take him several weeks to design and cut, although the pulp painting itself is created in a single day.

In the Studio: 

I’m excited to have Susan Joy Share on Paper Talk! Susan was an early mentor of mine, and is an Alaska based visual artist, bookbinder and performer. Her passion for the book form, its structural variations, materials and potential for movement blends with her interest in sculpture, painting, sewing and collage. Susan creates an array of wearable books, figures and architectural forms. Her innovative, early performances with foldout sculpture connected the book with the human body. Enjoy our conversation!

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Papery Tidbits:

Join me for a 3-hour virtual workshop through the Maine Media Workshop on December 6th. The Shadow Lantern is one of my favorite projects to teach, and the structure is incredibly versatile. It can be displayed as a book, a lantern or a folding screen, and the paper cutting possibilities are endless. Come explore light with me as we wind our way towards the darkest day of the year.

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Debra Glanz creates handmade books and boxes (some with letterpress titling), decorative papers (Debra’s own line of Reminiscence Papers and papers collected from other sources), and home decor items (from paper, of course). Readers of The Sunday Paper enjoy 20% off through 1/1/21. Enter coupon code BYEBYE2020 at checkout.



Check out these amazing portraits on amate by Gaal Cohen, on view at the Museo de las Americas in Denver through March 20, 2021. Cohen travelled across Mexico to photograph the Otomi people, whose ancestry goes back thousands of years. Like other indigenous Mexicans, the Otomi have witnessed generations of conquest and catastrophe at the hands of various oppressors who have come into power. Their production of amate was banned by Spanish colonialists who saw it as an expression of indigenous independence, but it survived and is still produced today. Cohen printed his close-ups of Otomi faces directly onto the amate, allowing the paper’s natural shades and fibrous markings to shine.

© Gaal Cohen portrait of 105-year-old “Doña Maria Paula.” At the Museo de las Americas in Denver. (Provided by Gaal Cohen)

Deborah Sadler’s sculptures are made with kraft paper, hot glue and a cocktail stick or two. They depict a world of whimsical imaginings often involving interactions with feathered or furry friends. The sculptures are small vignettes, illustrating a story moment. Sadler finds manipulating paper to be immensely therapeutic, like fidgeting with a purpose! Click through to find out about purchasing her work and to watch a video of her exhibition Paper World.

© Debra Sadler 2020, Goose Cakes, 12″ x 8″ x 3″

I am so excited to share the new Paper Year program with you! This will be a monthly or annual subscription program, and I’ll be opening registration in late December. For now, I’m asking you to fill out a short form that indicates which program you’re interested in. Thank you to those of you who have already done this. Click here to read more, watch my video and fill out the form.



This looks fun! A Q&Art All About Paper delivered by Sketch Book Skool.

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

Playing With Pop-Ups, Package of Three Films, Panel Shade Workshop, & 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? 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!

The 2021 Paper Year

The Sunday Paper #337

November 8, 2020

Papermaker of the Week: Drew Matott
This is a new column. If you’re a papermaker and would like to be featured in the coming weeks and months, please fill out this form. I’d love to hear from you!

Riots, Revolts & Revolutions, pulp printing on paper made from Egyptian Cotton, 4 panels, ~18×24 each.

Drew Matott is a master papermaker with an expertise using traditional papermaking as a form of social engagement and community activism across the globe since 2005. He currently lives and works in Hamburg, Germany where he directs the vision and strategy of Peace Paper Project’s International programs.

Drew divides his time between teaching at colleges, doing art residencies, completing studio work, designing new papermaking endeavors and directing Peace Paper Project. He has taught Photography and Contemporary Printmaking at North Country Community College, and Papermaking courses at the Community College of Vermont, Edgewood College, Ursuline College, Massachusetts College of Art and San Francisco Center for the Book. Since 2009, he has taught and exhibited internationally and completed numerous artist residencies. Internationally, Drew has used papermaking and the book arts as a form of social engagement, advocacy, therapy, and community building in India, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Turkey, Spain, Kosovo, Ukraine, and Poland.

Drew recently released a series of how-to papermaking videos that you can watch online.

In the Studio: 

This Paper Year is drawing to a close. Here’s the November project – a criss-cross accordion lantern that could stretch along a mantle or be a nice centerpiece for an intimate holiday gathering this year. It’s a fun and versatile project. If you’d like your own copy of The Paper Year (with instructions for this and 11 other projects), I have a couple of copies left. And please join us over in my Facebook group, The Paper Studio, to see what others are making with paper. You’ll have to answer three simple questions to gain access to the group.

 

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Papery Tidbits:

I’m teaching a 3-hour virtual workshop through the Maine Media Workshop on December 6th, which you can register for now. The Shadow Lantern is one of my favorite projects to teach, and the structure is incredibly versatile. It can be displayed as a book, a lantern or a folding screen, and the paper cutting possibilities are endless. Come explore light with me as we wind our way towards the darkest days of the year.

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I am so excited to share the new Paper Year program with you! This will be a monthly or annual subscription program, and I’ll be opening registration in late December. For now, I’m asking you to fill out a short form that indicates which program you’re interested in. Click here to read more, watch my video and fill out the form.
 

The 7th National Collegiate Paper Art Triennial is now on view at Georgia Tech, but you can view all of the amazing work being made by up and coming paper artists here. This piece, by Delilah Roberts, a student at the SMFA at Tufts in Boston, is a celebration of diversity through high-shrinkage abaca casts of bras.

© Delilah Roberts, “Delicates” high shrinkage abaca over bra molds.

Sara Langworthy is the winner of this year’s prestigious MCBA Prize, presented by Minnesota Center for Book Arts, an award that promotes excellence in new work from across the expressive spectrum of book art. Click through and scroll down to watch the video about this subtle, yet powerful book.

© 2019, Sara Langworthy, Sidereal, letterpress; collagraph; pressure print; hand-set type; modified limp paper binding, 12″ (H) x 7 3/8″ (W) x 1/2″ (D)

I always look forward to seeing the lanterns that are created for the Cameron Art Museum’s year-end exhibit, “Illumination,” which it has held every holiday season since 2015. It’s become a celebration of transitioning from fall into winter, lighter days into darker nights, and self-reflection as the year comes to a close. The show runs Nov. 21 through Jan. 10.

One of the artist-made lanterns from the 2018 “Illumination” exhibit at CAM, which in 2020 will feature new works from upward of 50 artists. (Port City Daily/Shea Carver)

I enjoyed learning about the work of Angelica Contreras, who explores the relationships between identity, tradition, and pop culture by incorporating techniques like acrylic, oil, and collage into her unique portraits. The use of collaged material such as patterned papers, advertisement and newspaper cut-outs, to name a few, provide a palette of colors and textures for the subject’s surroundings. Her use of materials is both calculated and serendipitous, leading her to create unusual cultural combinations and providing spectators with a richer interpretation.

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

Playing With Pop-Ups, Package of Three Films, Panel Shade Workshop, & 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? 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!

Say His Name: #KevinPetersonJr

The Sunday Paper #336

November 1, 2020

I hope you had a happy and safe Halloween!

Papermaker of the Week: Rix Jennings
This is a new column. If you’re a papermaker and would like to be featured in the coming weeks and months, please fill out this form. I’d love to hear from you!

© Rix Jennings, Neofossils, handmade paper reliefs.

Rix Jennings started making paper in New Hampshire during the 70’s, inspired by a paper bas-relief no-one could figure out a process for. He consulted his friend Elaine Koretsky who had not long before established Carriage House Paper. Jennings attended the first International PaperMakers conference in Boston. When he moved to Houston, he bought the equipment from the defunct paper making program at the Glassell School of Art, including a non-functioning Howard Clark “Stingray” and an ancient Valley beater, both gone now, replaced by a Davis Hodges and a Critter. With back and forth stimulation from Yama Ploskonka in Austin and Mark Lander in New Zealand, he has been developing papermaking with vacuum processes. Jennings is primarily an artist and recently retired after 25 years teaching at Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. These days, he makes paper for drawing, and he hosts life drawing labs (pre Covid), workshops for drawing and papermaking, writes a monthly newsletter, and offers life drawing virtual kits and coaching.

In the Studio: 

I’m teaching a 3-hour virtual workshop through the Maine Media Workshop on December 6th, which you can register for now. The Shadow Lantern is one of my favorite projects to teach, and the structure is incredibly versatile. It can be displayed as a book, a lantern or a folding screen, and the paper cutting possibilities are endless. Come explore light with me as we wind our way towards the darkest days of the year.

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Papery Tidbits:

Registration for the Paper Year Online 2021 begins tomorrow, and I’ll share more about it next week. Some of you have followed this journey for more than 5 years! It began right here on my blog. Here’s a sneak peak of the projects.
Have you listened to my podcast interview with Meg Black?

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Sharing art has always been a part of the culture at the Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster, PA. The church has their own gallery space and has hosted First Friday shows. 12-year old Ezra Kauffman used to fold the church bulletins during the service, but during Covid he’s attending Zoom services and has wowed the congregation with his origami creations.

An origami dragon folded by Ezra Kauffman, a seventh-grader at Lancaster Mennonite School. Photo by Ezra Kauffman.

Paper Routes, the sixth installment in National Museum of Women in the Art’s Women to Watch exhibition series, showcases contemporary artists working in paper, approaching the medium in varied ways.

Annie Lopez, The Liberation of Glycerine, 2016; Cyanotype on tamale wrapper paper, thread, zipper, and metal buckle, 51 x 48 x 52 in.; Collection of Eric Jungermann; Photo by Katie Jones-Weinert, Tucson Museum of Art

Check out the amazing shots of the Wing And A Prayer installation, made by 100 volunteers and 300 school children, that resides in the nave of the Ripon Cathedral in the UK. Each angel represents a dedication made during the pandemic to key workers and loved ones.

Michele Gee takes a photograph of the installation of 10,000 angels at Ripon Cathedral (Danny Lawson/PA)

Ooh la la! These are some stunning paper cuts by Hiroki Saito, who practices a meticulous variation of the traditional Japanese art of Kiri-e or Kirigami (meaning cut picture), creating elaborate designs that look photographic.

As seen on My Modern Met.

Get crafty with your newspaper. This is a clever column New York Times column that features paper flowers this time, but if you scroll to the bottom, you’ll find links to other paper craft projects you can make with a newspaper.

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Friends, what can we do? I was heartbroken to learn that a 21-year old young man who was in my son’s class in Portland, OR from 3rd – 7th grade was shot and killed by Police near Portland on Thursday night. I ache for a solution to this violence, and have no words, but will continue to say his name. My husband posted this on Facebook: “Earlier this week, I interviewed two Washington State legislators and a retired Washington State Patrol officer about the difficult subject of police reform, and this morning I read this linked story in Newsweek, about a 21-year-old young man who lost his life last night to police gunfire in Vancouver, Wash. The headline asks “Who Is Kevin Peterson Jr?” While I don’t know what led to the violence that was unleashed in that dark parking lot in Vancouver last night, I do know that a decade ago, Kevin Peterson Jr was a classmate of my son’s at a public Waldorf school in Portland, an 11-year-old boy who almost always had a smile on his face and sometimes played in our home. I took this photo of Kevin at a 2010 Portland Village School field trip to the Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center in Oregon, which also is gone, destroyed by the wildfires that raged across the state in September. https://www.newsweek.com/who-kevin-peterson-jr-blm…”

When Kevin and our son were in 5th grade, I facilitated a papermaker’s garden project at their school. We planted and grew papermaking plants and processed them into paper. Among other things, we visited a community garden, and Ted helped the kids write poems on the paper they made. The project culminated in an exhibition at the neighborhood library. Here is Kevin collecting plants at the garden, along with the poem he wrote. Rest in peace and power, dear one. We must do better than this!

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

Collage Packs, Alpha, Beta, …, A Map to Now, & 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? 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!