Helen Hiebert's Blog, page 26

Postcard Perfect Scenes

The Sunday Paper #335

October 25, 2020

Papermaker of the Week: Mary Hark
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!

HARK! Handmade Paper flax sheets, pigmented, overdyed and gelatin sized, waiting to be re flattened in a restraint dryer; from a recent edition, 2020.

Mary Hark, University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor in Design Studies, is the proprietor of HARK! Handmade Paper where she produces limited editions of high quality flax and linen handmade papers in collaboration with book designers and artists, as well as unique paper artworks that have been exhibited internationally. Hark leads an initiative in Kumasi, Ghana, building the first hand papermill in West Africa capable of producing high-quality papers entirely from local botanicals. An artist committed to sustainable practice, Hark recently led a team in St. Paul, Minnesota, designing and producing 2500 beautiful handmade papers, made entirely from urban bio and textile waste, that were used as placemats for CREATE: the Community Meal public art event (Seitu Jones). Her work can be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian Museum of African Art, the Ginsberg Book Arts Collection in Johannesburg, South Africa, and in many university special collections. Mary Hark is regularly invited to teach workshops at premier craft schools and art centers nationally.

In the Studio: Meg Black on Paper Talk

Photo by: Kindra Clineff

I enjoyed getting to know Meg Black on Paper Talk, an artist and art historian who studies historical works of art and connects her work to the great artists who have come down to us through the ages. The subject of her work is nature and its impact on our sensory experience, and she studies how artists have recorded nature, and considers these approaches in her own designs. She doesn’t try to copy the natural world as she sees it but, rather, as she feels it. Black’s paintings and wall reliefs are made with abaca, a fiber that she is constantly discovering the potential for and is challenged by. She finds that the texture of this material provides an almost three-dimensional quality to the surface of her work, mimicking nature in all its splendor. Enjoy our conversation!

———————————————————————————————–––––––

Papery Tidbits:

The Handmade Holiday Series begins tomorrow. Join us and create a collection of sweet and simple giftable objects.
The Paper Year Online 2021 is coming soon. Some of you have followed this journey for more than 5 years! It began right here on my blog, and that led to the Twelve Months of Paper Calendars in 2017, 18 and 19, followed by The Paper Year in 2020. These were all printed calendars, but I’m going back online with a monthly subscription program next year. Here’s a sneak peak of the projects.

———————————————————————————————–––––––
Check out these amazing collaged installations by Clare Börsch, as seen on This is Colossal. The Berlin-based American artist sources vintage photographs from open source archives, and combines them with botanical elements she draws or photographs herself. Then she cuts and assembes them in new, sometimes bizarre, compositions.

Jungle installation commissioned by Book A Street Artist Berlin for Riem Arcaden in Munich. Photograph by the artist.

I learned about the work of Ruth Edwards this week on the Book Arts listserv, when news about her death was shared, along with some wonderful remembrances (I am sorry that our paths never crossed). I took a little trip down a rabbit hole via her wikipedia page, where I discovered one of her initiatives. Books in Black is a collective of individual African Americans and others from the African diaspora who are “ordinary people who make extraordinary books.” The collective focused on creating unique books that highlighted aspects of African American history and achievement.

Books in Black poster by R Gregory Christie, circa 2007, was used to promote the artists’ book making collective.

I love this concept (although it is hard to see in the photo). An A4 piece of paper with thousands of forward-slash characters on it from a typewriter has won the $25,000 annual Parkin Drawing Prize.

Poppy Lekner is the winner of the 2020 Parkin Drawing Prize with her piece Forward Slash, an A4 piece of paper with type-written forward slashes over and over on it.

LOL, this rumba got tangled up in TP! So much for the time-saving benefits of technology.

The New York Times recently featured the paper work of photographer Vik Muniz, who creates elaborate views of the world’s most famous tourist spots, building the details with thousands of pieces cut from postcards he collects.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

Featured this week in my Studio shop:

Interluceo: Collage Packs, Try It! Shadow Lantern self-study workshop, a big box of 2019 Twelve Months of Paper Calendars for $20 (share with your art group, book club, etc.) and Papermaking with Garden Plants.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

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!

Pith “Paper”

The Sunday Paper #334

October 18, 2020

Papermaker of the Week: Irene Wei
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!

© 2020 Irene Wei, Pith “Paper” Flower Bouquet, pith “paper” (made from the pith of Tetrapanax papyrifer), 12″ x 9″ x 17″

Irene Wei is a Taiwanese-American papermaker and furniture designer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Irene started Pith Flower Shop so she could preserve, share and educate her artistic and cultural communities about this unique 2000 year old craft of making Taiwanese pith flowers. As someone who lives across the world from her heritage country, she believes that traditional arts are a tangible way to access and connect to Taiwan’s history and culture while living in America. She hopes that through educating people about this craft, she can share an aspect of her culture with other diverse communities and also help Taiwanese immigrant or multigenerational families stay connected to their heritage culture through making (or receiving) pith flowers. Irene studied pith flowers under the instruction of Jerry Chen (expert pith flower maker and director of the Taiwan Tong Cao Association). She also conducted tōngcǎo research around sweet potato island with Kuei Mei Liang (executive director of the Taiwan Tong Cao Association).

While Irene’s main mission is to promote the beautiful tradition of making Taiwanese pith flowers, she still works in a furniture/object design-related field. Irene graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Furniture Design and a Concentration in Nature Culture Sustainability Studies. In addition to her academic studies, she pursued Traditional and Contemporary Papermaking on the side full time through various acclaimed hand papermaking institutions and businesses such as the Ox-Bow School of Art, Pace Paper, Carriage House Paper and Paper Connection International. She is currently a board member of the national Hand Papermaking Magazine where she provides representation for student hand papermakers. Her practice involves investigating different methods of papermaking that can be applied in sustainable and practical ways within her furniture/object making practice. Irene’s works have been published in VISIONS Magazine multiple times and has shown her work across America. She was recently selected as the Emerging Artist of 2019 at the Philadelphia Furniture Show competition and has shown her work at Architectural Digest, the Ogden Museum in New Orleans, LA and through the Asian Creative Network at the Salesforce tower in San Francisco, CA.

In the Studio:

The Paper Year is going online in 2021, and I can’t wait to share the details with you in early November. In a nutshell, The Paper Year online is a year-long class with a new lesson/project every month. Here’s a sneak peak of one of the projects, a criss-cross accordion book/lantern/sculpture – I love panel-based objects that can transform. The projects in the Paper Year are designed to be open-ended. Four guest artists and I will challenge participants to explore the techniques and projects we introduce in new and inventive ways. We’ll explore a variety of techniques throughout the year too, including pop-ups, book arts, paper cutting, paper folding, illumination and more.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

Papery Tidbits:

The Handmade Holiday Series begins a week from tomorrow. Join us and create a collection of sweet and simple giftable objects.
The Paper Advisor is a place where you’ll find my most popular papermaking and papercraft resources all in one place.

———————————————————————————————–––––––
I enjoyed this lovely conversation between Eric Avery and Susan Mackin Dolan who discuss their collaborative print and paper work, which began at the Southwest School of Art in San Antonio 35 years ago. Their most recent collaboration resulted in the publication of this limited edition artist’s book related to human trafficking and a stash house. The project involved students at the very same school where their collaborations began.

Eric Avery + Susan Mackin Dolan, Stash House, Floor Plan Puzzle Assembled, Linoleum block on handmade paper, 36 X 25 inches

I was just coating papers with kakishibu this morning, a fermented persimmon juice that makes paper waterproof. And then I happened upon this witty article about Aqua Notes, discovered by a writer that was looking for a paper she could jot notes down while… wait for it… in the shower!  They exist in more varieties than one.

Aqua Notes waterproof notepad

 

This looks like it will be an engaging book arts symposium, open to anyone as it is going to be online this year. It is free, but registration is required.

Check out the work of artist Tyler Foust, who creates continuous line drawings (on paper) full of mesmerizing patterns.

Did you know the University of Alabama’s Book Arts MFA curriculum was the very first of its kind, started in 1985? To this day, there are only a handful of programs in the country dedicated to bookmaking craft and art books. We met with the professors of the longest running Book Arts program to find out more about this multifaceted, unique discipline taught in Tuscaloosa, AL. Click through to watch a lovely video about book arts and the program.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

Featured this week in my Studio shop:

Interluceo: Collage Packs, The Papermakers Studio Guide, Try It! Woven Paper Lantern self-study workshop, and Papermaking with Garden Plants.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

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 Currents 2020

The Sunday Paper #333

October 4, 2020

Papermaker of the Week: Heather Matthew
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!

© 2016 Heather Matthew, Waterline, screenprint on banana paper with indigo dyed linen pulp inclusion, 83cm W x62cm H

As a paper artist, Heather Matthew uses the fragility and strength of handmade paper as a metaphor for resilience, of both the human spirit and the earth. She often makes banana fibre paper because of its translucent, skin like properties, and she sources recycled clothing and household linen for paper pulp to embed additional meaning into her artwork. In 2017, her papermaking studio was flooded in the aftermath of Cyclone Debbie and the papers in her paper drawers survived. She collaged these flood marked, mud spattered papers together to tell a narrative of climate catastrophes and continues to make works about climate change in her collages, artist books and sculptural installations. She has recorded the sounds when making paper and printed these sonagraphs and fractal images onto indigo dyed paper. These invisible calming vibrations she experiences during the paper making process have helped her during the Covid pandemic. Using pulp sourced from recycled clothing donated to flood affected families, she created giant worlds of poured paper shaped into the “blue marble” of the planet as photographed from space by the Apollo 17 astronauts.

In the Studio:

I’ve got a new watermark on the mould, and the paper is going to be part of a Curated Paper Collection, something new I’ll be offering in 2021 in conjunction with The Paper Year Online (details about this subscription club will be revealed soon). Did you play with tangrams as a kid? This is an arrangement of 24 tangrams – a tangram of tangrams!

If you are attending the North American Hand Papermakers conference, Paper Currents, next weekend, (free to members, still open for registration) I am presenting a workshop about how I create watermarks and use them for pulp stenciling. I use western fibers in my work, and Susan Mackin Dolan, a friend and colleague who lives just up the road, is co-presenting and showing her innovative low-tech pulp stenciling techniques using eastern fibers.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

Papery Tidbits:

Have you listened to my interview with Helen Frederick on Paper Talk?
The Paper Advisor is a place where you’ll find my most popular papermaking and papercraft resources all in one place?

———————————————————————————————–––––––

I’d like to get lost in another world. Napaschol Tangnukulkit’s exhibition of paper flowers is called ‘Lost In The Greenland’ because she wants visitors to feel like they are lost in a world that she created.

Napaschol Tangnukulkit’s tropical flowers in glass containers

How cool is this: a paper app! As seen on the All Things Paper Blog: well-known paper artist Yulia Brodskaya just launched the first-ever quilling mobile game app. It features her colorful, tactile art within which players merge identical paper tiles to solve tasks.

I am always thankful for my dear readers who share new paper artists with me! Check out the stunning sculptural and illuminated works by Junior Fritz Jacquet.

I was just talking with a friend yesterday about what I would do if I had to quarantine for 14 days in another city in a hotel room (her son is probably going to China for work and will have to do this). And then I read this story about Simon Lie, who did just that in Sydney, Australia, and he folded his way through the two weeks.

Simon Lie’s origami hotel quarantine creations. Credit: Simon Lie / Facebook

Have you heard of flibbers? Well, this NY Times article shows you how to make one from a sheet of newspaper (remember those?). Spoiler alert: it’s the title project of the 1964 children’s book “How to Make Flibbers, Etc.: A Book of Things to Make and Do” by the author and illustrator Robert Lopshire.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

The Handmade Holiday Series begins two weeks from tomorrow. Here’s what one registrant had to say:

“I’m very excited to be doing another class with you! I’ve been pretty uninspired these last months so hoping your usual inspiration along with a dose of your goodwill (and magic) will get me to finally work in my studio again. Thanks!!” – Ruth C.

Watch the video and sign up today.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

Featured this week in my Studio shop:

Interluceo: Collage Packs, Playing With Paper, a Package of Three Films, and Papermaking with Garden Plants & Common Weeds.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

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!

Reading Road Studio

The Sunday Paper #332

October 4, 2020

Papermaker of the Week: Georgie Cunningham

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!

© 2019 Georgie Cunningham. Left: Handmade abaca paper woven on a Brazilian walnut and coconut vine lamp frame. 8″ x 8″ x 14″. Right: Handmade abaca paper with rose petal inclusions woven on a Brazilian cherry lamp frame. 7.5” x 7.5” x 14”.

Georgie Cunningham has been making paper for more than twenty years in her studio in the Texas Hill country. Born and raised in South Texas, she has always loved wide open spaces and big skies. As a papermaker, she purchases fiber, but prefers hiking across the countryside looking for plants with papermaking potential. The resulting work is an interplay of art and craft influenced by the diverse culture around her. Her goal is to produce work that evokes a peaceful and quiet atmosphere. The filtering of light through layers of translucent paper or woven color and texture is key in her lamps and tapestries. She wants to encourage people to pause— to give them “breathing room” and permission not to look for image and meaning but to simply meditate on movement, color and light.

In the Studio:

Here I am on the big screen, doing a 10-day residency with a group of 6-9 year olds at a school in Arkansas. They have a maker space and the kids made their own moulds and deckles. Their teachers reached out to me when they got started making paper (thanks to a recommendation from a former intern) and asked whether I’d be interested in doing a virtual residency. I’m impressed with what we’ve accomplished, and I thoroughly enjoy my time with them on Google Meets (similar to Zoom). I’m spending three hours a week with them, and the teachers and I meet for an hour to plan and prep. During each session, I do a demo that the kids watch, and then they go to their papermaking stations, and we repeat the process together. So far, we’ve done basic papermaking, made shaped sheets, explored inclusions and designed watermarks. They each have laptops, so I can watch what they are doing and give them feedback. Then we gather again for a Q&A session (that’s what you see us doing here).

———————————————————————————————–––––––

Papery Tidbits:

Do you follow me on Youtube? I just posted a new video on how to color paper pulp with tempera paint (great and safe for working with kids). I use the same technique when coloring with aqueous dispersed pigments.
Have you checked out The Paper Advisor, where you’ll find my most popular papermaking and papercraft resources all in one place?
The October  project in The Paper Year is a flying crane card designed by Gina Pisello. Hop on over to The Paper Studio to check out the challenge. If you aren’t a member of the group, you’ll have to answer three simple questions to gain access.

———————————————————————————————–––––––
It was a delight to have Helen Frederick on Paper Talk. Helen is recognized as a distinguished artist, curator, educator, coordinator of international projects, and as founder of Pyramid Atlantic, a center for contemporary printmaking, hand papermaking, and the art of the book. As an advocate for, and an active participant in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area arts scene, she has served on the directorial boards of alternative art spaces, various local and national boards and national peer-review panels. Have a listen!


Congratulations to the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center, celebrating 15 years! With the support of the Kalamazoo community, generous donations, and the help of many volunteers, the center has grown to become a fully equipped nonprofit center for the study of book arts. They were planning an exhibition for this fall, but as with so many things, these plans had to change. Click through to view the online exhibition that highlights the variety and creativity of their visiting artists (including yours truly).

This is a sweet animated book video by filmmaker Andrea Dorfman with poet Tanya Davis about How to Be at Home, a place so many of us are spending more time at.

This is too cute for words! A young Brit named Marcus built a model of a Hollander Beater from Plastic Meccano, a biscuit tin, and various bits of plastic, inspired by a visit to the Apsley Mill Paper Trail, Hemel Hempstead, in the UK.

Check out these 13 festive Hanukkah crafts for all ages. Several of them are created with paper.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

Do you love paper? Do you enjoy exploring its potential? Do you like to create your own gifts? The early bird deadline for my upcoming online class, The Handmade Holiday Series is coming right up (October 8th). Watch the video and sign up today.

Skip shopping online or in person and make it yourself this holiday season.
Experience  Joy in the Making  as you create with your own hands.
Turn beautiful decorative papers into gift-worthy treasures.
Spend time with a paper-loving community where you’ll share ideas, get feedback and find inspiration!
Use your own paper stash or purchase my curated Holiday Paper Collection (details below).
Give handmade this holiday season!  Joy in the Giving.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

Featured this week in my Studio shop:

Interluceo: Collage Packs, Playing With Paper, a Package of Three Films, and Papermaking with Garden Plants & Common Weeds.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

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!

Papercraft Miracles

The Sunday Paper #331

September 27, 2020

Papermaker of the Week: Janna Willoughby-Lohr

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!

Janna Willoughby-Lohr in her studio looking through a selection of Papercraft Miracles specialty handmade papers. Each style of paper gets a clever name before going out into the world.

Janna Willoughby-Lohr is a poet, artist, musician and owner of Papercraft Miracles, an eco-friendly handmade paper art company. They create handcrafted, personalized stationery, gifts, and decor that make a moment unforgettable. From wedding invitations with seeds embedded inside, to intricate handbound books, to unbelievably realistic paper flowers, Papercraft Miracles has the ability to turn your story into a tangible, interactive piece of art. There really is no substitute for the feeling of receiving a special gift. As Janna says, “There’s just something about handling paper that sends me to the moon and brings me back to earth at the same time. That feeling is miraculous to me. I aim to instill that sense of wonder into each piece that I create, because we can all use a little miracle now and then.”

In the Studio: One Sheet Wonders

This week I took photos of everything I am packing up to send to Storey Books for the photo shoot for my new book (my working title is One Sheet Wonders, and hopefully we’ll have an actual title in the near future). This is a clever one-sheet stage (with puppets) designed by Paula Beardell Krieg, who has an amazing blog filled with paper projects and ideas, often relating to math.

I will be featuring one sheet wonders on the blog in a few months, leading up to the publication of the book (fall 2021). I welcome submissions – I want to feature all sorts of clever one sheet wonders – not just the ones in the book.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

Papery Tidbits:

My newest online class is now open for registration! Click here to watch the video, read all about it and register.
Have you checked out The Paper Advisor, where you’ll find my most popular papermaking and papercraft resources all in one place?

———————————————————————————————–––––––
I enjoyed this story about Kim Phillips, who wanted to better understand her Jewish friends’ religion. She spent a year immersed in the study of Judaism as a layperson at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati and then at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem where she learned the art of Jewish paper cutting.

Cowan Texaco, a 20-inch x 16-inch papercut done in Phillips’ painterly papercut style, is made of 14 layers of fine papers, each hand cut with an exacto knife, to make the image. It is in a private collection. Photo by Kim Phillips

In this time of necessary societal transformation, Hand Papermaking is resolved to take concrete steps to fulfill their role as the journal of record that truly reflects the full breadth of work in the field. In solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives, they are launching the Hand Papermaking Black Writers Fellowships, an evolving program that currently offers two opportunities for Black writers: Reporter and Researcher. The deadlines for applying are approaching fast (one is tomorrow).

Check out these three profiles of Filipino origami artists who have been busy folding during quarantine.

This is a fun Crafty Panda timelapse video on how to turn toilet paper into a lamp.

Deborah Morin is making clever fasceted paper sculpture.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

Featured this week in my Studio shop:

Interluceo: an artist’s book, Playing With Paper, a Package of Three Films, and Papermaking with Garden Plants & Common Weeds.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

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!

Handmade Holiday Online Class

The Sunday Paper #330

September 20, 2020

Papermaker of the Week: Tony Carlone

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!

© Tony Carlone | Songbird Bluebird | Silkscreen with hand coloring on deckle box formed handmade kozo, pigmented kozo and denim paper | 48” x 72” | 2017

As a hand papermaker with a printmaking background, Tony Carlone of Botanical Conversations Studio sees his work as an adventurous hybrid between a range of processes, chosen for their aesthetic value and contextual significance. Experimentation in the studio invigorates his artistic process. By using forms that echo themselves in the natural world, he explores the symbiotic relationship between humans and their environment. His artistic practice is about creating local plant-based art by using the natural environment as a source of inspiration, raw material, and the beginnings of a social conversation. When he not in his studio working on his own art, Tony is producing unique and one-of-a-kind blends of handmade paper for his online store.

In the Studio: Handmade Holiday Series

My newest online class is now open for registration! Click here to watch the video, read all about it and register. Thanks so much to those of you who have signed up! The intention behind this class is to create small gifts – experience JOY in the making and JOY in the giving. I’ve counted more than ten occasions that might be worthy of a card or small gift between October and January 1st (think Halloween, Day of the Dead, Election Day, Diwali, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Solstice, Festivus, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Day)!

I’ve received some inquiries about creating projects for all kinds of holidays and faith traditions in this class. How wonderful! I value your input and feedback, and I’m coming up with designs to help everyone celebrate. I also look forward to how you might alter my designs – once you understand a basic structure, you are welcome to make it your own. And that is one of the BEST part of an online class – seeing what others create – whether it is a card made in a different paper or a lantern that takes the design to another level. The online classroom is truly a place of inspiration.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

Papery Tidbits:

Textile Talks features The Potential of Paper: Fiber Artists, Papermakers & Sculptural Form, A Conversation with Mary Hark, Jocelyn Chateauvert and Fafnir Adamites. Presented by Surface Design Association, Weds, September 23rd at 2pm Eastern.
Fold a paper lotus and participate in the Rubin Museum’s The Lotus Effect project
Have you listened to my interview with Eugenie Barron on Paper Talk?

———————————————————————————————–––––––
When Tim Ely started making books in the 1970s, there was no clear roadmap for what he wanted to make. Doug Garnett and Sam Q. Garnett have created a short documentary about his work and many of the processes he uses. This short film is delightful. I felt like I learned so much about the philosophy behind Tim’s work by listening to him talk, accompanied by wonderful music and insights from students, and watching the visuals. Enjoy!

Check out this video walk through of Mattie O’s installation, Held in Suspension, at the Foothills Art Center in Golden, CO. The show is up through October 25th and if you’re in the area, you can view it in person (check the hours due to covid restrictions). I’m pretty sure that Mattie got her start with handmade paper right here in Red Cliff, when she attended one of my first retreats.

A new fully integrated marketing campaign by McKinney Agency for Sherwin Williams paint stores celebrates a world made entirely of color chips. You’ll be seeing these on TV. Paper art by Matthew Sporzynski (look him up).

This was just shared in The Paper Studio (my facebook group) – thanks Akua. What a great read about Karina Sharif, who wants to tell Black women’s stories through her clothes.

Photo: Stephanie Mei-Ling, New York Magazine

If you’re in San Antonio, go see the Origami in the Garden exhibition at the San Antonio Sculpture Garden! I had the honor of visiting some of this work at Kevin and Jennifer Box’s home/studio outside of Santa Fe last summer.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

Featured this week in my Studio shop:

Right Angle, Try It: Woven Paper Lantern Online Class, Playing With Pop Ups, and Papermaking With Garden Plants & Common Weeds.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

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!

Twelve Moons

The Sunday Paper #329

September 13, 2020

Papermaker of the Week: Velma Bolyard

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!

Twelve Moons, shifu cover, lined with printed flax, silk organza endsheets, pages are Arches text wove, all eco- or botanical contact printed in several batches, single section binding with ostrich shell, fold-outs.

I met Velma Bolyard when she was doing a residency in Salida, CO, just a stone’s throw from my studio (more or less). She is a mother, teacher and fiber artist working mostly in artists’ books. She makes paper, shifu, dyes with natural material, spins and forages for most of her material in the North Country of New York State. After retirement from teaching in alternative special education programs she now travels to teach and exhibit. Velma’s artists’ books are in private and institutional collections and she has written for Hand Papermaking and The Bone Folder.

In the Studio: Eugenie Barron on Paper Talk

I first met Eugenie Barron when we worked together on a papermaking program for school kids in New York City in the early 1990’s. Eugenie tells me how she got into papermaking when she saw an exhibition of handmade paper art on a trip to UC Santa Barbara in the late 1970’s. She was so inspired by the work, that she tracked down the students and asked them for their handouts. Soon afterwards, she discovered the work of Douglass Howell in a book by Vance Studley, contacted Howell and went to work with him for a week on Long Island. After that experience, she decided to move to New York and began setting up her own studio. We discuss the work she’s done with the Women’s Studio Workshop, how she has been documenting Douglass Howell’s legacy and our joint interest in high shrinkage fibers. Enjoy our conversation!

———————————————————————————————–––––––

Papery Tidbits:

I’ve started something called The Paper Advisor that you might be interested in. It’s a place where you can discover my most popular papermaking and papercraft resources – including information about tools and supplies, how-to videos, and paper tips – all in one place! And best of all, it’s free!
I’m putting together a month-long online Handmade Holiday Series that will begin in late October and wrap up prior to Thanksgiving. Join me and create a series of cards, holiday décor, ornaments and lanterns for friends and loved ones (or yourself). Click here to let me know you’re interested, and I’ll send you a coupon code when registration opens – later this week!
Art Biz Coach Alyson Stanfield is running a 3-day workshop this coming week: In Reclaim Your Year, she will show you how to tweak your plans and squeeze the most out of the rest of the year. When you look back at this year, you’ll be able to say that you made lemonade from lemons!

———————————————————————————————–––––––
I loved reading about the work of Paulina M. Johnson on the All Things Paper Blog this past week. Paulina attended the Red Cliff Paper Retreat a few years ago and lives in my neck of the woods (Steamboat Springs, CO). She’s exploring paper in some fascinating ways and during quarantine last April, Paulina challenged herself to a 100-day Instagram project that led to these six by six-inch line-drawn pieces.

I have fond yet fuzzy memories of invisible ink: a special pen, and lemon juice, but I can’t recall the details fully. Maybe one of you can? Anyways, here’s a cool book for kids of all ages. Soft Opening has hidden stories printed in invisible ink which can only be discovered with the help of a small UV-flashlight that comes attached to the book. So fun!

On the topic of books and flashlights, here’s one of my artist’s books, the Pop-Up Hand Shadow Book. Click through to watch the video.

When COVID 19 forced the cancellation of Design Eye Creative paper on skin’s live gala event and award evening, the Tasmanian Burnie Arts Council decided to shift to a digital format. The results were unveiled and filmed at an exclusive premiere screening recently. Design Eye Creative paper on skin connects Burnie’s papermaking heritage to a community of Australian and international artists. Their challenge was to design a wearable garment made from at least 80% paper. This video highlights each of the amazing paper entries and this one shows off the work of the winner!

Check out what Moo.com is making now. They are producing one-sheet face masks for as little as 35 cents in an effort to protect workers at companies whose customers forget to bring a mask, and to cut down on discarded disposable masks that are piling up in the most unlikely places. They look pretty cool, too!

———————————————————————————————–––––––

Featured this week in my Studio shop:

Right Angle, Try It: Woven Paper Lantern Online Class, Playing With Pop Ups, and Papermaking With Garden Plants & Common Weeds.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

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!

Greenwerk Paper Studio

The Sunday Paper #328

September 6, 2020

Papermaker of the Week: Csenge Győrbíró & Lili Labus

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!

Csenge Győrbíró and Lili Labus at Greenwerk Paper Studio. Three blue paper weavings by Lili, and two wall pieces by Csenge.

Greenwerk Paper Studio in Budapest focuses on an experimental design process. The studio produces paper from surplus material while creating eco-friendly products that are both aesthetically pleasing and practical. This is a place where an idea begins as a basic sketch and is converted into samples and working prototypes. In many cases the products are so skillfully transformed that their origins are not recognizable. The founders of the Studio are Csenge Győrbíró and Lili Labus, who are both textile designers and innovators who graduated from the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest, Hungary.

In the Studio: 

I love it when inspiration strikes!  I’ve had this dish drying rack in a box for 3+ years, finally opened it and thought about what I could use it for. Voila! The perfect studio tape rack. Do you have this much tape? Painter’s tape, artist’s tape, double-side tapes, washi tape, duct tape, strapping tape, and masking tape!

———————————————————————————————–––––––

Papery Tidbits:

I’m putting together a month-long online Handmade Holiday Series that will begin in late October and wrap up prior to Thanksgiving. Join me and create a series of cards, holiday décor, ornaments and lanterns for friends and loved ones (or yourself). Click here to let me know you’re interested, and I’ll send you a coupon code when registration opens.

———————————————————————————————–––––––
The Princeton Paper Crane Project honors the covid-19 victims of New Jersey and has also grown to support black lives matter. It sounds like it would be amazing to experience this exhibit IRL as the flow of air through the space creates currents that cause the 17,000 cranes to sway. This is moving in more ways than one.

The Arts Council of Princeton’s Taplin Gallery,.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Wowza! Atamjeet Singh is known as the paper model guru, and I can see why! He says: “There is no room for mistakes in his 3D paper modeling, and every detail – like what kind of paper to use, the knife to cut and carve and even printing the designs  – comes with lot of challenges.”

Paper artist Atamjeet Bawa with one of his creations in Amritsar. Tribune photo

Yu Tielin is a Chinese high school student who won Apple’s 2020 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC20) Swift Student Challenge this year. She developed a design in which the players get to explore paper cutting!

This photo shows Yu Tielin’s app for teaching paper-cutting. Programming is her way to help promote Chinese traditional folk art during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many incarcerated people have spent years figuring out what to do with their time in isolation. Not the same, but a bit like how some of us are feeling during COVID-19. Some discover faith, others read and educate themselves, and then there are those who become artists. The University of Michigan hosts an Annual Exhibition of Art by Michigan Prisoners.

Kenneth Mariner, ‘House Diorama,’ cardboard and mixed media, 2019. Credit: Prison Creative Arts Project/Author provided

I’ve started something called The Paper Advisor that you might be interested in. It’s a place where you can discover my most popular papermaking and papercraft resources – including information about tools and supplies, how-to videos, and paper tips – all in one place! And best of all, it’s free!

———————————————————————————————–––––––

Featured this week in my Studio shop:

A Map to Now broadside, The Papermaker’s Studio Guide DVD, Try It: Party Light Online Class & Playing With Paper.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

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!

Dragged Through the Lake and Sand

The Sunday Paper #327

August 30, 2020

Papermaker of the Week: Barbara Ery

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!

Painted small sheet of handmade paper soaked in iron water and tied into bundles and dragged through the lake and sand.

Barbara (Scout) Ery is getting her masters in paper making by studying with master papermaker Sara Gilfert at Paper Circle in Ohio. Gilfert started out as fiber artist and traveled extensively to the Far East, where she learned and explored Japanese paper making. Ery is reading tons of books at present and has the opportunity to be in a working full furnished papermaking studio during the pandemic.

In the Studio: 

I’m putting together a month-long online Handmade Holiday Series that will begin in late October and wrap up prior to Thanksgiving. Join me and create a series of cards, holiday décor, ornaments and lanterns for friends and loved ones (or yourself). Click here to let me know you’re interested, and I’ll send you a coupon code when registration opens.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

Papery Tidbits:

Did you catch my recent interview with Béatrice Coron on Paper Talk?
Yay, I heard that several of you are participating in the 100,000 Folds project that I shared last week!
Felicia Rice (Moving Parts Press), American book artist, typographer, letterpress printer, fine art publisher, and educator, lost her home and studio in the California wildfires. A gofundme account has been set up for her and her family. Please contribute if you can!
I put together a list of my favorite books about paper in my new Amazon Shop.


———————————————————————————————–––––––
Remember the Notes for Votes campaign I wrote about recently? Well blog reader, Candace Wilkinson, ordered a set and got inspired. Check out her recent blog post (you’ll find the link to Notes for Votes and can purchase her cards too). Her blog post starts like this: “I grew up in a family that paid attention to politics without being deeply engaged. But voting was important. I remember the thrill of stepping inside the curtain with my mom when she voted.  I have voted in every election since I was old enough to register. Even when the issues or candidates I supported have not prevailed, at least I’ve been heard.” So good!

This is super cool to watch – a time lapse paper transformation! Soomin Kim brings the groundbreaking curve of Samsung’s new G9 and G7 gaming monitors to life with nothing more than a paper cup and pen.

Odyssey G9 & G7: A paper cup masterpiece | Samsung

Look closely, and you’ll see that this piece is made of paper. The work of Swetha Srinivasan is delightful! In an attempt to escape a chronic illness, she made more than 70 paper miniatures in 10 months – dioramas to convey little stories and moments. She considers overcoming the physical pain of juvenile arthritis by indulging herself in quilling to be her greatest achievement.

Swetha Srinivasan’s work is shared on Instagram through the handle @confessionsofthehe_art

I was sorry to read that Milton Glaser died this week on his 91st birthday. Glaser was a well known graphic designer in NYC who co-founded Pushpin Studios (In the 1990’s , I worked for company that shared a space with this iconic design firm which is now called The Pushpin Group). Glaser is perhaps best known for designing the iconic and ubiquitous “I NY” logo, created in 1977 to promote tourism in New York State amid the city’s spate of crime, infamous blackout, and widespread economic hardship. His concept sketch was hastily scribbled in red on a paper envelope.

Glaser gained widespread acclaim for a 1960s psychedelic poster for Bob Dylan’s “Greatest Hits” album.

This isn’t paper but the ingenious design began ON paper – check out the 2D and 3D sketches. The Origami Bottle collapses, folding up so it can easily fit in your bag or even squeeze inside your pocket. So cool!

———————————————————————————————–––––––

For the Puppy Fans:

Stryker is growing by the day (he’s 10 weeks old now). He can run up the stairs to our condo (but not down), he loves to chew, tug, wake up early, and run away when I try to grab him. Doesn’t he look handsome in his red harness?

———————————————————————————————–––––––

Featured this week in my Studio shop:

A Map to Now broadside, The Papermaker’s Studio Guide DVD, Try It: Party Light Online Class & Playing With Paper.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

———————————————————————————————–––––––

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!

Puppies + Paper Capes

The Sunday Paper #326

August 23, 2020

Papermaker of the Week: Shawna Moulton

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!

© 2020, Shawna Moulton, Mother of Zyon (left); Father of Zyon (right); handmade paper, raw wood fibers, ink, 8.5″ x 5.5″

Born and raised in the Caribbean Islands, Shawna Moulton is a multidisciplinary artist and art educator based in South Florida. She is best known for her paper-cast sculptures of the human figure, illustrations on handmade paper, and her mixed-media works reflecting motherhood. “My work has gotten smaller in scale over the years, but immensely more intimate. The illustrations you see here are portraits of my family, I used my handmade paper to give a sense of warmth and adinkra symbols representing strength, hope, God’s presence and protection. With the world being in the state that it’s in, naturally I want to keep my family safe. Being a new mom, my daughter is my muse.” Today Shawna continues her studio art practice, teaches art, lectures and offers workshops online.

In the Studio: 

I just finished filming the last instructional video for my online class, Paper + Light – we’re making natural armatures this week. I plan on sharing a video of the amazing works of participants soon. If you’re interested in joining me for this class the next time I offer it (probably next summer), please add your name to this list.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

I recently interviewed Béatrice Coron on Paper Talk. Coron, a French-born artist, has been living and working in NYC for more than 30 years. I met Coron at the Center For Book Arts in NYC when we both took classes and participated in events there in the 1990’s. We talk about how she developed her unique paper cutting style, which has gotten her everything from illustration gigs to public art commissions in other materials, based on her paper cuts. She discusses her favorite papers and cutting knife, and how she goes back and forth between hand cutting and design on the computer. Enjoy our conversation! Coron gave a TED Talk in 2011 and she created and wore this gorgeous papercut cape.

Beatrice Coron wearing a cutpaper creations in Central Park/Photo by E Frossard

Joanna Hutchinson started 100,000 Folds to honor and mourn COVID victims through origami. This is a community sculpture project which began when the United States was nearing 100,000 deaths from COVID-19. Sculptures will be created with 100,000 pieces of paper to be displayed in Philadelphia – one for each of the first 100,000 deaths in the United States. Paper artists and non-artists alike are invited to participate in this project. Participants will receive 250 pieces of pre-cut paper and instructions on how to fold the origami units. In the process of folding each piece, we will commemorate and observe each of these lives lost, while contributing to something larger — a physical manifestation of the toll of this virus in our country.

What do what large animal waste and handmade paper have in common? Both are made of fiber! Check out the products that are being made from elephant poop paper in Sri Lanka.

 Katsumi Hayakawa hand cuts dense cityscapes and urban districts from white paper.

As seen on Colossal: “Bonsai City” (2014), paper, inkjet printing, fake grass, acrylic elements, 8 x 118 x 21 1/2 inches. All images © Katsumi Hayakawa, courtesy of the artist and McClain Gallery.

You won’t believe what this paper art by Jill Pam is made of!

———————————————————————————————–––––––

Ted flew to Connecticut last weekend to pick up our new pup. His name is Stryker – the kennel he comes from is Katalyst Kennels. Ted came up with the name because a match is a catalyst, and striking a match is the ultimate catalyst. Stryker is super cute, squiggly and wiggly, a real handful, and he likes to bite his big pupper Halo’s ears (much to Halo’s dismay).

Featured this week in my Studio shop:

Last copies of The Paper Year (1/2 price), The Papermaker’s Package, Water Paper Time & Playing With Paper.

———————————————————————————————–––––––

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!