Helen Hiebert's Blog, page 3

Origami Memory Dress

The Sunday Paper #553

May 4, 2025

This was something fun to receive this week: the recording of my talk at the North American Hand Papermaker’s Conference in Denver last fall, when I spoke about my adventurous life with paper. It was such an honor to be invited to give the Anita Lynn Forgach keynote lecture. Special thanks to the University of Denver Anderson Academic Commons – Kate Crowe, Curator of Special Collections and Archives and the entire Digital Media Services team – for making this possible.

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I recently received my copy of Peter Dahmen’s new book Pop Up Sculptures and a set of pop up cards, and they are so fun to open and close! I purchased them through a kickstarter campaign, and you can still purchase the book and cards. The publisher, Poposition Press, is a small business here in Colorado. I’m lucky to have interviewed the proprietor, Rosston Meyer and the artist, Peter Dahmen, on Paper Talk.

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I am always intrigued by the ways scientists are studying how the properties of various materials can mimic and enhance the ways paper can fold. Research at the University of Michigan modeled how different origami structures made from trapezoidal subunits (i) responded to stresses like compression (ii) and stretching (iii). I have a hunch that an artist (Matt Shlian, who has also been on Paper Talk) influenced some of this research.

Image credit: Adapted from J.P. McInerney et al. Nat. Commun. 2025, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57089-x (Used under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license)

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Wow, my feed is full of cross overs between art, science and engineering this week! Audrey Zhang, an art and archaeology major at Princeton University, created a piece called Origami Memory Dress, which combines tactile art with engineering. Zhang worked alongside Glaucio Paulino, PhD, a civil and environmental engineering professor at the university, and his research team to weave the intricate origami patterns into the garment’s structural design.

Origami Memory Dress; Photo: Audrey Zhang

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Enter your made-from-paper 2D or 3D artwork from May 1 — June 6. The artwork for Paper Made II must be made primarily from paper or a paper product or created using a paper-making process. Juried selections will be featured in the fall 2025 issue of Fiber Art Now and will be eligible for the on-site exhibition at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art in Fort Wayne, Indiana, November 8, 2025 through February 1, 2026.

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Paper TidbitsHave you had a chance to listen to my interview with James Ojascastro on Paper Talk?There’s one spot left in my Taos Paper Retreat. We’ll be weaving paper during the week of July 21st in the land of enchantment. Click here to read all about it and join us!

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Author’s Corner

With my new book coming out in November, I thought I’d spend the months leading up to publication sharing a bit about the process of bringing a book to life. Feel free to send me your questions, and I’ll try to address them here. Autographed copies of Weaving With Paper will be available for pre-order from me (along with special bonus content) this summer.

I hope you will have a chance to watch  my keynote address (see above). I talked about how I got into writing how-to books, and if do I say so myself, I think it is an interesting story –  especially since it wasn’t something I ever dreamed of doing!

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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?

Tell 4000+ paper enthusiasts about your work by promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

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SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

I occasionally have affiliate links in these posts – to products that I receive a small commission on if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!

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The Three P’s

The Sunday Paper #552

April 27, 2025

I’m back from my trip to the Amalfi Coast. My daughter is a great traveling companion and navigated us to all of the hot spots (Positano, Amalfi and Capri). We walked 5-10 miles a day (up and down many steps – it was 76 steps up to our Airbnb), marveled in the blues of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the roads that traversed lemon-filled hillsides, and ate lots of seafood, pizza, pasta, pastries and gelato!

We visited the Amatruda Papermill, which has a long, continuous history in the town of Amalfi (up the main road, past the throngs of tourists). Giuseppe Amatruda gave us a quick tour of the papermaking facilities, where they produce cotton fiber stationery products that are distributed worldwide. This light box (below left) caught my eye in the showroom. I was delighted to see some of the forefathers of papermaking in watermarks: T’sai Lun, Louis-Nicolas Robert; Henry Fourdrinier, Andreas Kufferath, and the mill at Amalfi. The drawing (below right) hangs on a wall in the showroom. I love how it shows all of the steps in the papermaking process.

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I had the pleasure of speaking with James Ojascastro on Paper Talk, an origamist, papermaker, and botanist, with a Ph.D. in ethnobotany at Washington University in St. Louis in collaboration with the Missouri Botanical Garden. Ojascastro employs a combination of methods – including fiber trait measurements, experimental papermaking, species distribution modeling, and semistructured interviews – to explore the history, biogeography, and conservation of papermaking traditions (especially of Nepal and Vietnam) through a botanical lens. Outside of academia, Ojascastro uses his research background to guide and inform what plants and which processes will yield paper suitable for origami art. Enjoy our conversation!

James Ojascastro in Suối Cỏ, Hòa Bình Vietnam, where he was learning papermaking using dướng (paper mulberry; Broussonetia papyrifera) with papermakers belonging to the Mường ethnic group.

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If you’re local, I hope you’ll come out for a fun community crafting event at The Bookworm this Thursday, May 1st, at 5:30pm. We’ll be folding Swirling Flowers, just in time for Mother’s Day! We’re making these in The Paper Year this month, too.

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This is a fascinating video about a quiet corner of Spain, where a factory fuses centuries-old paper machinery with cutting-edge technology to produce some of the world’s most famous rolling papers. The real-life Willy Wonka behind it, Josh Kesselman, tells the story. Watch to the end to hear the reflections on spending a day at the factory by a member of the film crew.

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I mentioned this installation a couple of weeks ago here on the blog: Folding the Future is an exquisite suspended installation of paper stars that is now on view at the Galleria in Dallas (through September). Check out this news clip about Paper For Water’s amazing work.

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Paper TidbitsIf you’re in NYC, The Magic of Marbling: The Art of Karli Frigge  presents selections from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Watson Library’s collection of her work including her sample books, recipe books, instruction guides, and workbooks.There’s one spot left in my Taos Paper Retreat. We’ll be weaving paper during the week of July 21st in the land of enchantment. Click here to read all about it and join us!

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Author’s Corner

With my new book coming out in November, I thought I’d spend the months leading up to publication sharing a bit about the process of bringing a book to life. Feel free to send me your questions, and I’ll try to address them here.

Today, I’ll tell you a bit about the editing process, which we are just wrapping up. I submitted my manuscript to Storey Publishing in June of 2024, along with some photos and reference materials, and was assigned to my project editor, Kristen Hewitt. The manuscript goes through a series of edits first – when the editor is mainly looking at the text only, and I get to review and respond to the edits at each stage. Next, the publisher flew me out to their offices in North Adams, MA for a photo shoot in October. We shot all of the step-by-step photos for the projects in the book. Storey was able to photograph the actual project examples, as well as the weavings of the 60+ guest artists, on their own. As an example of the level of detail require for each phase in the process, I spent about 10 hours on the phone with my editor one week, preparing for that photo shoot. Design began shortly thereafter, and sometime in the late fall I received “1st Pages” – a PDF and color copies of the book layout. I had a lot of comments at that stage! We went through two more rounds, and I’m submitting my final comments on 3rd pages tomorrow. Phew! I’m pretty much finished with the production side of this project. Promotion of the book will begin soon.

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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?

Tell 4000+ paper enthusiasts about your work by promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

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I occasionally have affiliate links in these posts – to products that I receive a small commission on if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!

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Slot Books

The Sunday Paper #551

April 13, 2025

As you read this, I am on the bus to Denver, the train to the airport, the plane to Munich, the plane to Naples or in a taxi to the Amalfi Coast (have you watched the Netflix series Ripley? Some of it was filmed in Atrani, where I’ll be staying). I’m meeting up with our daughter Lucah, who is in Rostock, Germany this year. I’m going to take a one-week hiatus from writing the blog, so I’ll see you back here in two weeks.

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Speaking of travel, I enjoyed this interview with Audrey Niffinegger, author of The Time Traveler’s Wife, which I read in one sitting on an airplane. One of the hosts asked her how she came up with the premise for the book (BTW, the heroine is a papermaker). Audrey said she was drawing, and she talked about how drawing frees your mind to come up with crazy ideas. The book title popped into her head and gave her two characters. They went on to discuss a sequel (can’t wait) as well as Artist’s Book House, which is becoming a hub for book and literary arts in the Chicago area.

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A reader sent me this fun tutorial from Cambridge Imprint, a supplier of unique patterned papers in the UK. Make your own Easter Bags, pack a Passover gift, or decorate and create a bag for any occasion.

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I had some recent correspondence with the librarian at the Smithsonian American Art and Portrait Gallery Library (more on the reason for that in a future post). They have a wonderful catalog of their artists’ books collection online.

Tauba Auerbach’s Pop-up book, 2011.

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In March, we created Slot Books in The Paper Year. Watch the video to see the group’s amazing creations – it is wonderful to see the twists and turns that members take when exploring paper structures. We’re turning to Swirling Flowers this month.

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Paper TidbitsHave you had a chance to listen to my interview with Lynn Sures and Michelle Samour about their book Radical Paper on Paper Talk?There’s one spot left in my Taos Paper Retreat. We’ll be weaving paper during the week of July 21st in the land of enchantment. Click here to read all about it and join us!

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Author’s Corner

With my new book coming out in November, I thought I’d spend the months leading up to publication sharing a bit about the process of bringing a book to life. Feel free to send me your questions, and I’ll try to address them here.

I went to my local bookstore this week to pick up a book to bring to my daughter (my husband keeps up on what’s new in the realm of fiction and chose Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros). While in the shop, I was surprised and delighted to see my book, The Art of Papercraft, featured at the checkout counter (see below). Independent bookstores are the bomb IMHO (next to libraries). I’m working with The Bookworm of Edwards on a series of workshops leading up to the release of Weaving With Paper. The first event is on May 1st at 5:30pm – we’ll be making Swirling Flowers. Local peeps, you can sign up here.

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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?

Tell 4000+ paper enthusiasts about your work by promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

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SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

I occasionally have affiliate links in these posts – to products that I receive a small commission on if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!

The post Slot Books appeared first on Helen Hiebert Studio.

Origami Stars

The Sunday Paper #550

April 6, 2025

We made these Peace Globes last Tuesday at a mini zoom workshop I held to kick of registration for The Paper Year, my online membership community. The possibilities are endless, and I enjoy exploring various ways to tweak a project. Plus, who doesn’t need a little peace reminder these days – simply hang one of these in clear sight.

Watch the replay and learn how to make your own Peace Globe. Pictured below: snapshots of the Peace Globe Liz Teviotdale made during the workshop, a folding card variation, and my Peace Globe.

The Paper Year is now open for new members now through April 10th. Click through to read all about it and join us.

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I had the pleasure of interviewing the authors of the new book, Radical Paper: Art and Invention with Colored Pulp  Lynn Sures and Michelle Samour, on Paper Talk. This is a landmark book that profiles an artistic movement that has operated largely outside the mainstream art world, and it serves as both an overdue history and up-close look at the range, versatility, and brilliance of art created with colored paper pulp.

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Paper Stories joins together three contemporary artists—Dominique Prévost, Susan Ruptash and Heejung Shin—who share a mutual respect and love of paper. Although each artist expresses this in different ways, they share common themes of repetition, rhythm and poetry. Through a restrained palette, the works celebrate the importance of light, and invite viewers to pay attention to details of texture, colour and movement. Through April 13th at Propeller Art Gallery in Toronto.

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I love the mission of Paper for Water, a nonprofit that’s raising awareness of the global water crisis and bringing clean water to communities worldwide. The charity was founded in 2011 by sisters Isabelle and Katherine Adams—then 8 and 5 years old—after they learned that a child was dying every 15 seconds from unclean water and that millions of girls like them were spending their day hauling water rather than attending school. Join me by sponsoring a star – 250 intricately folded stars—which are 34” and 46” tall—can be sponsored by the public to benefit the Paper for Water mission. An art installation called Folding the Future will appear later this month over the ice rink at Galleria Dallas.

Paper for Water’s Folding the Future art installation at Galleria Dallas [Photo: Galleria Dallas]

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MIT professor Eric Demaine explores the power of folding art into everything from medicine to space exploration. I caught this phrase, which resonates: “Origami provides a powerful tool for making transformable shapes”.

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Paper TidbitsThere’s one spot left in my Taos Paper Retreat. We’ll be weaving paper during the week of July 21st in the land of enchantment. Click here to read all about it and join us!I was sad to read about the passing of a fellow Colorado paper artist, .

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Author’s Corner

With my new book coming out in November, I thought I’d spend the months leading up to publication sharing a bit about the process of bringing a book to life. Feel free to send me your questions, and I’ll try to address them here.

Let’s begin with how I got into writing how-to books. I had some nice breaks early in my career, and one of those was receiving a letter from an editor at Storey Publishing, asking me whether I’d like to submit a proposal to write a book about making paper with plants. Now I have to tell you that at this point in my life, I pretty much hated writing – I never enjoyed writing papers in high school and college – but I said yes, thinking that it was an opportunity I shouldn’t pass up! You might be wondering why on earth this editor approached me about writing this book! Well, she had seen a one paragraph description about a workshop I was teaching at the NY Horticultural Society called compost papermaking. This was my spin on making paper with plants, because I didn’t have a garden and I was turning compost at the local community garden. That brief workshop description intrigued the editor, and as an acquisitions editor, she was required to come up with a certain number of book proposals each year. Storey Publishing does a lot of gardening and do-it-yourself publications, and they were branching out into crafts at the time, so this seemed like a good fit to her. I still had to go through the process of sending her a proposal. The rest is history…

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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?

Tell 4000+ paper enthusiasts about your work by promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

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SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

I occasionally have affiliate links in these posts – to products that I receive a small commission on if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!

The post Origami Stars appeared first on Helen Hiebert Studio.

Weaving With Paper

The Sunday Paper #549

March 30, 2025

Cover reveal! My upcoming book, Weaving With Paper, is winding its way towards the printer, and I’m so excited to share the cover with you (special thanks to the design team at Storey Publishing)! I’ve just proofed the designed pages, and there are still a few more edits to go, but phew, I’m so glad to be finished with the editing process. The book will be available for pre-order sometime this summer, and the publication date is 11/25/25. I’ll share more about what’s inside the book soon. If you are interested in paper weaving and would like to spend a week with me in July, we’ll be weaving paper at the Taos Paper Retreat. Click here to read all about it!

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Well this is delightful! “Three years into a downturn of the global art market, fairs and dealers dedicated to prints say editioned works on paper are faring better than other media and have even managed to capture the attention of a new collector class.” Did anyone get to the IFPDA Print Fair or the Brooklyn Fine Art Print this weekend? Mickalene Thomas create a site-specific installation made out of three-dimensional paper-pulp sculptures.

Mickalene Thomas, l’espace entre les deux, 2025, installation view at the IFPDA Print Fair, Photo by Dal Perry

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I couldn’t agree more with designer James Dimech: “I work exclusively with paper—chosen for its versatility, sculptural potential, and inherent elegance,” he explains. “It’s a humble yet powerful material that can be shaped into both bold and delicate forms without losing its poetic quality.” Take a peek at this fashion designer’s work.

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I’m loving these photographs on crumpled hanji by Joung Young-ju. She captures the delicate interplay of light and shadow, creating urban scenes that feel both familiar and ethereal, bridging past and present by using Hanji (traditional paper) and contemporary techniques to create textured surfaces that mirror Seoul, South Korea’s transformation.

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Here’s a sneak peek of the projects we’ll be exploring in Q2 in my Paper Year membership program, which opens for registration on Tuesday! April brings a Swirling Flower; May’s Interlocking Cylinder is based on a very old weaving technique; and in June we’ll explore the Jitterbug with guest artist Kelli Anderson. Our quarterly surface design workshop is with Madge Evers, who will share Cyanotype printing techniques.

Learn more about The Paper Year during my Peace Globe online mini-workshop on Tuesday, April 1st (no foolin’). The session will begin with a short, face-paced overview of The Paper Year, followed by the workshop. Register for this one-hour event and get the supply list here.

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Paper TidbitsI received a query this week. If anyone has suggestions, please let me know! “I’m in the process of cleaning a smoke-damaged home from the Pacific Palisades fire. Our smoke remediation company suggests that some of my handmade paper and an Akari hanging lantern must go. I reject this idea! Might you be able to direct me to people and/or organizations who might be able to advise about cleaning soot/char- damaged paper?”This looks interesting, and it’s taking place in my hometown: Ubiquitous Edward Gorey at Texas A&M University. This is a unique opportunity to view the broadest range of Gorey’s work ever shown in one location, outside of the Edward Gorey House Museum.Henri Matisse’s works are now in the public domain, and there’s a new exhibition: Matisse and Marguerite: Through Her Father’s Eyes, at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, 4 April-24 August.

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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?

Tell 4000+ paper enthusiasts about your work by promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

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SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

I occasionally have affiliate links in these posts – to products that I receive a small commission on if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!

The post Weaving With Paper appeared first on Helen Hiebert Studio.

Peace Globe

The Sunday Paper #548

March 23, 2025

Have you registered for the FREE Peace Globe online mini-workshop with me? The session will begin with a short, face-paced overview of The Paper Year, followed by the workshop. Register for this one-hour event and get the supply list here. This workshop will take place on Tuesday, 4/1 at Noon mountain time (GMT-7).

One of the things I love most about designing paper projects, is coming up with variations (not to mention the different kinds of papers you can use). Here’s a hanging globe and a card variation, and I’ll show one more version on Zoom. The Paper Year will open for registration that day – Learn more about the program and Hold Your Spot.

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Immerse Yourself in the World of Kinetic Art at the Paper Mobile Retreat in Toronto! Join paper artist Paula Hartmann from September 22-27, 2025, for an inspiring 5-day retreat in the heart of Toronto. Explore the art of crafting intricate paper flowers, swirling mobiles, and sustainable, moving sculptures in a serene and creative environment. Delve into kinetic art by creating Polish paper chandeliers (pajaki), Scandinavian straw himmeli, and delicate Calder-inspired mobiles that come to life with the slightest breeze. All materials and tools will be provided—just bring your imagination! Guided by Paula’s unique artistic approach, influenced by Eastern European and indigenous traditions, you’ll create one-of-a-kind pieces that dance in the air. This retreat is perfect for everyone—from hobby crafter to professional artist, including paper lovers, sculptors, designers, art teachers, and those passionate about sustainable art practices. Click here for details and registration.

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Check out these lights made with banana fiber in India. Jenny Pinto came to my Portland studio back in the year 2000. We explored abaca and Indian banana fibers together. She went on to create a lighting company and sold it. Team Oorjah continues to create beautiful lamps. Their “Wild by Design” collection is an artistic expression of the incredible beauty of the random geometry of natural systems and a humble homage to the crucial part they play in our lives, even if we live in a metropolis. Let there be light!

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I visited the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne last September (highly recommend). They have an impressive building, numerous exhibitions (about books, of course) and an artist’s book collection. According to this article, they also have close to 1000 pop-up and movable books, ranging from the mid-1600s to present day. Learn more about why pop-up and movable books are so captivating, yet uniquely susceptible to physical wear and tear.

Die-cut sliding transformation mechanism from Alice in Wonderland illustrated by Emma C. McKean, 1943.

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My Weave Through Winter online class knocked it out of the park with their weavings in February (they always do). Watch the video.

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Paper TidbitsA spot has opened in my Taos Paper Retreat. We’ll be weaving paper during the week of July 21st in the land of enchantment. Click here to read all about it and join us!Apply for this call!  Artist book submissions are being accepted (through 4/25) for the inaugural book arts sale at the Deepwater Literary Festival in Narrowsburg, NY this June.

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About our Sponsor: Paula Hartmann is a self-taught mobile maker and crafter currently working and living in Toronto, Canada. In her home studio she creates different styles of mobiles, kinetic sculptures, whimsical installations and jewelry pieces, which are partly inspired by East European and indigenous craft traditions.

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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?

Tell 4000+ paper enthusiasts about your work by promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

———————————————————————————————––––––

SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

I occasionally have affiliate links in these posts – to products that I receive a small commission on if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!

The post Peace Globe appeared first on Helen Hiebert Studio.

Mojigangas

The Sunday Paper #547

March 16, 2025

FREE Zoom mini-workshop alert! Come make a Peace Globe with me on April 1st (no foolin’). The session will begin with a short, face-paced overview of The Paper Year, followed by the workshop. (The Paper Year will open for registration that day – Hold Your Spot).

Register for this one-hour event and get the supply list here. This workshop will take place on Tuesday, 4/1 at Noon mountain time (GMT-7).

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I had the pleasure of interviewing Rachel Singel on Paper Talk. Singel is an Associate Professor at the University of Louisville. She grew up on a small farm in Charlottesville, Virginia and received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia in 2009 and a Master of Fine Arts in Printmaking from the University of Iowa in 2013. She has participated in residencies at the Penland School of Crafts, the Venice Printmaking Studio, Internazionale di Grafica Venezia, Art Print Residence in Barcelona, Spain, Wharepuke Print Studios in New Zealand, Proyecto’ace, an Artist-in-Residence Program in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and AGA Lab in the Netherlands. She has studied non-toxic printmaking at the Grafisk Eksperimentarium studio in Andalusia and recently continued her research of papermaking with invasive plants in Japan in summer 2024. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and she is represented in private collections and public institutions. Enjoy our conversation!

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Go Big! If you work large, need oversize sheets or larger quantities of Japanese paper, rolls can be a good format. Easy to store and then to cut to the size you need. Washi Arts stocks a wide range of paper on rolls for printmaking, drawing, dyeing, botanical printing, letterpress, brush painting, paper sculpture, momigami and of course window coverings and shoji panels. Proprietor Linda Marshall offers wonderful customer service and is always glad to make recommendation for your projects. Here are just a few of the best-selling rolls:
Shoji Natural, Shoji Baika White, Kozuke, Unryu, Chiri and Sumie-Rolls. Find the entire selection at Washi Arts.

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Check out these giant puppets, animated by the dancers who wear them, that are called mojigangas (moh-he-GAHN-gahs). At the entrance to Hermes Arroyo’s workshop in San Miguel, a collection of giant paper-and-paste figures, taller than the doorway and dolled up in finery — stand ready at any moment for one of the many parades and festivals held throughout the year on the cobblestone streets of this city in central Mexico.

Hermes Arroyo’s mojigangas are made of paper and an adhesive solution, a version of papier-mâché called cartonería. On their own the figures are about 2.4 meters tall, or almost eight feet. Credit. Fred Ramos for The New York Times.

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Origami creators on YouTube are a testament to tangible artistry, thriving in a world of digital innovation. Origami is trending! In 2024, there were more than 300,000 uploads of videos related to origami.

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Paper TidbitsWe created a folded form called Goran’s Wave with a guest artist, Madonna Yoder of Gathering Folds in The Paper Year last month. Watch the video. A spot has opened in my Taos Paper Retreat. We’ll be weaving paper during the week of July 21st in the land of enchantment. Click here to read all about it and join us!Apply for this call!  Artist book submissions are being accepted (through 4/25) for the inaugural book arts sale at the Deepwater Literary Festival in Narrowsburg, NY this June.

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About our Sponsor: Washi Arts stocks a wide selection of Japanese papers for artists, designers, printmakers, bookbinders, calligraphers and conservators. Unique and hard to find papers are available as well as a selection of tools and supplies for working 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?

Tell 4000+ paper enthusiasts about your work by promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

———————————————————————————————––––––

SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

I occasionally have affiliate links in these posts – to products that I receive a small commission on if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!

The post Mojigangas appeared first on Helen Hiebert Studio.

Unerased

The Sunday Paper #546

March 9, 2025

I spent Friday in Colorado Springs where I visited Jillian Sico, who runs The Press at Colorado College. Among other things, she took me and my friend to see a poster show that she curated, featuring posters and prints displaying a range of responses to the state of our country, including both personal and political points of view. I love this one by Ladyfingers Letterpress (based in Colorado Springs).

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The highlight of the day was visiting the exhibition (and meeting the artist) Alisa Banks, Unerased at the Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, also curated by Jillian Sico. The multi-dimensional works in Unerased challenge the systemic erasure of Black American history and honor Banks’s personal and ancestral roots. The show is up through September 6, 2025 and is well worth a visit (she incorporates handmade paper into many of her works).

Alisa Banks, Half (detail), 2014. Courtesy the artist.

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University at Buffalo faculty member Crystal Z Campbell’s first solo museum exhibit, “Currents 124,” is currently on display through March 9 (today) at the Saint Louis Art Museum. The multidisciplinary exhibit explores Campbell’s recent works using “underloved” and overlooked historical narratives, particularly those tied to U.S. colonialism in the Philippines, which is influenced by her Black, Chinese and Filipinx heritage. Campbell created a series of paper pieces at Dieu Donne in NYC.

A view of Crystal Z Campbell’s installation at the Saint Louis Art Museum. This image features the handmade paper works Campbell created in collaboration with Tatiana Ginsberg at Dieu Donné Papermaking Studio. 2024. Photo: Saint Louis Art Museum.

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Book artists and papermakers, Radha Pandey and Johan Solberg, will be leading a Book Arts and Culture Tour in India in February 2026. This intimate look into India is for those who wish to see behind the scenes of various working artists and craftspeople. With visits to art and craft centers, museums, studio visits and workshops, participants will have a chance to observe traditional wood block carving and printing on cloth, experience natural dyeing, visit a miniature painter’s studio, engage in traditional papermaking methods, and attend tailor-made workshops on traditional paper cutting and palm leaf binding with master craftsmen. The tentative dates for this trip, which will take place in Delhi and Jaipur, are February 16th to March 2nd, 2026.  The spots on this tour are limited to 6 in order to keep the group small and have one-on-one engagement with workshop instructors. Registration is open and you can secure your spot by paying a deposit of $500.

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Check out this Udon paper! These noodles lose their chewiness and flavor after they are prepared, and large quantities of noodles are discarded at the end of each day. Kagawa University professor Naotaka Tanaka has figured out how to produce sheets of “paper” made from Sanuki udon.

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Paper TidbitsA spot has opened in my Taos Paper Retreat. We’ll be weaving paper during the week of July 21st in the land of enchantment. Click here to read all about it and join us!

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About our Sponsor (the tour guides of the Book Arts and Culture Tour in India): Radha Pandey is a book artist, papermaker and letterpress printer. She earned her MFA in Book Arts from the University of Iowa Center for the Book. She specializes in Indo-Islamicate Papermaking and teaches book arts classes in India, Europe and the US. Johan Solberg is a bookbinder, letterpress printer, papermaker and a MFA graduate in Book Arts from the University of Iowa Center for the Book. His work explores the intersection of artistic research and craft, combining both historical and contemporary techniques and materials.

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The post Unerased appeared first on Helen Hiebert Studio.

Embroidered Postcards

The Sunday Paper #545

March 2, 2025

I’m coming up for a bit of fresh air after a busy month of weaving with my Weave Through Winter online class (I’ll be sharing a video of the amazing work created by participants soon). Thankfully, this course always leaves me feeling energized for what’s next. During these troubling political times, I will continue to focus on creativity as a way forward.

One quick opportunity: a spot has opened in my Taos Paper Retreat. We’ll be weaving paper during the week of July 21st. Click here to read all about it and join us!

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I’d never heard of silk embroidered postcards, which were manufactured during WWI (with a history prior to that) by women living in towns near the front lines in France and Belgium as gifts for soldiers. The postcards were hand stitched, but they were produced en masse – embroidered on long strips of silk mesh by women working at home – and then sent to factories in cities such as Paris for finishing. There, they were cut into individual pieces and mounted onto postcards.

These First World War silk postcards conveyed messages between soldiers and families. Handcrafted by women embroiderers near the front lines, they are beautiful examples of sentimentality and wartime industry.

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This headline caught my eye. “The World Has Gone Crazy and So Am I” is now on view in the Beatrice M. Haggerty Gallery at the University of Dallas (through March 21). Daniel Heyman is a printmaking professor at Rhode Island School of Design who prints on unique handmade papers. “The works are a part of his ongoing conversation with art and artists conducted through pictures, featuring spontaneous sketches and layered drawings in mediums like sumi ink, graphite, and gouache.”

© 2025, Daniel Heyman. Photo by Amelia Ebent.

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(This might be behind a NYTimes paywall). My friend Mindell Dubansky got a lovely review in the Times about her Blook project, which is the result of many years of research and collecting. A new exhibition at the Center for Book Arts in New York features a range of objects — transistor radios, lanterns, cigarette lighters and more — designed to look like books.

“There’s so much emotion in these objects,” said Dubansky. “From those who made them and those who received them.” This trench lighter was created by an unknown maker circa 1914-17. Credit…Graham Dickie/The New York Times

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Darryl Bedford was recently on my podcast (see below) and his garments were recently on the runway at London Fashion Week.

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Paper TidbitsHave you listened to my conversation with Darryl Bedford on Paper Talk?We’ll be folding paper at the Red Cliff Paper Retreat in August (August 18-22, three spots left)

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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?

Tell 4000+ paper enthusiasts about your work by promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

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I occasionally have affiliate links in these posts – to products that I receive a small commission on if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!

The post Embroidered Postcards appeared first on Helen Hiebert Studio.

Drawstring Origami

The Sunday Paper #544

February 23, 2025

I had a lovely conversation with Darryl Bedford on Paper Talk, an Australian artist and innovator, who is redefining the possibilities of paper. Blending traditional origami with cutting-edge digital design, he crafts intricate, kinetic sculptures that challenge our perception of this humble material. Born in Perth, Australia, and now based in London. Darryl is a teacher, Apple Distinguished Educator, trauma-informed practitioner, and paper engineer. His passion for paper extends beyond aesthetics; he believes in its therapeutic potential, using it to connect individuals with the natural world and promote well-being. Enjoy our conversation!

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Have you heard of risograph printing? A risograph printer looks like a photocopier, but works as a screen printer; using rich spot colours and stencils to create tactile and vibrant prints. Howful Editions has created a collection of products that aims to bring “a touch of extraordinary to everyday life” in the form of beautiful paper crafts, prints, stationery and daily items.

HOWFUL Studio: Comfy Project Card (Copyright © HOWFUL Co., Ltd, 2024)

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Here’s an engineering feat using paper folding methods (bonus, it is a single-sheet design). I love what professor Glaucio Paulino says about experimentation and product development, which echos what I say frequently to participants in my classes. “The work grew out of an earlier experiment with a folding structure that did not work…. but the ability to make informed mistakes can be rewarding. When you have an idea, most of the time it does not work, but sometimes, when you make a mistake, it generates something interesting.”

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The rhythmic snip-snip-snip of her scissors fills the quiet atmosphere, creating intricate patterns that tell stories of ancient traditions, family tales and the ever-present beauty of rural China. Yu Zeling is a master of the ancient art of Ansai paper-cutting, a practice dating back more than 2,000 years. She is passing down knowledge to younger generations with scissors in one hand and inspiration in the other.

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This is a great reuse story about a papery product: Tyvek. When artist Ker­sten Har­ries was clean­ing out the house she bought in Sleepy Hol­low, NY, she found a closet full 450 Tyvek (pri­or­ity mail) en­velopes. She tried to re­turn them, but the post of­fice would­n’t take them back, and they couldn’t be recycled. Click through to read what she’s done with them.

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Paper TidbitsWe’ll be folding paper at the Red Cliff Paper Retreat in August (August 18-22, three spots left)

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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?

Tell 4000+ paper enthusiasts about your work by promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

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SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

I occasionally have affiliate links in these posts – to products that I receive a small commission on if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!

The post Drawstring Origami appeared first on Helen Hiebert Studio.