Papermaking in Action
The Sunday Paper #299
February 16, 2020
Paper of the Week: A Sheet of Abaca in 1:20
I made a short video of me making a sheet of abaca. The sheet size is 18″ x 23″ and I’m making it on an old English mould that I purchased at Wookey Hole Mill many years ago (that was a trip – walking into a room filled with hundreds of old moulds & deckles). It only takes about 1-1/2 minutes to pull and couch a sheet (I cut out the time it took that abaca to drain), but there’s so much more to making paper!
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In the Studio:
I am in the home stretch of writing my book about the versatility of paper and the objects that can be created from a single sheet. I go through alternating waves of I’ve got this! and There’s no way I can do this! One way or another though, this book will come to be, and I have to say that I will be so happy when I turn in the manuscript in early April. The book is slated to come out in 2021. Here’s a sneak peek of just a few of the projects that will be featured in the book.
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Papery Tidbits:
There are two spots left in the 7th Annual Red Cliff Paper Retreat (Aug 29 – Sept 2, 2020). This year’s theme is Woven Paper: Books/Vessels/Lighting.
Sets of all of four Twelve Months of Paper Calendars + The Paper Year are available at a big discount (the calendars are out of date, but the instructions for 60+ projects lasts forever).
Registration for my spring online class Flexible Book Structures 2 opens in early March. Sign the list to receive a $10 coupon when registration opens.
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I had a fun conversation with origami master Michael LaFosse on Paper Talk. Michael runs Origamido studio outside of Boston, a unique studio, where he not only creates, folds and teaches unique origami techniques, but they also produce handmade papers designed specifically for folding and origami. Enjoy our conversation!
Artist Joanne B. Karr does the most interesting paper projects! Her recent project involved pairing up a heritage center and museums in Caithness and Sutherland, Scotland with organizations in Newfoundland by exchanging paper airplanes. This was to commemorate a failed trans-Atlantic flight in 1919 that Joanne read about, which linked these two places in the first place.
This is a great story about a young woman who is finding her way with paper and fiber. Nevada Tribble’s bicycle-powered sewing machine allows her to do her sewn life drawings outside – how cool is that?!
May You Live in Interesting Times, an exhibition of artist’s books, is currently on display (through April 18) at the Northern Arizona University Art Museum. The writer seemed surprised to encounter books as art, but I’m hoping this will become the norm one of these days! I was happy to discover this piece by Karen Baldner, who gave me a lovely tour of the classroom where she teaches paper and book arts at IUPUI in Indianapolis this past summer.
© Karen Baldner, Raising Hackles
The writer of the article I just referred to used the words visual storytelling in the title of his piece. And then I discovered paper cutter extraordinaire Béatrice Coron’s recent Ted Talk about visual literacy. Béatrice and I are making plans to co-teach a workshop in the near future.
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Featured this week in my Studio shop:
Tangential, Mend, The 12 Months of Paper Collection, and The Papermaker’s Companion.
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