HAND PAPERMAKING N E W S L E T T E R
Number 108, October 2014
Newsletter Editor: Shireen Holman
Advertising & Listings: Mary Tasillo
Desktop Production: Amy Richard
Columnists: Eugenie Barron, Sidney Berger, Maureen and Simon Green, Elaine Koretsky, Margaret Mahan, Winifred Radolan, Mary Tasillo.
Hand Papermaking Newsletter is published quarterly. Annual subscriptions are $55 in North America or $80 overseas, including two issues of the journal Hand Papermaking. For more subscription information, or a list of back issue contents and availability, contact:
Hand Papermaking, Inc.
PO Box 1070, Beltsville, MD 20704-1070
Phone: (301) 220-2393 Fax: (301) 220-2394
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The deadline for the next newsletter (January 2015) is November 15. Please direct all correspondence to the address above. We encourage letters from our subscribers on any relevant topic. We also solicit comments on articles in Hand Papermaking magazine, questions or remarks for newsletter columnists, and news of special events or activities. Classified ads are $2.00 per word with a 10-word minimum. Rates for display ads are available upon request.
Hand Papermaking is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Staff: Tom Bannister, Executive Director; Mina Takahashi, Magazine Editor; Shireen Holman, Newsletter Editor and Office Manager; Mary Tasillo, Outreach; Suzanne Oberholtzer, Design Director. Board of Directors: Tom Balbo, Zina Castañuela, Jeffrey Cooper, Kerri Cushman, Susan Mackin Dolan, Susan Gosin, Mary Hark, Steve Kostell, Kate Martinson, Anne Q. McKeown, Julie McLaughlin, Amy Richard, Michelle Samour, Gibby Waitzkin, Eileen Wallace, Teri Williams, Erin Woodbrey. International Board of Advisors: Yousef Ahmad (Qatar), Timothy Barrett (US), Simon J. Blattner (US), Kathryn & Howard Clark (US), Mandy Coppes-Martin (South Africa), Jane Farmer (US), Peter Ford (UK), Helen Frederick (US), Peter & Pat Gentenaar (Netherlands), Simon Barcham Green (UK), Dard Hunter III (US), Kyoko Ibe (Japan), Winsome Jobling (Australia), Elaine Koretsky (US), Carolina Larrea (Chile), Roberto Mannino (Italy), Beatrix Mapalagama (Austria), Bob Matthysen (Belgium), Giorgio Pellegrini (Italy), Brian Queen (Canada), Victoria Rabal (Spain), Vicky Sigwald (Argentina), Lynn Sures (US). Co-founders: Amanda Degener and Michael Durgin.
Dear Readers,
I must convey some very sad news. On June 17, our dear friend David Barhydt Marshall Jr. passed away suddenly at his home in Washington, DC. He was 64 years old. He was very near retirement after 29 years at the Federal Judicial Center, where he was the Assistant Director of Editorial and Information Services. In 2009, he lost his long-time partner Alan Wiesenthal. He is survived by a loving family and a multitude of friends who shared his interest in opera, book arts, and papermaking.
David had a particular passion for decorated papers, broadsides, and fine press books; all of which he avidly collected, and also produced himself in his spare time at home and at annual summer classes. He was a loyal and generous supporter of Hand Papermaking for decades. He served on our board of directors from 2004 to 2009.
Just days after I moved to the DC area in 1994, I attended a large event at Pyramid Atlantic where my only acquaintance, book artist Ed Hutchins, introduced me to David Marshall. I still recall the meeting vividly, and during the rest of the evening, David took me by the arm and introduced me to every single person in the room! People’s faces lit up when he approached. As we used to say back then, he had a huge rolodex.
Soon I was working for Hand Papermaking, and David’s involvement with the organization was a blessing. He wrote for our magazine and he helped me with portfolio production and marketing. We planned events together, including Hand Papermaking’s various “surprise” parties, and the big Friends of Dard Hunter meeting in DC. Our early auctions, back when bidding happened in my dining room on multiple phone lines, were so much fun with David on one line, Michael Durgin on another, and me on a third. In the days when we used to glue paper samples into the magazines ourselves, I held “tipping parties,” and David’s hilarious stories made us forget the monotonous task. He was an extraordinary storyteller; he would have loved our latest magazine, full of paper stories and folklore.
When our leadership gathered for a retreat in 2011, we talked about how we could better express our passion for handmade paper. David focused on that “ah ha” moment we have all experienced, when we make paper for the first time and realize we are hooked. Here is a clip. Listening to his voice again and recalling the twenty years when our lives overlapped, I know David was truly one of the best people I have ever known. I miss him.
We are planning a public memorial and celebration of David’s life to be held on November 14 in Silver Spring, Maryland. Contact tom@handpapermaking.org for details.
Hand Papermaking owes an enormous debt of gratitude to David. We will never forget his huge heart, his easy laughter, and his contagious enthusiasm for handmade paper and its community.
The upcoming Winter magazine will be dedicated to David Marshall.
Sincerely,
Tom Bannister
> TEACHING HAND PAPERMAKING
Based in Philadelphia, Winifred Radolan operates an itinerant teaching papermill, and has taught papermaking to thousands of adults and children. This is Winnie’s description of her “4th Annual Washi in the Garden” summer workshop.
The “washi-gods” smiled favorably for ten paper lovers on a delightful Saturday afternoon this past June. Rona Richter and I offered what has become an annual tradition, a day of Japanese papermaking in her lovely Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania, garden. We made washi with eight enthusiasts, two of whom were experiencing Japanese papermaking for their first time, while others were devoted veterans of the process.
Our group is somewhat spoiled in that we cook and beat the kozo and gampi ahead, so papermakers have maximum time to form sheets. Tables for vats and individual couching spaces were set up under a shade-providing tent. Vats contained kozo, gampi, and a blend of abaca/gampi, all in their natural colors. There was also a vat of black pigmented gampi to use in the formation of lace papers, a popular repeat request from last year.
Rona used some of her homegrown tororo aoi root for mucilage, but we also had some backup synthetic neri in case the natural root secretion gave out in the heat, as it did last year. New papermakers are always amazed at the visual and tactile properties of this “magic slime.”Heat really does adversely affect the natural substance, so we did need to eventually rely on our synthetic neri backup.
Everyone had the chance to watch us set up the vats and receive a refresher on the sheet forming movements used with a sugeta. Rona and I have slight variations in our style, which afforded everyone a tiny glimpse at the subtle variations that can be imparted to suit fiber needs, desired sheet formation qualities, and individual dexterity. Everyone found their personal “zone” in which to work. In fact, there were a couple of purists who concentrated on beautifully formed, unadorned sheets. There were several who experimented with embedding inclusions, such as fragments from a paper wasp nest and dried plant materials. And again this year, the black lace paper process kept the wash-out hose in almost constant use to form the lacy black layer of fibers to be added to a base sheet.
After a relaxing and congenial lunch break on Rona’s deck, there was a specially requested repeat viewing of Elaine Koretsky’s DVD, “Making Very Large Sheets of Paper in China.” There were many favorite moments to re-witness in that astounding account of the formation of really big paper. I suspect that next year’s request for our 5th Annual Washi adventure will be to make larger poured sheets (but not that large!).
Into the afternoon, as people’s energies and supplies of interleaving pellon dwindled, we gradually began to take turns pressing individual posts. Our garden adaptation of the process was to sandwich posts, separated in layers by pellons, between dry synthetic chamois. Wooden press boards formed the bottom and top of our makeshift press. And varying amounts of pressure were applied by papermakers standing in twos or sitting in a chair atop the boards, the time factor being a function of individual patience or need of a sitting spell. Afterwards, we demonstrated how to brush the pressed paper onto drying boards or facsimile at home.
There may well be a part 2 of this saga, as Rona and I are currently taking reservations for a September Washi Workshop, which will include natural as well as pigmented vats. We look forward to offering the option of forming layered, pigmented sheets of Japanese paper, as well as trying some decorative techniques for our next adventures in Washi in the Garden.
> PAPER HISTORY
Maureen and Simon Barcham Green, from the United Kingdom, write a joint column on Paper History. Maureen is a paper historian, and author of Papermaking at Hayle Mill 1808-1987. Simon was the last of the Green family to run Hayle Mill. He provides consulting services to papermakers worldwide. This column, “Ebenezer Hiram Stedman, Papermaker, 1808 – 1885” contains excerpts from Stedman’s letters, some of the earliest accounts of papermaking in America.
We are fortunate to have inherited many of the books collected by Simon’s father, Rémy Barcham Green, during his lifetime working in the paper industry. Recently, while rummaging through boxes of family-related material, I stumbled across Rémy’s copy of Bluegrass Craftsman, Being the Reminiscences of Ebenezer Hiram Stedman, Papermaker, 1808 – 1885. The authors, Frances Dugan and Jacqueline Bull, presented the book to him on the 10th of December 1959—a memento of their visit to Hayle Mill.1 Although some readers may be familiar with the book, I thought it worth refreshing memories as it is one of the earliest accounts of papermaking in America and a fascinating read.
The text is based on two manuscripts containing excerpts from a series of letters Stedman wrote to his eldest daughter, Sophronia (Sophy). Dugan and Bull have painstakingly transcribed each letter from the original and as both authors observed:
With no capital other than their own ambition, ingenuity, and boundless energy, the Stedman brothers established a papermaking community in Franklin County which ultimately supplied all of the paper for the state printer and much of the newsprint for the Frankfort publishers. From the first ream of “Ropping paper” which Stedman produced by salvaging rags from the rats’ nests in an abandoned mill, their production rose to 150,000 reams of printing and wrapping paper per year, valued at $27,000.2
Chapter nineteen covers Stedman’s early work experience as a nineteen-year-old journeyman, making ‘ropping’ paper by hand in 1827. It is a surprising account of his daily routine and the hardships he faced—for which little was realized in return for his labour. The account is also an important social record of who was actually working the mill in Kentucky at the time. Dugan and Bull write in the introduction that Stedman “ignored trivial matters such as paragraphs and capitalization. His vocabulary is surprisingly rich and pungent. As for his spelling, it is pleasantly phonetic.”3
Stedman’s father, also Ebenezer, learned the paper trade from an early age and it was a natural progression to find his son following in his footsteps.4 In 1822 he joined his father working for a man by the name of Denormandie who leased Richardson’s mill in Georgetown, Kentucky. Stedman describes his work as a ‘layer’ as a form of slavery, working for a man who ‘loved money’ and had no ‘scruples.’ By 1827 he had moved on and:
In the summer Frank McDonal, an unkle of Will McDonald & My Self went to work at a Mill one Mile Below the Great Crossing. This Mill house Had Bin Built for Grismill by Col. James Johnson & when the Mill in Lexington that Belong to the Prentices was sold the Paper Machienry was Baught & placed in this Mill. At the time I went to work it Belonged to old William Sugit, Jack Sugit, Daivd sugit, And Andrew Johnson. They Made pape[r] by hand, Some printing, But Most Ropping Paper. The Above owners were all Farmers & i think the Reason they bot the mill Was that they thought They Could Run it Cheap. Frank & Myself ware the ondly white men in the Mill. The Ballance ware Negros that had worked in the mill for Sevral years under a white Forman. The owners, thinking A Forman two Expensive, let the Mill Run it Self, one of them Comming Down to the Mill Evry Day to se that it had Not Run of. Altho they new nothing about the manafacturing of paper, they ware good Salesmen & new how to keep the Money. I am this particular in telling of this, the “Journey work” as it was Called, or in other Words I was old Enough to look out for My Self or to work for my Self.
Thare was one Stone kitchen near the Mill agoining a hewed log house whare A Black Man & his wife lived. His wife don the Cooking For the hands that worked in the mill. This old woman was about as Large as old aunt Sally. She was a nice old aunt Sookey & hur Husband was Considered the Best negro paper Maker In the Mill […]
Making ropping paper By hand was Hard Work, Especially for me, For I was Not verry Stout nor Strong. My weight was But one Hundread & ten Pounds. To do the work of a Vat Man, that is to dip up the paper, Required for me nourishing Food. & now daughter I will tell you of the Bill of Fare. After a Nights Rest on an oak plank without anny Clothes But what I had on we would Commence work Before Sun Rise & work till they Bleu the horn for Breakfast which woold Be about 8 oclock. As Frank & Myself ware the ondley whites we Both took the head of the table which was Formed out of 4 wide oak Slabs from the Saw mill Fit together with an ax & Pieces pined on Them to keep them togeather. This was the dining table that Frank and I had the Honor to preside over. The table ware Consisted of a Buckye tray and woodden Boul for Each of the Negros & as it was Necessary to Make a distinction Between White men & negros In that day, For Negro Equallity was not thought of then, Frank & My Self ware provided with Each a Pewter plate Full of dents that Showed for Each dent at least 5 years of age. Then we Had in our plate what had Bin a Nife & Fork. But like Some old Vetrans that had surved A Life time in the wars they ware the worse of ware. The nives ware now thin, narrow. One side of the horn handle was gorn. The Same with the Forks ondly they had one prong left. Then we had a tin Cup without anny handle. We had a Woodden Bench to Set on Made out of a Slab. Our Breakfast Consisted of Fride Hogs Joule & Corn Bread Made Without Sifting the Meal. The loaf was one foot thick. In our tin Cups thare was Buttermilk thick and old Enough of a Duck to walk on. I never used anny of it while Bording thare […]
I worked at this Mill untill Some time in Sept. When I quit work I was so weak & thin that I did not weigh But one Hundred pounds. After a weeks Rest I went Back to Settle up. William Sugit was the head of the Firm, if it had anny head. He was the old Man. I went to him First. He said he had no money, I Must go to the other partner, andrew Johnson. He had Sold the last paper & he had all The money. Of I went to Johnson. He was Mad. He Said the other partners alwais Sent men to him for Money. He had None & he wished the damd old Mill in hell. After talking He told me to Go to Jack Surgit. I did So & he had no Money & Sent me to David Surgit. He said he was the business man of the firm. I found him the next day and & he had no Money. He Said times ware dull & i Could afford to take my pay in Store Goods. After Spending 3 days In hunting up these Men, I had at last to take My pay in Store Goods at Two prices. This ended My first attempt to work for E. H. Stedman.
The mill referred to above was the Franklin Mill and was comprised of three mills all engaged in making different products: flour, lumber, and paper. In 1826 the mill belonged to Amos Kendall and was listed for sale. Stedman reveals that Kendall:
Instead of Building up a manafactory, that woold be a Benefit To the country & neighbourhood, it was A Curse, of old drunken papermakers that Had Not work enough, nor money Enough to By what whiskey they wanted & woold By all the provisions they Could get & never pay for Them. Kendal quit it, Having morgaged it to Thomas Page, & turned it over to Noel Johnson & he did not anny Better than Kendal.5
A few years later the mill was put up for sale again and:
In the January 21, 1829, issue of The Argus of Western America, Thomas Page (Amos Kendall’s brother-in-law) offered the Franklin paper, saw, and grist mills for sale after Kendall accepted a position in Washington, D.C., with President Andrew Jackson:
For Sale….The Franklin Paper, Saw and Grist Mills. A GREAT bargin can be had in that valuable property, situated on Main Elkhorn, formerly known as Cox’s Mill, and now the property of Amos Kendall. The advantages of this establishment are superior to any of the kind in this country. The Paper Mill is now finishing in superior style, and is furnished with a very good stock of rags. The tract of land contains 50 acres, and has very good out houses on it, and near the Mill is a first rate scite for a Distillery. Persons wishing to engage in this business, would do well to call and examine the property. It can be had at a great sacrifice. The terms will be made easy to any person wishing to purchase.
Also, for sale, a NEGRO MAN, who has been used to working in a printing office as a pressman, and a NEGRO WOMAN, who is a good house servant.6
It was not until 1833 that the Stedman brothers (Ebenezer and Sam) managed to acquire the mill complex, by now run down and in a bad state. Recollecting the state of the buildings, Stedman wrote:
We walked down the Hill to Mill. Thare was no fence around it. The mill House I found in good Repair. It had Bin Built In 1823 which made it ten years old. A look inside Shoed that it had Bin used as a hog Pen for three years to Fatten hogs in & the cobs & manure was at least Two ft deep. Thare was one small Rag Engine, one vat & Press, small stuff Chest, But all Rotten. In the Second Story thare ware a few poles that Had Bin used to dry paper on. This part had bin used as a Barn for oats, Corn & hay. After looking Inside, on the outside we found the old under shot Watter wheel that had stood whare it had Stopped with no Shelter & it had near Rotted down. The Forebay was in the Same Situation, Rotten and Half Full of Mud.7
No mention is made of the fate the mill’s other goods, the unfortunate African Americans who originally featured as chattel in previous sales. Dugin and Bull add that originally the state of the mill was so poor that the two brothers were loath to purchase it as it was hardly worth the cost of repair. However, they did purchase the mill complex and by fall of 1833 both the grist and saw mills were operational. The brothers did not begin making paper on the site until 1835.
Ebenezer and his brother, Sam, experienced periods of great misfortune as three fires and several floods “damaged or destroyed the mills at one time or another but each time the buildings were replaced” despite the fact that the site was not insured.8 By 1855 the business prospered and continued to do so until the eve of the Civil War when fire destroyed the mill and stocks of rags. After investing $40,000 to rebuild the business, the Confederate government “failed to pay for the paper that they ordered for currency about 1861.”9
The business continued under Stedman’s ownership but the “April 5, 1866, edition of The Tri-Weekly Kentucky Yeoman verifies that Leonard J. Cox was actually running the paper mill which produced butcher’s wrapping paper made of straw.”10
Stedman’s association with the mill ended when The Tri-Weekly Kentucky Yeoman reported in the May 1, 1875, issue that:
THE DUPONT PAPER MILLS –We understand that the Messrs. Dupont & Co., of Louisville, who have purchased the Stedman Paper Mills, on Elkhorn, in the county, are preparing to manufacture all kinds of news and book paper at those mills, instead of confining them to course brown wrapping paper, as they were before.11
Having sold his business, Ebenezer Stedman moved to Texas in 1876 to live with his daughter Nelly and her husband Cornelius Cox.12 He died March 20, 1885.13
1. Dugan, F. L. S., and Bull, J. P., Bluegrass Craftsman, Being the Reminiscences of Ebenezer Hiram Stedman, Papermaker, 1808 – 1885 (Kentucky: University of Kentucky Press, 1959).
2. In their introduction, the authors explain that the two manuscripts containing the letters were generously donated by the family to the Dard Hunter Paper Museum. Hunter considered it ‘the most comprehensive description of early nineteenth century papermaking that has been written’ and helped the authors with their transcription.
3. Dugan and Bull, pp. xx – xxi.
4. Dugan and Bull, pp. 3 & 8. Ebenezer Stedman, born 1776 in the state of Massachusetts, was apprenticed at the age of 16 to a papermaking business.
5. Bluegrass Craftsman, p. 159.
6. Hockensmith, C. D., The Steadman Mill Complex, Franklin County, Kentucky, Old Mill News 24 (4): pp. 8-10.
7. Bluegrass Craftsman, p. 151.
8. Dugan and Bull, p. xiii.
9. Ibid.
10. Hockensmith, p. 82. Leonard J. Cox married Sophronia, Stedman’s daughter in 1854.
11. Hockensmith, p. 82.
12. Dugan and Bull, pp. x-xi.
13. Ibid.
> DECORATED PAPER
Sidney Berger, a professor at Simmons College in Boston and Director of the Phillips Library at Peabody Essex Museum, has been collecting and researching decorated paper for over forty years. This is a continuation of Sid’s last column, sharing references for influential books on decorated paper.
In a previous column I listed some of the key published works on decorated paper, and I promised more of the same. Many of my readers will certainly know a few of the volumes (not mentioned in the earlier piece) that have become well known enough to be standard go-to books on the subject. And since decorated paper is a worldwide phenomenon, it is only logical that books in many languages have been published on the subject.
One volume that has been around for many years is Decorated Paper Designs / Buntpapier Entwürfe / Les Motifs du Papier Décoré / Design Carta Decorata / Diseños de Papeles Pintados 1800: From the Koops-Marcus Collection (Amsterdam: Pepin Press, 1997; 2nd impression 1999). This volume, as the title explains, shows pictures of decorated papers from the collection of Jacques Koops and Johannes Marcus, collectors from the Netherlands. All text is in the five languages shown on the title page, and, with very brief statements on the kinds of papers the collection contains (marbled, block-printed, and bronze varnish and brocade), this is basically a picture book of 200 pages, with excellent color images throughout. Other than the brief introductory statements about the paper-decoration methods, not a single sheet reproduced here has any information about it. The pictures are lovely, but nothing is said about the dates, countries of origin, makers, or uses of the papers shown. The book is beautiful, but not useful for much scholarship. No author or editor is noted.
The volume by Piccarda Quilici, Carte Decorate nella Legatoria del ’700 dalle raccolte della Biblioteca Casanatense (Roma: Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, 1989), is much more informative; the text is in Italian throughout. This should not be much of a problem, even for those who do not read Italian, because the full-page, full-color images all face a text that is easily understood for the basics: type of decoration, author, title, and publication information (these are all papers used in bookbindings, so included is the date and publishing data of the book that is bound in the decorated paper), and so forth. For a good picture of the breadth of decorated papers produced in the eighteenth century, this book is worth the effort. It is a scholarly production, with a good bibliography (pp. 259-80).
A similar text, edited by Michela Gani, simply titled Carte Decorate (Modena: Franco Cosimo Panini, 1993), is also a scholarly approach to the topic. It has three essays by scholars, a few short sections of color images, and many pictures in black and white of the standard kinds of decorated papers: paste, marbled, block printed, and dutch gilt. The images have been seriously reduced, so one cannot get an accurate picture of the scale and beauty of the originals, but as a guide to particular patterns (shown in the book), this is a valuable resource. As with the previous book the text is in Italian, with no translations, but much of the basic information can be gleaned from the write-ups of each decorated sheet.
Four recent volumes in uniform, square format are worth mentioning. The first is by André Jammes, Papier Dominotés: Trait d’Union entre l’Imagerie populaire et les Papiers Peints (France / 1750-1820) (A link between visual story-telling [popular imagery] and decorated paper) (Paris: Éditions des Cendres, 2010). [ISBN 2-86742-176-1] This heavy tome has hundreds of full-color reproductions of papers—some in immaculate condition, some in tatters, but all showing wonderful patterns of block-printed papers on book covers. There is a brief introduction, and the volume has short scholarly paragraphs throughout, in French. When the paper makers/decorators are known the prose enlightens us. But for some reason, dates of the papers are not always given—a drawback for me. Nonetheless, the papers here are beautiful examples of block printing, and I would absolutely love to have a host of these in our collection.
Two volumes by Marc Kopylov, in this same series, followed from the same publisher in 2012: Papiers Dominotés Italiens: Un Univers de Couleurs, de Fantaisie et d’Invention, 1750-1850 [ISBN 978-2-86742- 209-6]; and Papiers Dominotés Français: ou l’Art de Revêtir d’Éphémères Couvertures Colorées Livres & Brochures entre 1750 et 1820. [ISBN 978-2-86742-207-2] In both volumes a few paste papers are shown, but for the most part they are all block printed (with some dutch gilt reproduced in the Italian book). Again, the texts are in French, and again there is a paucity of dates given.
The last of these—in uniform format (square and quite fat and heavy, and also from 2012)—is by Christiane F. Kopylov: Papiers Dorés d’Allemagne au Siècles des Lumières: suivis de quelques autres papiers dorés (Bilderbogen, Kattunpapiere & Herrnhutpapiere) 1680-1830. [ISBN 978-2-86742-209- 6] This heavy volume has reproductions of many dutch gilt and paste papers, for which the Germans are particularly noted, and only a few block-printed ones. I have given the ISBNs for these volumes in case readers want to locate them. They are expensive tomes—at about $300 each—but I think they are worth the price since they show, in generous sizes and good colors, a host of papers that I have never seen in a published source before, and each has a brief bibliography leading to sources in other languages. And each title is limited to 999 regular copies and fifteen deluxe with a piece of original paper tipped in, so I think they will never go down in price.
A quick note about three other excellent books of recent vintage. The first is Gisela Reschke’s Das Werkstattbuch einer Buntpapiererin (Murnau: Verlag “Das Werkstattbuch,” 2007) with an excellent text in German by a true artist/scholar. The color illustrations throughout are provocative and revelatory of many exciting decorated papers.
The second is also in German: Frauke van der Wall, Gefärbt, Gekämmt, Getunkt, Gedruckt: Die Wunderbare Welt des Buntpapiers (Würzburg: Mainfränkischen Museum, 2011), a lovely and quite scholarly book with superb illustrations throughout, and with a text written by an expert. This book is especially satisfying when it shows the tools with which the decorated papers were made. The exhibit for which this was a catalog was held October 22, 2011, to January 29, 2012. I am quite disappointed that I could not see this splendid showing of papers, but the catalog is a permanent record of it.
And the third is Le Carte della Raccolta Bertarelli by Alberto Milano and Elena Villani (Milan: Arnoldo Mondadori Arte, 1991). This paperback volume has a good text (in Italian), with excellent illustrations throughout, mostly in color.
As I have said, decorated paper is universal, so it is no wonder that publications in many languages celebrate this delightful medium. The frustrating thing for me, of course (and readers of my columns will see this coming), is that I covet all of the papers depicted in these fine books. There is no end to lovely decorated papers, and equally no end to my craving them.
HAND PAPERMAKING
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> FOR BEGINNERS
Mary Tasillo is a papermaker, book artist, and mixed media maven based in Philadelphia. She teaches workshops nationally. Mary’s column “Why am I so much better at this than I was last week?” describes different factors that affect the process of making paper.
This summer, I taught a four-week workshop full of new papermakers. I had to leave them with another instructor during week three and secured another experienced papermaker to lead the class. I neglected to label the buckets of pulp for class and discovered on my return that the group used a 14-month old bucket of linen rag pulp that had beaten for several hours, rather than the 1-hour cotton-abaca mixture we were working with most days.
I announced to the group that they had gotten the opportunity with some very nice pulp, but may have experienced some challenges with it. “I wondered why I was so much better at this this week!” one of my students noted. It wasn’t just the student getting exponentially better in one week; the pulp came into play.
Here is a brief guide to some factors that affect the difficulty in forming, couching, and handling your sheets.
Pulp: Fiber Length… Pulp that contains shorter fibers can be more challenging to work with because it is less strong—less matter for one fiber to interlock with the next. Also shorter fibers may have a tendency to grab on to the surface of a mould with a more open weave (particularly those made using window screening) because the fiber starts to go through the mould’s surface rather than simply laying across it.
Pulp: Beating Time… A longer beating time slows the drainage rate of your pulp. If drainage is very quick, it may be difficult to form a good sheet because the water drains from the freshly formed sheet practically before you get a chance to start shaking it. However, if the drainage is very slow, it may be easy to get carried away with too much shaking, disturbing the even distribution of the fibers. It might also be hard to keep the mould level for a longer period of time, resulting in some pulp sliding.
Pulp: Fiber Wetness… Certain fibers are simply more slippery than others, feeling almost slimy when processed into pulp. Thus flax and linen are more challenging to work with due to their slippery properties than a fiber like cotton.
Mould: Size… To some this may seem obvious, but it may never occur to others: larger sheet sizes are more challenging to form at the vat (as well as to couch and handle). I learned to make paper with 18” x 24” and 22” x 30” moulds and I look with envy (as well as some self-pride) at those who learn at an 8” x 10” scale.
Mould: Surface… The quality of the mould has a notable effect on the ease with which one can make beautiful sheets of paper. A good mould is engineered to form a good sheet of paper, from the surface material (brass versus polyester versus steel window screening), to the way it is adhered to the frame (how tightly is the surface stretched?), to the shape and fit of the deckle, to the quality of the supports. Try a few different types of moulds and see how different they can be!
Couching Surface: Shape… A curved couching bench can be much easier to use than a flat surface.
Work Set Up… Note that the height of the tables at which you work impacts your success. As someone of modest height, I will often stand on my tiptoes to couch when I cannot control the height of my table. Your optimal height for couching may be lower than the optimal height for the vat.
As all fibers have unique properties, there will be times when you want to work with more challenging factors to create a certain result. However, having a grasp on some of the variables involved should help you control your results and reduce frustration.
My students all felt so successful when they returned to our cotton-abaca sheet forming pulp. They had learned a few things struggling with the more challenging linen rag pulp that ultimately made them better papermakers. Don’t back down from a challenge, but also be kind to yourself when you are working with challenging circumstances.
> FROM THE REGISTRY
Eugenie Barron is a papermaker from Durham, New York. Her mission for this column is to reveal and engage with the artistic vision expressed by diverse individuals in the Hand Papermaking Registry. In this column, Eugenie interviews Ann Marie Kennedy about her experiences teaching workshops around the country, and discusses some of her paper works and installations.
This past summer I had the pleasure of visiting with longtime friend and artist Ann Marie Kennedy, as she was in New York teaching at Women’s Studio Workshop (WSW) for two summer courses. She taught the papermaking half of a collaboration between WSW and R&F Handmade Paints, a class entitled “Cross Pollination: Handmade Paper and Encaustic” that is featured fairly regularly at WSW. I taught the same class several years ago and learned a lot about wax. Our visit this summer brought back fond memories of our first meeting in the mid-eighties while I was teaching a paper class at WSW. Ann Marie was an intern there, and as an assistant, was a peach to work with. Soon after that she became one of the early workers at the University of Iowa Production Paper Facility as a graduate student majoring in Intermedia and Video Art/Sculpture. After all this time, I decided to do an informal interview and write about her work as an artist and papermaker. I was also curious about her broad experience in a workshop environment.
Ann Marie is currently on the faculty of the Fine Arts Department of Wake Tech Community College in Raleigh, North Carolina, and spends her summers teaching paper all over the country. She has taught at Penland, Oxbow, and the University of Iowa. She is the studio manager of Bonded Llama Studios, an artist cooperative in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she does her papermaking and sculptural work. I used her website annmariekennedy.net to survey her sculptural installations and paper works.
We met at R&F after her class was over for the day and decided to go out for Mexican food. Over taco chips and a margarita I asked her questions about going from an academic sensibility during the main part of the year to the summer workshop position where one is in a more variable setting. At times one works with unknown equipment on someone else’s turf. Ann pointed out the distinction between the worlds of art and craft. “The craft world has less hierarchy. When I have taught at PBI (Paper & Book Intensive), for example, I have met very accomplished people, most of whom are famous in their fields and could be teaching me. The workshop ambience is a great equalizer. Everyone wears the same apron and has to empty buckets. So it becomes about material and process. The spontaneity lends camaraderie.”
Once Ann Marie and I were into our enchiladas, the stories were flowing. One of Ann’s favorite places to teach is PBI, the annual paper and book intensive that is held in different locations across the country. “It seems like every time I have taught at PBI the temperature drops on us. In Utah, in 2003, we started by building large-scale moulds before the actual papermaking class. The weather was nice to start. A group of us decided to take a break and visit Robert Smithson’s “Spiral Jetty. ” We were warned that it might snow, but we went anyway. We did get back to PBI and I was supposed to start the papermaking in an outdoor picnic pavilion the next morning. I woke up, got to the pavilion, and the pulp had a layer of ice on top. So, the first day, no heat! We moved to a 10’ x 10’ dorm room with mattresses all over and I was trying to show large sheet paper samples. But at least it had heat! By the third day everything was fine and the 4’ x 8’ sheets dried in about two hours. The same thing happened in Michigan at Oxbow this year. We started at 80° F and dropped to 38° on the last day. The participants just go for it, wearing layers and two aprons for warmth.”
Given the stories she told me about her teaching travels, upon viewing her website to browse her paper works and installations, I thought it was amusing that her introductory statement said “I am interested in ways we create a sense of place in our lives.” While her installations are not typically “site specific,” she may gather her materials from the site where they are installed, especially plant material. “My installation work has nothing to do with papermaking per se. But one of the curators of “Memory House” pointed out to me that like a sheet of paper containing the plants, the house also functions as a container of a natural world.” This installation is constructed of waxed organza silk. “Memory House,” when lit from within, has the qualities of translucency similar to washi.
The use of plants embedded into the sheet is one of her signature methods of “combining natural and domestic elements to create narratives about connections to the landscape.” One of my favorite paper works, “Abide,” is a flax sheet embedded with a pair of socks from which flowers seem to be growing, or at least abiding within, as though in a dialogue. The socks seem to dance in the translucent sheet. She collects old garments with a history and incorporates them into the sheet in order to ”reflect the layers of memory, desire, and the evolution of experiences that accumulate in the places that we occupy.” Her 2009 work titled “Suspension” conveys something of both memory and desire in an antique child’s dress that floats in a
field of translucent
abaca, portraying a
sense of pervasive
innocence. “Filament,”
another
floating garment
piece, while
beautiful, is almost
creepy. It is as
though the wearer
of the dress had disappeared into thin air.
The viewer is allowed to imagine his or her
own narrative. I enjoyed listening to Ann
Marie’s narrative about her life in the field
as we shared a meal. Do visit her website.
All photos and quotes courtesy of the artist.
> PAPER IN ACTION
Margaret Mahan, a member of the Peace Paper Project, brings papermaking to marginalized communities as a form of social action or art therapy. In this column, Margaret explains Drew Matott’s microbrewery project in which he works with brewers to make paper using the spent grain from beer making.
Hand papermakers can appreciate the quality and benefits of making things for ourselves. We can all probably relate to the feeling of explaining what we do to people who had never imagined such a craft existed. We should all remember being one of those people! And once we learn one process, the next feels more accessible and its existence less mind-blowing. One of the benefits of craft processes is their ability to make us see the world in a new way, to appreciate the work of the materials around us. They empower us to express ourselves and to be mindful of quality over quantity. This summer, master papermaker Drew Matott utilized hand papermaking to connect local New York State and Adirondack Park residents with another artisanal process that has the potential to create social, cultural, environmental, and economic progress in the state: beer making. The two sides of the border between Vermont and NewYork could not be more distinct. While Vermonters in the Champlain Valley enjoy marvelous views of the Adirondack Mountains while sipping craft beer and munching on gastronomic triumphs, the scene on the other side of the vista is quite different. Without knowing where to look, northern New York can seem devoid of ‘locavore’ culture. The Adirondacks appear unaffected by trends in food and fashion, giving an impression that the area is somewhat behind when it comes to popular culture. This unchanging disposition is charming for visitors, especially in the summer when they bring the outside world in with them or come to escape it altogether. The landscape is regulated in a way that prevents sprawl and box stores from engulfing the mountains, which is positive, but without that sprawl to rebel against, grassroots and DIY culture have not taken off here in the way they have elsewhere. With all of that said, there is a rapidly growing base of individuals working to build craft-minded communities in the north country. Fortunately, New York State (NYS) wants to see this kind of development, particularly when it comes to beer. In October 2013, Governor Cuomo announced nearly a 100% increase in licensed microbreweries across the state over a two year period. NYS passed legislation in 2012 that benefits brewers who use at least 20% of hops and 20% of all other ingredients that are grown in New York. The local percentage requirement will increase with time as these breweries and farmers adapt to growing beer ingredients in their areas.
These brewers operate under a Farm Brewery License, which enables them to serve beer by the glass, to make and serve cider, to have five branch offices where they can sell their products, and to have tasting rooms, retail shops, and restaurants. To my surprise, Vermont-based hand papermaker and hop grower Peter Hopkins told me that he would be in an excellent position were his growing situated 100 miles west. Imagine, a Vermonter with New York envy!
Drew Matott collaborated with seven new breweries in order to promote their handmade efforts and dedication to their locality. All of the breweries are located within a seventy-mile radius of each other, and each one has a unique vision and mission for its role in the community. Matott visited each brewer and shared with them the history of hand papermaking and his contemporary applications of the art form. He collected spent grain (barley, hops, etc.) left over from the beer-making process and used it to create paper with the beer-makers themselves. Drew’s collaborators selected an article of clothing that he or she wears while making beer, to be pulped with the spent grain to add strength to the paper as well as personality.
Matott did not ask for anything in return from the brewers for this project. He explains, “I think the move to start up all of these microbreweries in New York is amazing. It feels like every week I learn about a new brewery popping up, and I think about the positive impact they are going to have on their area economically and culturally. I want to support their efforts in my own way.” He says that some of his first interactions with the brewers felt slightly awkward, as though he were a salesman who was not selling anything. “Some of the folks might have thought I was there to sell paper.” But this impression gave way to enthusiasm and creativity.
While the sizes and styles of the paper varied with each brewer, Drew made about 300 to 500 sheets of paper with each 5-gallon bucket of grain. He filled the dry-box every day for several weeks, and lined his shelves with stacks upon stacks of crisp, fragrant sheets of paper. The brewers’ applications of the paper ranges from beer menus to guest books, from labels in the gift shop to invitations for grand openings. One of the breweries is using the beer paper for signage for their stand at the farmer’s market. Another is using the paper to label bottles of their specialty ales. One brewery is run by retired papermakers from the local industrial mill, and they are collaborating with a printmaker to design a batch of prints to sell with their beer.
Matott’s project culminates at the Farm 2 Fork Festival in Saranac Lake, New York, where he will invite the public to pull sheets of paper from pulped grain of all the breweries mixed together, with a dash of dill, carrot greens, and corn husks for the ‘foodies.’ He intends to educate the public about their local microbreweries by way of connecting them to the tradition of hand papermaking. That’s two craft processes in one!
Should you find yourself in northern New York, Drew recommends checking out the craft beer and handmade paper at the following breweries: Raquette River Brewery, Tupper Lake; Adirondack Toboggan Company Microbrewery, Gouverneur; Paradox Brewery, Schroon Lake; St. Lawrence Brewery, Canton; Blue Line Brewery, Saranac Lake; Lake Placid Pub & Brewery, Lake Placid; and Ausable Brewing Compa, Keesville.
Listings for specific workshops and other events in the following categories are offered free of charge on a space-available basis. The deadline for the January 2015 newsletter is November 15. Contact each facility directly for additional information or a full schedule. Teachers: Tell your students about Hand Papermaking! Brochures and handouts can be mailed to you or your institution.
Email newsletter@handpapermaking.org.
> CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS
1890 Bryant Street Studio 308, San Francisco, CA, www.rhiannonalpers.com, rhian non.alpers@gmail.com. Papermaking workshops in the studio of Rhiannon Alpers.
Pulp Painting, September 20, with Michelle Wilson. Experiment with various pulp painting techniques including direct painting, stencils, collage inclusions, and other means of pulp-based mark-making.
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN, (865) 436-5860, www. arrowmont.org. Classes and workshops in a variety of disciplines, including papermaking.
Cutting Edge, October 4-11, with Béatrice Coron. Create paper images and objects, exploring materials, scale, stenciling, and pop-ups while discovering the incredible variety and applications of contemporary papercutting.
The Boston Paper Collective, Boston, MA (614) 282-4016, www.bostonpapercollective. com. Classes in papermaking and marbling, as well as studio rental and special projects.
Decorated Paper Open Studios, second and fourth Thursdays, 6:00 p.m.
Carriage House Paper, Brooklyn, NY, (800) 669-8781, www.carriagehousepaper.com. Papermaking workshops offered in a new studio space. Visit website for workshop schedule.
Desert Paper, Book and Wax, Tucson, AZ, (520) 740-1673. Papermaking, book, and mixed media encaustic workshops, as well as consulting and studio rental. Visit www. papermakingresources.com for registration information.
Dieu Donné Papermill, New York, NY, (212) 226-0573, www.dieudonne.org. Beginning and advanced papermaking classes for adults and children.
Introduction to Contemporary Papermaking, October 7, November 4, or December 9, with staff instructor. Learn the basic papermaking process, as well as various artistic techniques.
Creative Techniques for Artists with Open Studio, October 14, November 18, or December 16, with staff instructor. Explore advanced techniques and their application for two- and three-dimensional projects, with a different focus at each session; experiment on your own with studio pulps.
Fine Line Creative Arts Center, St. Charles, IL, (630) 584-9443, www.fineline.org. Providing year-round classes in papermaking, textiles, and other art forms.
Papermaking with Natural Fibers, October 31 to November 1, with Carol Kazwick. Collect prairie plants and flowers and process them into beautiful and unique papers.
Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA, (215) 922-3456, www.fleisher.org. Offering workshops and community programs in a range of media.
Papermaking: Printing with Paper Pulp, Mondays through November 10, with Mary Tasillo. Use an array of stencils made of screen-printing mesh and finely beaten pigmented pulps to combine and rearrange images, incorporating collage and layering techniques to create a variety of handmade paper sheets.
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME, (207) 348-2306, www.haystack-mtn.org. Workshops in various disciplines, including papermaking and book arts. Scholarships available. Deadlines are March 1 for Residency and Scholarship applicants and April 1 for Regular applicants.
The Mill Paper and Book Arts Center, Rhinelander, Wisconsin, (715) 360-3804, info@themillbookarts.org. Classes, studio access, and other resources in paper, book, and print arts in Northern Wisconsin.
Fall Harvest Papermaking, September 27, with Debra Ketchum Jircik.
Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, MN, (612) 215-2520, www.mnbookarts .org. Classes at the Open Book center for book and literary arts.
Beater Training, October 7, November 4, or December 2, with staff instructor. Learn beater operation, safety procedures and cleaning for MCBA’s three beaters as a prerequisite to renting the beaters for your own use.
Open Studio: Paper Beater, Tuesdays, with staff instructor. Beat fiber for paper for future sheet-forming.
Open Studio: Papermaking (B.Y.O. Fibers), November 15, with staff instructor. Get into the vat, hone your sheet-pulling technique, and enjoy the fellowship of other artists, using your own previously beaten fibers.
Introduction to Western-Style Papermaking, October 1, 8, 15, & 22, with Suzanne Hughes. Learn to process cotton and abaca fibers in the Hollander beaters, use moulds and deckles to form sheets, and explore traditional drying techniques.
The Topography of Handmade Paper, October 4 & 18, November 1 & 15, with Mary Hark. Explore surface and texture while learning sheet forming, bookbinding, and sculptural techniques, and pigmentation and natural dye processes.
Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory and Educational Foundation, Cleveland, OH, (216) 361-9255, http://morganconser vatory.org. Workshops in hand papermaking and the arts of the book in an innovative green environment.
PapierWespe (PaperWasp), Klimschgasse 2/1, Vienna Austria, (0676) 77-33-153, office@papierwespe.at, www .papierwespe.at. Workshops in English and German taught by paper specialists in downtown Vienna.
Papyrus from Plants and Veggies, October 24-25, with studio instructor.
Pyramid Atlantic, Silver Spring, MD, (301) 608-9101, www.pyramidatlanticartcenter .org. Workshops in papermaking, printmaking, and book arts.
Papermaking Society, Third Thursdays. For details contact Associate Papermakers Laura Kinneberg and Lynette Spencer at pyramidpaper@gmail.com.
Intro to Western Papermaking, November 2, with Marjorie Devereux. Learn the basic techniques of Western-style hand papermaking, including pulp preparation, sheet forming, couching, pressing, and drying.
Japanese Papermaking Intensive, October 18-19, with Saaraliisa Yliato. Learn Japanese methods for preparing mulberry fiber, forming sheets, and drying.
Personal Timelines, October 25, with Michelle Seaman and Lynette Spencer. Create a six-foot-long sheet of handmade paper; then incorporate creative writing and mixed media into a visual memoir.
Robert C. Williams Paper Museum, Atlanta, GA, (404) 894-5726, http://ipst.gatech. edu/amp/.
Papermaking Basics, November 5, 12, & 19, with Suzanne Sawyer. Experience a variety of paper fibers, including cotton and abaca, and experiment with inclusions of thread, dried flowers, or other materials.
Sarvisberry Studio and Gallery, Floyd, VA, (540) 745-6330, www.sarvisberry.com. Experience handmade paper in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Open Studio Days, call for schedule. Make your own paper and work on personal projects.
The Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA, (412) 261-7003, www.contemporarycraft.org. Classes in fiber, book art, and other media in Pittsburgh’s Strip District.
Papermaking 101, September 22, with Katy Dement. Experience the basics of papermaking, including fiber variation, mould building, pulp processing, Western sheet forming, embossing, watermarks, and pressing.
Plants to Paper, November 8-9, with Katy Dement. Learn traditional Eastern papermaking while processing and beating plant fibers from the kitchen, yard, garden, and roadside.
Southwest School of Art, San Antonio, TX, (210) 224-1848, www.swschool.org. Classes at the Picante Paper Studio. Individual papermaking classes can be scheduled for one person or a group; please contact Beck Whitehead at bhwhitehead@swschool.org for more information.
Papermaking Saturdays, select Saturdays, with Beck Whitehead. Work on independent projects with consultation.
SpeakEasy Press, Dillsboro, NC, www.speakeasypress.com, frank@speakeasypress. com, (205) 310-4740. Working and teaching studio space for papermaking, letterpress printing, and bookbinding.
Introduction to Papermaking, September 20-21, with Frank Brannon. Use a variety of plant fibers to produce paper pulp using the hollander beater, and focus on sheet formation.
Papermaking with Natural Fibers, October 24-25, with Frank Brannon, at the North Carolina Arboretum. Learn techniques for forming sheets of handmade paper using pulp prepared from trees, shrubs, and flowers, and gain an understanding of how paper has been produced in different cultures.
> EVENTS
The Movable Book Society holds its conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from September 18 to 20. The conference features lectures, workshops, and a book sale, and awards for Best Pop-up or Movable Artist Book and Emerging Paper Engineer are announced. For more information, visit www.movablebooksociety.org.
Oak Knoll Fest XVIII takes place October 3-5 in New Castle, Delaware. This biannual celebration of fine printing and bookmaking includes book talks, a printers’ fair with 40 private presses, and bibliophile camaraderie. More details at www.oakknoll.com.
The 7th Annual Morgan Benefit & Silent Auction takes place on October 4, and will consist of an auction of donated artwork, demos in various studio spaces, cash bar, heavy hors d’oeuvres, live music, and more. The annual benefit draws an estimated 400 visitors each year.
The Friends of Dard Hunter will hold its annual meeting and conference October 16-18 in San Francisco, California, a joint meeting with the American Printing History Association. The conference events and activities will include an array of workshops and demonstrations, lectures, exhibitions, and museum tours, and will address the theme “Paper on the Press,” and will feature keynote speakers Kathryn and Howard Clark, founders of Twinrocker Handmade Paper. Visit www.friendsofdardhunter.org or http://printinghistory.org for more information.
The Dieu Donné Annual Benefit Honoring Ann Hamilton will include a special appearance of Paper Chorus, with a performance recently debuted at Mass MOCA, featuring wearable paper components, in collaboration with Bang On A Can. The event will be held in New York City on Wednesday, October 29. More information will be available as the date approaches at www.dieudonne. org or by phone at (212) 226-0573.
Tom Bannister will give a talk at the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking on Thursday, September 18, at 7:00 pm in conjunction with the fall exhibition of Hand Papermaking Portfolios. Attendees will gain insight into the process of producing the portfolios, and learn about the work of paper artists involved in the projects. For details, visit http://ipst.gatech.edu/amp or call (404) 894-7840.
Pyramid Atlantic Art Center is pleased to present the 13th biennial Book Arts Fair and Conference, set for November 14-16. This year’s theme, Outside the Margin, explores the outer edges of the mediums of book art, printmaking, and papermaking. The new venue is a former WWII factory outfitted for large-scale photoshoots. Learn more at http://pyramidatlanticbookartsfair.org/
CODEX 5 Book Fair and Symposium takes place February 8 through 11 in Richmond, California. This year’s event features keynote speakers Alberto Manguel and Roberto Trujillo, as well as book artists Ken Botnick, Carolee Campbell, Ines von Ketelhodt, and Sam Winston, ARC. For more information, visit www.codexfoundation.org.
> EXHIBITS
Selections from Hand Papermaking’s Portfolios are on view through December 12 at the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking. The exhibit includes work from the following portfolios: Design and Pattern in Decorated Papers: Wet and Dry Techniques (1994); Innovative Printmaking on Handmade Paper (2004); and The Art of Pulp Painting (2006). For gallery hours and directions, visit http://ipst.gatech.edu/amp or call (404) 894-7840. For more information on specific portfolios, visit http://portfolios.handpapermaking.org/.
Robbin Ami Silverberg: Reality is as Thin as Paper continues through October 8 at Galerie Druck und Buch in Vienna, Austria. This exhibit of artist books and installation incorporates handmade paper extensively. For gallery information, visit www.druckundbuch.com or call +43 1 586 68 54 14.
Paper Biennial Rijswijk 2014, the 10th Paper Biennial, is on view through October 26 in The Netherlands. Twenty-five
international artists working in paper are
featured in this exhibit. To accompany the
Paper Biennial, a lavishly illustrated catalog
is available. For more information, contact
a.kloosterboer@museumrijswijk.nl or www.
museumrijswijk.nl/papierbiennale2014/
home.html.
Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio,
will present an exhibit of the work of Char
Norman & Elena Osterwalder from October
17 to November 29. Char Norman will be
exhibiting 3-D forms made of handmade
paper and found tree bark. Elena Osterwalder
will exhibit 2-D works of handmade
paper which have been dyed and pigmented
in various ways, resulting in an organic
display of her materials and experimental
process. For details visit http://morganconservatory.
org, or call (216) 361-9255.
The Museum of Charmey in Switzerland
will host the 8th International Paper Triennial
through October 5. The exhibit features
artists from around the world who use paper
to create works of art, whereby the substance
is transformed and is not used solely as
a support or vehicle. Go to www.museecharmey.
ch for more information on the
Triennial.
The International Fibre Art Exhibition
Fibremen 4 features textile art by male
artists from October 22 to November 5
in Kherson, Ukraine. For details contact
anschnei@public.kherson.ua or http://
anschnei.public.kherson.ua.
From Lausanne to Beijing - International
Fiber Art Exhibition is on view in Nantong,
China, from September 30 through December
16. For more information, visit http://
tinyurl.com/mdz9t7w.
The Biennale Internationale Des Arts du
Papier Edition 2015 will feature paperbased
works on the theme of Transformation.
This traveling exhibition will first be
on view in the United Kingdom March
through May of 2015. For information,
contact Jan Fairbairn-Edwards at chainedepapier@
wanadoo.fr.
Jane Ingram Allen’s handmade paper art
installation “Healing the Earth” is now on
view in Taiwan at Nan Hua University in
Chiayi County until it biodegrades, leaving
two banyan trees on either side of the
installation. See images and learn about the
process at http://janeingramallen.wordpress.
com.
> CALLS FOR ENTRIES
Artspace, NC invites artists working in
a variety of craft media to enter the Fine
Contemporary Craft Exhibition of the
Southeastern US, a biennial national juried
exhibition. Eligible media include functional
or sculptural works in handmade paper as
well as other craft media. This year’s juror
is Stefanie Gerber Darr, Gallery Manager
at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.
Entries are due September 22. Entry details
can be found at: http://artspacenc.org/
artists/opportunities/call-for-exhibitions/
fine-contemporary-craft/.
The Foothills Art Center seeks work incorporating
handmade paper for its upcoming
exhibition Beyond Words: Contemporary
Book Art. From design binding to intricately
detailed sculptural bookworks to monumental
installations featuring books, FAC’s goal
is to showcase a variety of artworks made
from and in the form of books. The exhibition
will include works by several invited artists as
well as works selected by juror Alicia Bailey.
The exhibit takes place January 24 to March
22. Submissions are due November 17. For
application details, visit the Exhibitions
section of foothillsartcenter.org.
The Seventh International Exhibition of Mini Textiles will take place June 16 to 27 in Kherson, Ukraine. Artists working in all fiber arts techniques are invited to submit works sized 30 x 30 x 30 cm to this juried exhibition. Please contact organizers to receive the Entry Form at scythiatextile@ gmail.com or P.O. Box 79, Kherson 73028, Ukraine. Entries are due February 1.
> more Calls for Entries at http://newsletter .handpapermaking.org/listings.htm
> OPPORTUNITIES
Oregon College of Art and Craft seeks applications for a Spring Artist-in-Residence with a teaching component in Papermaking. This 16-week fellowship program advances the careers of the practicing artists while strengthening public awareness of the significant role that papermaking has in a contemporary art context. A resident artist is expected to pursue a body of work or project, to teach one 3-credit BFA course in Papermaking and may guest lecture, mentor students, and collaborate with faculty or students. For more information visit www.ocac.edu in the Community Programs section.
Minnesota Center for Book Arts is now accepting applications for artist residencies in the papermaking, printing, and bookbinding studios. Details and application can be found at www.mnbookarts.org/air. Applications for Spring 2015 are due November 1. Questions can be directed to Sara R. Parr, MCBA’s Artist and Adult Programs Director, at sparr@mnbookarts.org or (612) 215-2526.
Cave Paper in Minneapolis has worked with over 80 interns since 1994. They are currently looking for enthusiastic people to work at least 6-8 hours per week with flexible scheduling. Although interns are welcome all year, the best times are from May to September. Cave Paper interns become part of the production routine and, as a result, learn a variety of papermaking skills. Request more details from cavepaper@gmail.com or call (612) 359-0645.
Cultural Collaborative, a small non-profit working with children in Ghana, West Africa, is looking for papermakers and bookbinders to volunteer to teach the kids next summer. If interested contact aba@ culturalcollaborative.org. For information on Cultural Collaborative, visit www.culturalcollaborative.org.
The Creative Residency program in Visual Arts at The Banff Centre, Alberta, Canada, provides studio facilities and support for artists working in a broad range of media, including painting, drawing, performance, ceramics, book arts, textile art, papermaking, sculpture, installation, photography, and more. Visit www.banffcentre.ca for information about residencies and facilities, or contact Wendy Tokaryk at wendy_ tokaryk@banffcentre.ca or (403) 762-6402.
Artists experienced in papermaking are invited to apply for the opportunity to spend up to three months working in the Paper Studio at the Southwest School of Art & Craft. Artists are expected to provide their own transportation and materials. Housing may be available, but is not guaranteed. Collaborations will be considered. For further information contact SSAC, 300 Augusta, San Antonio, TX 78205, (210) 224-1848, www.swschool.org.
Women’s Studio Workshop offers several opportunities for artists working in papermaking and book arts. The internship program gives young artists creative support, culminating in an exhibition, in return for their assistance with the on-going operations of the facility, including assisting WSW’s Artists-in-Residence with their projects and participating in WSW’s Summer Arts Institute classes as studio assistants. Studio fellowships are designed to provide concentrated work time for artists to explore new ideas in a dynamic and supportive community of women artists. Studio residencies support the creation of a new body of work. For details on these and other programs, visit www.wsworkshop.org.
> more Opportunities at http://newsletter. handpapermaking.org/listings.htm
> PUBLICATIONS AND VIDEOS
Oregon College of Art and Craft seeks applications for a Spring Artist-in-Residence with a teaching component in Papermaking. This 16-week fellowship program advances the careers of the practicing artists while strengthening public awareness of the significant role that papermaking has in a contemporary art context. A resident artist is expected to pursue a body of work or project, to teach one 3-credit BFA course in Papermaking and may guest lecture, mentor students, and collaborate with faculty or students. For more information visit www.ocac.edu in the Community Programs section.
Minnesota Center for Book Arts is now accepting applications for artist residencies in the papermaking, printing, and bookbinding studios. Details and application can be found at www.mnbookarts.org/air. Applications for Spring 2015 are due November 1. Questions can be directed to Sara R. Parr, MCBA’s Artist and Adult Programs Director, at sparr@mnbookarts.org or (612) 215-2526.
Cave Paper in Minneapolis has worked with over 80 interns since 1994. They are currently looking for enthusiastic people to work at least 6-8 hours per week with flexible scheduling. Although interns are welcome all year, the best times are from May to September. Cave Paper interns become part of the production routine and, as a result, learn a variety of papermaking skills. Request more details from cavepaper@gmail.com or call (612) 359-0645.
Cultural Collaborative, a small non-profit working with children in Ghana, West Africa, is looking for papermakers and bookbinders to volunteer to teach the kids next summer. If interested contact aba@ culturalcollaborative.org. For information on Cultural Collaborative, visit www.culturalcollaborative.org.
The Creative Residency program in Visual Arts at The Banff Centre, Alberta, Canada, provides studio facilities and support for artists working in a broad range of media, including painting, drawing, performance, ceramics, book arts, textile art, papermaking, sculpture, installation, photography, and more. Visit www.banffcentre.ca for information about residencies and facilities, or contact Wendy Tokaryk at wendy_ tokaryk@banffcentre.ca or (403) 762-6402.
Artists experienced in papermaking are invited to apply for the opportunity to spend up to three months working in the Paper Studio at the Southwest School of Art & Craft. Artists are expected to provide their own transportation and materials. Housing may be available, but is not guaranteed. Collaborations will be considered. For further information contact SSAC, 300 Augusta, San Antonio, TX 78205, (210) 224-1848, www.swschool.org.
Women’s Studio Workshop offers several opportunities for artists working in papermaking and book arts. The internship program gives young artists creative support, culminating in an exhibition, in return for their assistance with the on-going operations of the facility, including assisting WSW’s Artists-in-Residence with their projects and participating in WSW’s Summer Arts Institute classes as studio assistants. Studio fellowships are designed to provide concentrated work time for artists to explore new ideas in a dynamic and supportive community of women artists. Studio residencies support the creation of a new body of work. For details on these and other programs, visit www.wsworkshop.org.
> more Opportunities at http://newsletter. handpapermaking.org/listings.htm
“The Making of the Artist Book Time,” an article in the current issue of Bound & Lettered (Volume 11, Number 4), describes Shireen Holman’s recent book, from the process of making the handmade paper with pulp paintings to the woodcut printing of the imagery and the letterpress printing of the text. Photos of the book can be seen at www.shireenholman.com/time.html. For the article, go to www.johnnealbooks.com.
Negative Space in Handmade Paper: Picturing the Void is number 11 in Hand Papermaking’s series of limited-edition portfolios. A special pre-publication price is still in effect for this boxed set of 19 compelling artworks selected by a distinguished jury (Lesley Dill, Cynthia Thompson, Paul Wong). The work as a whole encourages viewers to ponder what is omitted. A handbound booklet, with letterpress printed cover, contains statements from the artists, details about each piece, and a commissioned essay by Buzz Spector. View more details at: http://portfolios. handpapermaking.org.
Watch the video of artist Michael Verlangieri making handmade paper in his California studio from 1984 at http://youtu.be/ i7Z3qJU5sKk.
Kinokuniya, San Francisco, CA, is now handling sales of Washi: The Soul of Japan—Fine Japanese Paper in the Second Millennium (reviewed by Akemi Martin in our Winter magazine). This 12-volume compendium of Japanese paper can be acquired by contacting Mr. Satoshi Ito at (415) 567-6787 or satoshi_ito@kinokuni ya.co.jp.
Surface Design Journal’s Summer 2014 issue features art of Korea and includes an article about hanji in the USA, written by Aimee Lee and featuring art by Melissa Jay Craig, Sammy Lee, Sara Parkel, and Julie Sirek. Learn more at www.surfacedesign. org/publications/sda-journal.
Artist Sipho Mabona created a life-sized origami elephant from a single sheet of paper. See images and read more at
http://tinyurl.com/kmgtxcv.
The paper studio at University of Wisconsin, Madison, produced a new video showing the process of making paper from corn husks. Enjoy it at http://youtu.be/0Na-d0lPpjc and share it around.
> CLASSIFIEDS
Classifieds in Hand Papermaking Newsletter cost $2 per word, with a 10-word minimum. Payment is due in advance of publication.
Unbleached Philippine Abaca $6.00 lb. For samples, please send SASE to Ifugao Papercraft, 6477 E. Grayson, St., Inverness, FL 34452
Need affordable paper for workshops? We offer authentic hanji, lokta, washi, & xuan. Mention this ad for 10% discount. paperwoman@paperconnection.com
Cotton Linter Pulp. All quantities available. Call Gold’s Artworks, Inc. (910) 739-9605.
> SPECIAL THANKS
Hand Papermaking acknowledges these recent contributors to our non-profit programs. All donations are greatly appreciated and tax deductible. Our tax ID number is 52-1436849. See our profile on GuideStar. Call or write for information on annual giving levels, premiums, automatic monthly gifts, and in-kind contributions; or details on adding Hand Papermaking to your estate plans.
Benefactors: Anonymous, Timothy Barrett, Gibby Waitzkin. Patrons: Tom Balbo, Sid Berger & Michele Cloonan, Jeffrey Cooper, Susan Gosin. Underwriters: Denise Anderson & J.T. Feeney, Susan Mackin Dolan, Nancy & Mark Tomasko, Pamela & Gary Wood. Sponsors: Cathleen A. Baker, Simon Blattner, Tom & Lore Burger, Kathy Crump, Gail Deery, Michael Durgin, Jane Farmer, Helen Frederick, Helen Hiebert, Ingrid Rose Paper Conservation, Lois & Gordon James, Barbara Landes, Peter Newland & Robyn Johnson, Laura Merrick Roe, Michelle Samour, Richard H. Schimmelpfeng. Donors: James Barton, Marcia Blake, Carol J. Blinn, Colin Browne, Peter S. Briggs, Carolee Campbell, Bob & Annie Cicale, Kathryn & Howard Clark, Nancy Cohen, Rona Conti, Lee Cooper, Paula Cox, Elizabeth Curren, Kerri Cushman, Karen Davidson, Georgia Deal, Benjamin J. Dineen, Francis Dolan, Linda Draper, Karla & Jim Elling, Kathryn Flannery, George Freitag, David Lance Goines, Lori B. Goodman, Mabel Grummer, Robert Hauser, Suzanne Karr Schmidt, Lou Kaufman, Ellen Mears Kennedy, Joyce Kierejczyk, Nancee Killoran, David Kimball, Aimee Lee, Deborah Luginbuhl, Winifred Lutz, Mary Lou Manor, Anne Q. McKeown, Julie McLaughlin, Julie Mellby, Margaret Merritt, Betsy Miraglia, Nancy Pobanz, Brian Queen, Julie Reichert, Carolyn A. Riley, John L. Risseeuw, Kim Schiedermayer, Mary C. Schlosser, Andrea Siegel, Susan Spak, Betty Sweren, Carla J. Tenret, George Thagard III, Claire Van Vliet, Aviva Weiner, Beck Whitehead, Christy Wise. Supporters: Inge Bruggeman, Carla A. Castellani, Jennifer Davies, Amanda Degener, Iris L. Dozer, Jim Escalante, Caroline Garrett Hardy, Mervi Hjelmroos-Koski, Sara Gilfert, Hiromi Paper, Courtney Hudson, Eve Ingalls Von Staden, Sally Wood Johnson, Susan Kanowith-Klein, Kristin Kavanagh, Betty L. Kjelson, Jana Lee Pullman, Katie MacGregor, M. P. Marion, Edwin Martin, Margaret Miller, Catherine Nash, Suzanne Oberholtzer, Patricia L. O’Neal, Melissa Potter, Dianne L. Reeves, S.A. Scharf, Marie Sturken, Mina Takahashi, Gene Valentine, Kathy Wosika. In-Kind: Adobe Systems Inc., Tom Balbo, Tom Bannister, Sid Berger, Deborah Bevenour, John Bordley, Nita Colgate, Janet DeBoer, Amanda Degener, Jane Farmer, Peter Ford, Helen Frederick, Peter Gentenaar, Helen Goldberg, Robert Hauser, Beth Heesacker, Ry Hook, Dard Hunter III, Kyoko Ibe, Mildred Monat Isaacs, Lois & Gordon James, Winsome Jobling, David Kimball, Lee McDonald, Rick McSorley, Microsoft Corporate Citizenship, Steve Miller, Katharine Nix, Giorgio Pellegrini, Britt Quinlan, Margaret Prentice, Victoria Rabal, Amy Richard, Michelle Samour, Maxine Seelenbinder-Apke, Mina Takahashi, Tom Weideman, Pamela Wood. Founding Contributors to the Hand Papermaking Endowment: 49er Books, Shirah Miriam (Mimi) Aumann, Cathleen A. Baker, Tom Balbo, Timothy Barrett, Sidney Berger & Michele Cloonan, Tom & Lore Burger, Jeffrey Cooper, Jeanne M. Drewes, Jane M. Farmer, Fifth Floor Foundation, Helen Frederick, Sara Gilfert, Tatiana Ginsberg, Susan Gosin, Joan Hall, Lois & Gordon James, Sally Wood Johnson, David Kimball, Elaine Koretsky, Karen Kunc, Barbara Lippman, Winifred Lutz, Susan M. Mackin- Dolan, David Marshall, Peter Newland Fund of the Greater Everett Community Foundation, Margaret Prentice, Preservation Technologies L.P., Michelle Samour, Peter Sowiski, Marilyn Sward, Betty Sweren, Gibby Waitzkin, Tom Weideman, Beck Whitehead, Paul Wong & John Colella, Pamela & Gary Wood.