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125

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H A N D P A P E R M A K I N G

N e w s l e t t e r

Number 125, January 2019

Newsletter Editor: Maria Olivia Devalos Stanton

Columnists: Sidney Berger, Donna Koretsky,

Winifred Radolan, Amy Richard

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organization. Staff: Michael Fallon, Executive

Director; Mina Takahashi, Magazine Editor;

Maria Olivia Davalos Stanton, Newsletter Editor;

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(US), Carolina Larrea (Chile), Roberto Mannino

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Matthysen (Belgium), Radha Pandey (India),

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>STUDYING HAND PAPERMAKING


BIO: Amy Richard is an artist, writer, and proprietor of Amy Richard Studio in Gainesville, Florida where she produces original artwork and teaches hand papermaking in the community and beyond. For this column, she explores opportunities for studying papermaking in colleges, universities, and other established art centers in the United States and abroad.


ABSTRACT: In this issue, Amy Richard takes a slight departure from physical brick-and-mortar institutions to discuss the Hand Papermaking Portfolio Series, one of the (unintentionally) best-kept secrets of the hand papermaking community.


SUBTITLE: The (unintentionally) best-kept hand papermaking secret


While we are all familiar with Hand Papermaking magazine and Hand Papermaking Newsletter, I have often been surprised to learn that many subscribers are not familiar with the Hand Papermaking Portfolio Series—a remarkable collection of curated handmade paper artworks, which are also available framed and ready as traveling exhibits. 


If one’s goal is to gain an overview of the potential for hand papermaking as a creative medium, these portfolios are, in my humble opinion, one of the best resources available to both the novice and professional. Since the project began in 1994, twelve themed portfolios have been produced in editions of 150. Each collection contains fifteen to twenty-five variable edition works by individual and/or collaborating artists, many of whom are top innovators in the field.


Contributors were selected based on designs submitted through a juried process by the Hand Papermaking Portfolio committee. Viewing individual portfolios, all housed in custom-made clamshell boxes, is nothing short of a visual buffet of paper yumminess as well as a goldmine of information for those willing to spend some time with them. 


Note: The first six portfolios are sold out; portfolios seven through twelve are still available, which is shocking to me given the caliber of the work assembled inside each handcrafted clamshell box:


1994 - Design and Pattern in Decorated Papers: Wet and Dry Techniques

1996 - Opacity and Translucency: Letterpress Printing on Handmade Paper

1998 - Handmade Paper in Nepal: Tradition and Change

2000 - Old Ways, New Views: Photographic Processes on Handmade Paper

2002 - Watermarks In Handmade Paper: Modern And Historic

2004 - Innovative Printmaking On Handmade Paper

2006 - The Art Of Pulp Painting

2008 - Calligraphy And Handmade Paper

2010 - Handmade Paper In Motion

2012 - Handmade Paper: Fiber Exposed!

2014 - Negative Space In Handmade Paper: Picturing The Void

2016 - Intergenerationality: Collaborations In Handmade Paper


While I have always appreciated the portfolio idea and the beautiful works produced, I gained a much deeper appreciation while teaching an expressive paper class a couple of summers ago. Working with undergraduate students with zero papermaking experience, I decided to include a trip to the University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections to view a number of the portfolios as a quick way to introduce students to original works (versus digital reproductions). While preparing the lesson activity—a self-guided research project—I was finally able to give myself “permission” to spend more time with the portfolios.


Yihe Shi and Leslie Hankins examine materials from the portfolios.


While reading through each artist statement in the hand-bound booklets that accompany each collection, I was blown away by the detailed information provided about the process, motivation, and inspiration behind each piece. The presentation of the aesthetic considerations and technical details in combination with the paper artworks makes these portfolios an invaluable resource for anyone interested in hand papermaking as a creative process. 


Equally impressive was the work these same students made in that class, and I attribute much of their success to the influence the portfolios had in helping them discover the possibilities of working with such a versatile material.


Della Nuno


A good New Year’s resolution for us paper enthusiasts could be to commit to purchasing one of these portfolios for a local library, or help fund a traveling exhibit for a local gallery or library so others can have the joy and pleasure of studying these beautiful hand-crafted treasures and learning more about the practice of hand papermaking. 


 For more information http://handpapermaking.org/?page_id=20


>DECORATED PAPER


BIO: Sidney Berger is Doctor Emeritus of the Phillips Library of the Peabody Essex Museum, and a professor on the faculty of the library schools at Simmons College and the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He and his wife Michèle Cloonan put together the Berger–Cloonan Collection of Decorated Paper (about 22,000 pieces), now in the Cushing Library at Texas A&M University.


ABSTRACT: In this issue, Sid features artist Claire Maziarczyk for his series of significant people in the decorated paper world.


SUBTITLE: The exquisite paste papers of Claire Maziarczyk


In this newsletter, in October 2009 and January 2010, I offered two columns on paste papers. In January 2015, I began a series of pieces on important people in the world of paper decoration with an item about Milena Hughes. I would like to merge these topics for the present offering: a column on Claire Maziarczyk, one of the most important and innovative paste paper artists in this amazing world of Decorated Paper.  

Long before Rosamond Loring was doing her research that eventuated in her oft-cited book Decorated Book Papers: Being an Account of Their Designs and Fashions (first published in 1942 and now in its fourth edition [Cambridge, MA: Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, 2007]), she published a book titled Marbled Papers: An Address Delivered before the Members of the Club of Odd Volumes, November 16, 1932 (Boston: The Club of Odd Volumes, 1933). She had already made it known that while she had mastered marbling, she preferred doing paste papers since they were easier to produce. Her marbling book had six samples of various paste patterns, and seven marbling samples, the last five of which were progressives for one pattern. Clearly paste was her preference.  

My point is the same as Loring’s: that paste papers are much easier to produce than sheets of marbled papers, because of all the preparation one must go through to marble: the imparting of the mordant to each sheet before marbling; the finickiness of the marbling size and pigments; and the hassle of doing the marbling itself, with the laying down of the papers on the surface of the size, the rinsing of the sheets, and the bath that needs to be cleaned after each sheet is pulled. Paste papers can be more immediately satisfying, since they can be done in endless patterns and colors with much less hassle. But doing paste papers really well, with truly beautiful results, takes a true artist. I have given a number of paste paper workshops, and when I show my students how it is done, my papers are pedestrian at best and pretty awful at worst. Then the artists among my students take over the workshop and put me to shame. However, doing wonderful paste papers takes years of work, an artist’s eye, and an advanced color sense.  

And now I come to the subject of my present column: Claire Maziarczyk, who has all of these skills and more. Many of you may remember Wally Dawes of the Paper Source in Los Angeles. When he was going out of business and liquidating his warehouse, I purchased a large number of sheets from him, including some of the treasures that wound up in my wife’s and my collection. Among these were some paste papers that I had not seen the likes of before. They were stunning, subtle, elegant, beautiful, even gorgeous, and I am running out of praising adjectives. I asked Wally whose they were since they were not signed. He told me they were Claire’s. Notice that one of my adjectives is “subtle.” These papers did not call out brashly, glowing with bright and garish colors. They had a silence to them that said, “I know I am beautiful; I needn’t shout it to the world.” This was more than thirty years ago, long before more recent trends in paste-paper-making took off. Claire was far ahead of the game in producing these wonderful sheets.  

Claire brings an artist’s eye to her profession. In 1981, after taking Phyllis Billick’s decorative paper workshop at the Center for Book Arts in New York, Claire became a paper artist, pretty much teaching herself the art of paste paper. and she soon began teaching paste paper decoration herself. Her color sense, honed from her time as a painter, comes through in her papers. Claire also taught classes in printmaking, simple clay and pottery techniques, and beginning filmmaking—all of which deal with colors, shapes, design, style, and audience. Some of her paste papers reveal a three-dimensionality that seems to emanate from her ability to appeal to an audience. She formally registered as a business in 1982, making what—for their day—were some of the most beautiful paste papers in the country. They still are.  

As I have mentioned in my columns about marbling, an artist must train herself in the practices of her medium: learning the basics—preparation of the substrate, preparation of the pigments; selection or creation of the tools—and then achieving a comfort in the “movements” of the operations. That is, once one has gotten all the basics together, she must get the physical activity of the craft under control. For a marbler it is the dripping of the pigments onto the size and the combing; for a paste paper maker it is the brushing on of the colored paste(s), and the movement of the papers and tools to produce the final products. It sounds easy, but it is not, especially for edition work. If a binder needs, say, 100 sheets of a single pattern, the artist must be able to produce that many papers with a consistency that lends the whole edition a uniformity. And a paper distributor may say to the artist, “We need 500 sheets of a particular pattern.” The artist must be able to create that many for the business, whose customers may need multiples of a pattern for consistency in their own artistic endeavors.

Further, once an artist has perfected the rudiments of the art, and can produce the “standard” patterns (as for paste papers, one expects to see particular swirls with a comb, finger-marks, bottle-cap-produced patterns, pull-patterns, and the like), she then can branch out into more idiosyncratic patterns of her own devising, patterns that are hers alone. Maziarczyk has done just this, and when one sees one of her unique patterns, one can say, “That is a Maziarczyk paper.”  Not too many paste paper artists have achieved that status. And with Claire, those recognizable patterns of her own devising are works of art.

Some of her designs are iconic Maziarczyk, like the one with the rectangular, sort of diamond-shaped configurations, done in gray; or the several colored stripes of brown, terracotta, cream, and silver; or the double-layered patterns, with one design done over another (with both of them perfectly visible—a real tour de force of decoration), many of these usually with a touch of iridescence. One of her two-layer patterns has the top layer the wood-grain design, one I have tried to make dozens of times unsuccessfully.  She gets that one to perfection. One of her papers that I love has wavy lines cutting across other wavy lines with a feather-like gold element interspersed over the sheet. This one was used as the cover paper for her wonderful sample book of 1991, Maziarczyk Paste Papers, published by Claire Bolton in Oxford at The Alembic Press (two Claires teaming up to produce one of my favorite books). 


A cover paper created by Claire Maziarczyk for her wonderful sample book, Maziarczyk Paste Papers, published by Claire Bolton in 1991 The Alembic Press.

A paste paper quilt comprised of some of Claire Maziarczyk’s magnificient pieces.


The fame of her work spread as she sold more and more of her papers, often through New York Central Art Supply, and as more and more private and commercial entities used her papers, including party planners, small presses, bookbinders, picture framing businesses, and other artists. Also, they were used for wallcoverings by interior designers, for packaging for bed linens and comforters by Martex, by TIAA / CREF, Hewlett Packard, and publishers like Doubleday, Knopf, Galison Books, Yale University Press, Columbia University Press, and others. Even Martha Stewart used some of her papers. Claire wrote to me that “One of my most metallic patterns was copied from a wedding invitation and was custom painted for the dance floor of that particular wedding.” Such commercial uses attest to the popularity—and the beauty—of her work.  

In the world of decorated papers, paste papers have a long and distinguished history, and Claire Maziarczyk has added significantly to that history.



>TEACHING HAND PAPERMAKING

Winnie Radolan

BIO: Based in Philadelphia, Winifred Radolan operates an itinerant teaching papermill, and has taught papermaking to thousands of adults and children. Her works, both paper and book, have been exhibited internationally and are in private collections.

ABSTRACT: In this issue, Winifred Radolan describes a paper workshop for adults at the Morris Arboretum.


SUBTITLE: The joys of “patty cake pulp casting”


On one of the few truly magnificent weather days of this fall I arrived at University of Pennsylvania’s Morris Arboretum, car fully loaded with my papermaking equipment. I had been invited to instruct one of the Arboretum’s educational enrichment workshops, and my selected topic was the popular “Cast Paper Vessels.” It was wonderful to see so many families wandering the grounds, which were exquisitely carpeted in a blanket of fallen leaves. The crowds did made unloading and parking a bit of a challenge, but good spirits abounded and I was offered assistance! 

The Cast Paper Vessels workshop has proven to be very popular over the years. I find that I never tire of teaching it, as working with new groups of people provides me with additional insight on how to more clearly articulate the execution of technique. No two people interpret identical words in like fashion, neither do their hands manipulate the pulp in the same way. So I have come to enjoy the challenge of helping each individual find their unique path to success.

My “classroom” was a room adjacent to the lower level kitchen of the Visitor’s Center, so water was easily accessible. And one wall of the room consisted of glass windows and doors, so participants could enjoy the fall colors of the landscape while they were indoors, creating.  Our assembled group of learners was made up of nine curious and creative adults and a grandchild, some of whom had dabbled in papermaking previously. The grandma and granddaughter had spent their summer experimenting with recycled newspaper, a blender, and hand screen. The party of four sisters was celebrating a birthday. One woman was “historically curious,” giving me the opportunity to share information about the nearby Historic RittenhouseTown. And the others were artist/gardeners who wanted to explore the medium. 

After passing around several small samples of cast paper,  I gave everyone an upcycled plastic container lid and a circle of adhesive-backed fun foam. Their task was to cut the foam circle into a simple design and affix the shapes to the inside of the lid. We would use this simple casting mold to practice the technique of “patty cake pulp casting.”

I brought beaten cotton linter pulp, sized and pigmented in charcoal and turquoise, as well as plain white. Three separate vats held the hydrated stock solutions from which everyone would gather their personal casting pulp. I demonstrated how to either thoroughly mix two colors of pulp to obtain a third, or to partially mix colors for a “tweed” effect. 

Next, I demonstrated tossing a golf-ball-sized clump of pulp from cupped palm to palm, in order to retain moisture and interlock the fibers, before placing the clump in the lid. I advised everyone to repeat this process, placing successive pulp balls adjacent to one another in the lid, until a ¼-inch thickness of fiber filled the entire surface. And then I demonstrated how to press the water out of their paper medallions, at first gently, and then with increasingly firmer pressure until almost all water was gone.

Each artist had a personal plastic pulp gathering bowl in which to collect their fiber palette for the medallions. As the group progressed, I advised and demonstrated individually as necessary. Everyone had varying touches with this extremely tactile process. I cautioned that it was important to work with moist pulp, without allowing too much water puddling, so light mopping with their sponges as they cast would be necessary. After teaching many classes in pulp casting, I have found that this short introduction to the sound and feel of the technique affords greater success for the participants as they begin working on their cast paper vessels. 

Once the medallions had been sponge pressed sufficiently, I gave everyone their plastic bowl molds in which in which to create their vessels. I explained that the pulp is laid in one handful at a time, beginning in the interior bottom and working up the sides, while maintaining that ¼-inch thickness of fibers.  And I encouraged them to cut and collage the flat found objects and treasures they brought along to the inside walls of the bowls, first wetting inclusions to allow surface tension to hold them to the bowl walls before covering them with the pulp.

The personal embellishments the group brought were varied and interesting. One woman brought her daughter’s wedding invitation, which she separated into strips of text for inclusion. Another person brought colorful ribbons and threads to drape up and over the interior walls. Yet another gal brought her “failed Gelli prints,” which she shared. And I had numerous scraps of colorful handmade paper for cutting and collaging. 

When sponge pressing of the vessels was completed, I explained that their creations would go home with them to dry thoroughly in the plastic molds. The drying time would depend on temperature and humidity in their various homes, and was likely to take up to five days. The fibers should shrink slightly while drying and the vessels would lift rather easily from the plastic molds.

As is always the case, even with the three color limited palette, all nine vessels were completely unique. I urged everyone, once their creations were dry, to continue working into them with acrylic, watercolor, or gouache, and adding anything further that might occur to them. I asked them to send me photos of their completed creations. I do hope some of them will share images with me! And that some of them will join me for another fun papermaking workshop at the Arboretum!

Participants brought in their own embellishments–adding personal objects and style–to adorn their paste cast paper creations.


Creating paper medallions from paper pulp.

>ALONG THE PAPER ROAD...


BIO: Since 1998 this column has featured paper musings from Elaine Koretsky (1932-2018)—renowned paper historian, researcher, and traveler. In YEAR, her daughter Donna Koretsky, co-founder and owner of Carriage House Paper, now continues the legacy.


ABSTRACT:  It is with deepest sorrow that we convey the news of Elaine Koretsky’s passing. In this issue, Donna Koretsky features one of her mother’s columns from Newsletter number 65, published in January 2004, where Elaine remembers a few of the bumps encountered on the paper road over the years.


SUBTITLE: In loving memory…  


Sadly, my mother Elaine Koretsky passed away at home at age 86 on November 11. She was a loving wife, mother of three, grandmother of seven, a great mentor and an inspiration to all. We will miss her. As a tribute, my father Sidney and I will be publishing a book of all sixty of her "Along the Paper Road…” articles.


Is the “paper road” really a road? Not at all. Kipling fantasized about the “Road to Mandalay.” but his road was the Ayeyarwady River, the lifeline of Burma (now Myanmar), flowing from the mountains of the north down to the southern lowlands. On my own paper road I have been traveling by plane, train, bus, boat, taxi, jeep, samlor,1 tuk tuk,2 van, tractor, truck, ox cart, donkey, motorcycle, and even once a police car. The police car episode occurred in Tibet, in 1986, when the Chinese government was building a highway from Lhasa to the airport. At that point it was a non-road, a rocky roadbed in its beginning stages. We had two hours to reach the airport to catch the once-a-week plane to Chengdu. Our bus broke down ten minutes after leaving the hotel. The only alternative was to hitchhike. Fortunately, a police car picked up our group, and we rode to the airport in style with a siren screaming.

From 1976 to the present time I have traveled thousands of miles over impossible roads and non-roads, often stopping for the night at small guesthouses with minimal facilities. But along these roads or at the ends of the roads, I have found unbelievable villages or simply enclaves of people who are still engaged in their traditional work of farming, weaving, making pottery, and papermaking. At this time, however, the countries of Asia are improving their infrastructure, bringing in electric power and modern highways. Along these roads new comfortable hotels are being built, restaurants are springing up, television and the internet have arrived. And here come the tourists! The old ways and traditions are quickly changing and often disappearing. So I will never regret the struggles in reaching many of the places that I have visited. It’s been wonderful to be able to personally view the past, and document old techniques of making paper before the inevitable changes that are occurring now.

I had other hitchhiking experiences. Memorable was the year my husband and I traveled the old Burma Road from Kunming in China to Lashio in Burma. It’s an extraordinary drive winding through the lush, untamed mountains of Yunnan Province, crossing the roaring Salween River, with our driver expertly maneuvering the hairpin turns. Unfortunately, the Chinese government had decided to rebuild the road. Workers had already blown up most of the road and were just beginning reconstruction. Meanwhile the demolished road had a full complement of traffic-trucks, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, water buffaloes, and people on foot carrying heavy loads on their shoulder poles. Sometimes we stopped for hours while blasting occurred. We would see an entire cliff come tumbling down, and then we waited until sufficient rocks were cleared so that traffic could start again. At one point our car refused to move. It was getting dark, the driver could not fix the problem, and so we hitchhiked to the nearest town. Somehow our driver managed to meet up with us again the next morning. By afternoon we were smuggled across the Burmese border at a cost of $400.3

On another occasion, in Burma, when we traveled from Mandalay to Kyaukme on a train made famous by Paul Theroux in his book The Great Railway Bazaar,4 our train derailed. No one was hurt. The train simply slid off its track. At noon, under the blazing hot sun, we trekked along the rails, following a Burmese man who turned out to be the leader of a dangerous rebel group that was fighting the corrupt Burmese military dictatorship. He was a very polite young man, and when we reached a paved road he waved down a passing car and requested that we be driven to the next town. Eventually we re-boarded our train, continued through the fantastic jungles, forests, mountains, and valleys of Shan State (eastern Burma), and finally saw in the distance the extraordinary Gokteik Viaduct, built by the British with US expertise more than 100 years ago. The viaduct was the second highest railway bridge in the world, an engineering marvel, and an awesome sight, spanning a deep, impenetrable gorge. When we arrived at Kyaukme we found several families making paper by hand from bamboo fiber. We watched in fascination another family beating lead into very thin sheets. It was similar to the goldbeating that we had previously documented in Mandalay and Daung Ma,5 except that lead sheets can be piled on top of each other and beaten, without any interleaving of sheets. Goldbeating requires a sheet of paper or other material placed between each piece of gold, to keep the gold leaves from adhering to each other. The Kyaukme workers cut the thin lead sheets into squares and glued them onto squares of the bamboo paper, producing “spirit paper” that was burned in ceremonies to honor the dead.

Donkeys can make people nervous, too. In Bhutan, where we visited many monasteries to look for information on printing and papermaking, we made a trip to Taktsang Monastery, also known as “Tiger's Nest.”  The monastery clings to sheer rock that plunges 3,000 feet straight down into the abyss below. To reach it we rode first on donkeys along narrow paths. The donkeys move slowly, which is fine, but they insist on walking at the very edge of the path, a harrowing experience for us. When the paths ended, we climbed the rest of the way up steep steps that had been carved into the rock. At the monastery we found no printing or papermaking. It was a place for meditation and prayer. We said a few prayers for our safe return and descended. The donkeys were patiently awaiting us.

Another bizarre incident took place in 1991, on a trip through northern Thailand. From the city of Chiang Mai we planned to travel to the tiny papermaking village of Ban Mai Mok Jam via the city of Fang. When the public bus left us off at Fang, we looked in vain for a taxi to take us to a hotel and then to the papermaking village. But there were no motor vehicles in Fang, we learned from a samlor driver who spoke a little English. Mr. Kan Tanee then assured us that he could arrange a trip to Ban Mai Mok Jam and showed us pictures of happy tourists on motorcycles. We had no choice, so we hopped into Mr. Kan Tanee’s samlor and drove to a guesthouse. He agreed to call for us after lunch, and at 2:00 p.m. we stood outside the hotel to await our fate. Total fear enveloped me as two men wearing yellow racing jackets approached us. One was driving a Yamaha; the other, a Kawasaki. Mr. Kan Tanee introduced them as his son and a friend, wished us a good trip, and bicycled off. I forced myself to be brave and mounted the motorcycle. My husband climbed onto the other one, and we were off. I tightly gripped my driver’s waist and tried to figure out how I got into this potential disaster. My motorcycle was leading, so I couldn’t see what was happening to my husband, or even if he was actually following behind. I had no idea of the distance to Ban Mai Mok Jam. The drive seemed endless. Fortunately, there wasn’t too much traffic. Just as I was getting used to the cadence of the motorcycle and thanking heaven for the paved road, my driver suddenly turned onto a rocky dirt road. Utter fear gripped me again. We did reach the village without mishap. The papermakers were hard at work, forming sheets by pouring hand-beaten mulberry pulp onto simple cloth moulds. We photographed everything and bought a lot of paper. But my excitement at finding this village quickly dimmed when I faced the reality of the motorcycle drive back to Fang. Suddenly I noticed a small bus had driven into the village. I motioned to my motorcycle man that I wanted to take that bus back to Fang. He flatly refused. I was astonished, since we had already paid for the entire trip. Perhaps it was a matter of pride for him. He had brought us to Ban Mai Mok Jam and was determined to return us. When we visited Ban Mai Mok Jam in subsequent years, the samlors of Fang had been replaced by motor vehicles, and the papermakers now had a Hollander beater instead of their former wood mallets.

Our major journey along the old Chinese Silk Road in 1993 was far less harrowing, despite the potential hazards of driving through the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts. Our destination was Khotan, where a friend had once seen papermaking years earlier. We had a good Jeep and an excellent driver, who followed a narrow, poorly paved road from one oasis city to another, until we reached Khotan. The most serious problems were the frequent sandstorms that came without warning and obliterated the road. Our driver was used to this, and managed to find the way by following the utility poles that also linked the oases. The real catastrophe was our unfortunate camcorder. We always kept our cameras protected, but the fine desert sand managed to creep into the innards of the camcorder. We were able to document the fascinating papermaking of the Ugyurs in Khotan,6 but when we reached home we found that the camcorder had literally ‘bit the dust,’ and could not be repaired.

These anecdotes illustrate just a few of the bumps I encountered on the paper road. Each of my expeditions has offered its challenges, adventures, excitement, and extraordinary rewards. My energy was fueled by determination to look into the past and view ways of living and working that no longer exist in our own contemporary, frenetic culture.


1 A 3-wheel bicycle pulling a little carriage for passengers.

2 Same idea as a samlor, but a motorcycle replaces the bicycle.

3 Local Chinese authorities were unaware that this was a legal crossing and insisted on a payment of $200 each to go into Burma and return.

4 Published  1975, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.

5 See The Goldbeaters of Mandalay, by Elaine and Donna Koretsky, published by Carriage House Press, Brookline, MA, 1991.

6 We published a documentary video “the Last Papermakers on the Silk Road” in 1993.


Elaine Koretsky, esteemed paper historian and beloved writer.

>PAPER CONSERVATION


ABSTRACT: For the inaugural issue of a new column on paper conservation, Hand Papermaking Newsletter editor Maria Olivia Davalos Stanton interviews Liz Sorokin, Associate Paper Conservator at the Midwest Art Conservation Center.


SUBTITLE: But what is paper conservation?


Simon Barcham Green’s retiring of his column on Paper History created an opening in our newsletter, one that of course will be difficult to fill. As someone with a background in papermaking as well as paper conserving, I thought a new column on paper conservation would be fitting, to bring a new perspective to this publication, as well as to continue Green’s focus on the rich history of paper, paired with the methods used to preserve such objects for the future. I started my internship at the Midwest Art Conservation Center (MACC) in April of 2018 in their objects lab, mostly assisting with outdoor sculptures around the Twin Cities in Minnesota as well as smaller indoor projects from a model ship to a 5 x 8-foot gilded frame. I also dabbled in their paintings lab, and, most recently, their paper lab. MACC paper conservator Liz Sorokin has graciously agreed to be featured in our inaugural paper conservation column. She introduces the field of art conservation and speaks to the more unique aspects of being a paper conservator.


To start off, what is art conservation?

 

Art Conservation focuses on the preservation of historical, artistic, and cultural property. Conservators work to combine an understanding of material science, historic techniques, and art history to make informed decisions in preserving works of art and cultural artifacts. We are not restorers, and do not aim to restore works to “new” condition, but instead take on the role of stabilizing cultural materials respectfully and appropriately to ensure their well-being for future generations. In making conservation decisions, we often work alongside stewards of collections, like historians, curators, librarians, cultural leaders, living artists, and collectors. Our goal is to retain an individual object’s historical importance while stabilizing the material itself for future study and use.

 

How did you discover this field; what made you decide to stay?

 

I have always loved working with my hands and just looking at art, but admittedly, all the art I made was aesthetically awful. I was a big art nerd in high school and volunteered in my local art museum (the Art Institute of Chicago). I was always looking for the right way to end up at a museum, working with art, helping to share it with the wider community, and preferably getting to work directly with art objects. When I found out about conservation I realized it was exactly what I wanted to do, something technical and grounded in materials that also allowed me to use my hands and touch the art.

 

Why did you specialize in paper?

 

I’ve always been drawn to works on paper, particularly drawings. For me, sketches are so revelatory in their illustration of process. Maybe it’s because works on paper are always exhibited in lower light (something I learned much later), but my experiences looking at drawings always felt so much more intimate than in the large paintings galleries of museums. Paper picks up so many tiny details—the pressure of a pencil, the wetness of a watercolor brush, the smudge of a charcoaled hand. I loved to look at the details and see the artist, see the history, see the thought process.

 

As I committed to paper conservation, I started to think more broadly about paper as a material. I started to appreciate how sensitive the material itself is and how much it influenced the final product, how important the support choice is, and how it reacted to the materials. Even if the decision is instinctual, paper choice can profoundly affect the final product.

 

As I’ve worked with paper, I have also thought more personally about why I was attracted to the specialty and the physical material. My family emigrated to the United States when I was very young, and we carried very little with us. For me, a few paper documents were the little connections my parents were able to bring of our family history. Some people may have an oil painting or a teacup, but almost all people have an important piece of paper. People have paper artifacts that connect them to their family histories, little scraps that hold a valuable place in their home: snapshots, family recipes, official documents. I love that a humble piece of paper can carry so much weight and tell so many different stories.

 

Explain a little bit how MACC is different from a museum conservation lab.

 

MACC is a non-profit regional conservation lab. We work with universities, libraries, historical societies, museums, and other cultural institutions alongside private clients and collectors across the Midwest region. We take in work from all over, and work on variety of things on any given day. Prior to working at MACC, I worked in museums where the daily work was focused on specific collections, often in preparation for exhibitions. We still do that here, but we also take in individual works and carry out much smaller scale projects. In addition to working on treatment, we offer help to anyone who calls about issues with their collections. We have a 24-hour emergency line if something happens and an institution needs recommendations on how to proceed.

 

What is an average day like at MACC?

 

A lot of our day-to-day work involves the close examination of objects. Before any treatment is started, we compose a detailed examination report which outlines condition issues and the material characteristics of a given object. We then propose a treatment to stabilize the work or repair any damage we see. We also advise on housing, exhibition, and storage. We work with the client, be it a curator or a collector, in developing a treatment plan that is fair to the object and ensures its safety. If the proposal is approved by the client, we then treat the work based on the agreed-upon outlines. If there are surprises along the way, we discuss with the client how to move forward with a treatment. Much of the day consists of writing reports and performing treatment. For a paper conservator, treatment can mean removing old tapes, mending tears in paper, reducing stains in paper, stabilizing flaking paint, and sometimes washing works on paper to remove acidic degradation products. In addition to our treatment work, we offer workshops on preventive conservation, advise museums and collections on various preservation related topics, and generally try to answer questions from the public about how best to preserve their work.

 

What is your most memorable project?

 

While I was in graduate school, I was able to treat a toilet paper dress. It was part of a competition organized by a toilet paper manufacturer, and the dress was actually walked at New York Fashion Week. Before I treated the work, I made mock-ups for testing using various types of store-bought toilet paper. I ended up repairing tears in the dress using toilet paper and VERY dry wheat starch paste. It was a really fun challenge, as the paper was sensitive to moisture, had to maintain its texture, and was three-dimensional. I also worked with the designer/maker of the dress, who taught me a lot about how to work with the material and was really helpful in guiding the treatment decisions.

 

What is it like conserving handmade paper as opposed to machine made?

 

In general, there is so much diversity across both types of paper it is hard to draw too many clear distinctions. We perform a lot of testing with works on paper before undertaking treatment, and it is always important that we pay attention to how that paper may change with different decisions in the lab. With machine-made paper there are certain details we know to look out for, such as grain direction or certain papers’ tendencies to fox, but with handmade paper it is a bit harder to predict. It is always a challenge to ensure that our intervention doesn’t alter the quality and characteristics of the unique support, and this is especially true with handmade paper.

 

Any advice for those with paper collections at home?

 

Paper is sensitive to light, humidity, and acidity. My advice is to consider these things with your collection. Use acid-free materials to store your works on paper—even if the storage space is acidic, an acid-free folder can help. Limit light exposure as best as you can and consider very carefully where you hang your work. Is it near a huge window? Maybe don’t hang works on paper on that wall. Also, consider moisture—try not to store your works in damp places (like basements) or near places where humidity may fluctuate a ton (like near a bathroom or kitchen). Avoid putting tape directly onto your paper. Use hinges with starch paste, or if that’s not available, photo-corners. Obviously, it is always a balancing act, but taking some of these things into consideration can greatly extend the life of your collection.


Liz Sorokin, carefully removing an old label to be encapsulated and reattached after treatment, preserving important art historical information.

Liz Sorokin examines and repairs a beautiful Medici manuscript. 

Liz Sorokin removing old adhesive residue.

>DEAR READERS


Hello, dear readers! I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself as the new editor of Hand Papermaking Newsletter. I graduated from Stanford University in 2017 with degrees in classics and chemistry. Starting out as a chemist, I learned quickly I had a passion for the arts as well; I squeezed as many studio classes as I could into my schedule, dreading the day I would have to choose between my laboratory coat and my oil paints. By happenstance—at the end of my junior year—I stumbled upon the art conservation lab in our university’s museum, and never looked back. Art conservation combines my love of chemistry, art, and research all into one. As pre-program (as in, pre-graduate program), I am bolstering my art history, chemistry, and studio skills, as well as interning in various museum and library conservation labs. All of you, dear readers, love paper, and I hope to bring in voices from a different side in the world of paper: that of the paper conservator.

My introduction to paper was quite like my introduction to art conservation: unexpected and quite an epiphany. I moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota after graduating from university, and that summer began an internship at Cave Paper. Under the mentorship of well-known and well-loved co-founder of both Cave Paper and Hand Papermaking, Inc. Amanda Degener, and working alongside fellow interns and staff member James Kleiner, I began to learn the art of handmade paper: sheet forming, charging the indigo vat, painting clouds of white fiber onto blue fiber skies, boiling walnuts for a delicious dye. Before Cave Paper, I had experience conserving and researching handmade paper, but not in creating it myself. Learning how to make art has been greatly informative in my studies to become a conservator; having an understanding of the thought, materials, and emotions that go into an object is crucial in being able to preserve and study art.
Learning papermaking is simply one part of my paper journey. Its history is rich and vibrant, its use in books and sculpture is breathtaking, its textures seemingly as varied as the sensations in a touch tank at the aquarium (the metaphor on paper seem much less poetic than the sensation conjured I admit). As your editor, I look forward to the years ahead: the new techniques and papers I will learn about and share with you; the new artists I will meet and introduce in these pages. 


Under the guidance of Paintings Conservator Susan Roberts-Manganelli (left), Maria Olivia Davalos Stanton sets up the camera for multispectral imaging of a Roman-Egyptian mummy portrait at the Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University. Photo: Samantha Li, 2016.

Hand Papermaking Newsletter’s new editor Maria Olivia Davalos Stanton on their first visit to the Midwest. Photo: Glennon Davalos Stanton, 2017. 

Maria Olivia Davalos Stanton (left) working with Sarah Evenson on some particularly large sheets of flax paper at Cave Paper, Minneapolis. Photo: Amanda Degener, 2018.

Listings for specific workshops and other events in the following categories are offered free of charge on a space-available basis. Contact each facility directly for additional information or a full schedule. The deadline for the January 2019 newsletter is November 15.

> CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS

Abington Art Center, Jenkintown, PA, (215) 887-4882, www.abingtonartcenter.org. Classes, workshops, and exhibitions in a variety of media. 

Papermaking Studio, Oct 31–Dec 5, with Winnie Radolan. Each Thursday, join fellow paper enthusiasts and work with an instructor who will guide the papermaking process at an individualized pace. 

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN, (865) 436-5860, www.arrowmont.org. Classes and workshops in a variety of disciplines, including papermaking. Visit www.arrowmont.org/workshops-classes/ for information about the school’s series of National Workshops that run from April through early November.

Boro-Inspired Papermaking, November 3–9, with Claudia Lee. Make sheets of handmade papers to be folded, pleated, waxed, dyed, rusted, flattened, hand-stitched, deconstructed, and reconstructed. 

The Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta, Canada, (403) 762-6100 or (403) 762-6180, www.banffcentre.ca. Artist residencies in fully equipped papermaking studio and other disciplines. Contact wendy_tokaryk@banffcentre.ca for registration info.

Book Arts Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, (310) 722-9004, bookartsla.org. Classes in printing, bookbinding, and other crafts in the Culver City neighborhood.

Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network, Bainbridge Island, WA, (206) 842-4475, bainbridgebarn.org. Community art center with classes and open studios in a variety of art fields, including book arts and printmaking.

John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC, (704) 837-2775, www.folkschool.org. Classes in papermaking and other crafts in the mountains of western North Carolina.

Colorful Kudzu Paper for Warm Winter Crafting, November 22–24, with Nancy Basket. Learn how to make sheets of kudzu paper and embedding dried flowers or winter foliage.

Carriage House Paper. Brooklyn, NY, (718) 599-7857, www.carriagehousepaper.com. Short, specialized, intensive workshops; private teaching sessions; artist collaborations; and group programs offered throughout the year at a fully equipped papermaking studio.

Japanese Papermaking, Oct 12–13. Come away from this weekend course with an array of papers made from kozo, mitsumata, and gampi.

Introduction to Hand Papermaking, Oct 19. This workshop covers basic techniques of Western papermaking including sheet forming, pressing and drying.

Blow-outs, Oct 20. Using the Fog-It nozzle along with Yupo as stencils, participants will make shaped paper. 

Contemporary Watermarks, Oct 26. Create personal watermarks using our watermark sheeting and buttercut. 

Sculptural Flax, Nov 9. This popular workshop explores the sculptural possibilities of handmade paper.

Pulp Pouring, Dec 7. Explore pulo pouring techniques in this workshop.

Pulp Painting, Dec 8. This workshop will explore image making in hand papermaking.

Cottage Industry Technology Center, 20 Russet St., SSS Village, Marikina City, Philippines. Workshops, demonstrations, and technical consultancy in a variety of crafts and livelihoods, including hand papermaking and related crafts. Contact Loreto D. Apilado at Lor-Eto.DA@gmail.com or bookendshere2002@yahoo.com or (632) 942-3974.

Dieu Donné, Brooklyn, NY, (212) 226-0573, www.dieudonne.org. Beginning and advanced papermaking classes. Open studio sessions and community studio memberships also available. For information, visit www.dieudonne.org.

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME, (207) 348-2306, www.haystack-mtn.org. Haystack offers workshops in various disciplines, including papermaking and book arts. For more information, visit www.haystack-mtn.org/programs/.

Helen Hiebert Paper Studio, Red Cliff, CO, www.helenhiebertstudio.com. Helen holds regular papermaking workshops at her studio in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, online, and around the world. For her upcoming schedule, visit helenhiebertstudio.com/calendar/. 

Hook Pottery Paper, LaPorte, IN, (219) 362-9478, hookpotterypaper@comcast.net, www.hookpotterypaper.com. For information on residencies, workshops, and experiences at Hook Pottery Paper, visit www.hookpotterypaper.com/classes/. 

Inter-Ocean Curiosity Studio, Englewood, CO, (303) 789-0282. For more information on papermaking workshops with Ray Tomasso, contact him at ray@raytomasso.com or (303) 552-8256.

Jane Ingram Allen Studio, Santa Rosa, CA, (857) 234-2432, info@janeingramallen.com. For more information on papermaking workshops. individual consulting and private use of her papermaking studio, visit janeingramallen.wordpress.com.

Kalamazoo Book Arts Center, Kalamazoo, MI, (269) 373-4938, info@kalbookarts.org, www.kalbookarts.org. The Center offers classes in book printing and binding, printmaking, hand papermaking, and creative writing.

Intro to Papermaking, October 21, with Lorrie Grainger Abdo. In this workshop, you will learn about the materials, fibers and tools you need to successfully make paper. 

Karen Hanmer Book Arts, Glenview, IL. A private studio in north suburban Chicago offering workshops and private instruction to working practitioners and dedicated hobbyists, focusing on a solid foundation in traditional binding skills. For more information, visit www.karenhanmer.com/calendar.

Maiwa School of Textiles, Vancouver, British Columbia, (604) 669-3939, www.schooloftextiles.com. Maiwa School of Textiles offers an international roster of instructors. Learn from some of the most skilled hands working in textiles, dyeing, weaving, and many more. For information about upcoming workshops, visit www.schooloftextiles.com.

Massachusetts School of Art and Design, Boston, MA, (617) 879-7200, pce.massart.edu, MassArt’s Professional and Continuing Education offers over courses and workshops in fine art and design, professional design certificates, summer immersive programming and more.

Minah Song Art Services, Arlington, VA, (646) 352-3828, Paper conservation studio in the Washington DC metro area which offers workshops. For more information on workshops and services, visit www.minahsong.com.

Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, MN, (612) 215-2520, www.mnbookarts.org. A visual arts center that celebrates the art of the book, from letterpress printing to hand papermaking. The Center offers youth and adult classes, exhibitions, artist residencies, studio memberships, and more. 

Luminaria, Dec 4 and 11, with Bridget O’Malley. Make handmade paper luminarias with watermarks and paper cut designs.

Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory and Educational Foundation, Cleveland, OH, (216) 361-9255, www.morganconservatory.org. The Morgan Conservatory Open Studio program allows artists and students access to studio space and equipment, provides them with an opportunity to create art in areas of papermaking, letterpress printing, and bookbinding, and presents regular workshops in papermaking, printing, book arts, and mixed technique. For more information, visit www.morganconservatory.org/open-studio.

Kozo Harvest, Nov 9–10. Community-wide event that serves as a hands-on introduction to the foundation of papermaking.

Papermakers of Victoria, at Box Hill Community, Arts Centre, Whitehorse, Victoria, Australia, phone
9885 2479. Papermaking studio offering workshops, exhibitions, and studio access. For more information, visit papermakers.org.au.

From Plant to Paper, Oct 19, with Gail Stiffe. Learn how to turn common garden plants and weeds into paper.

The Papertrail, New Dundee, Ontario, Canada, (800) 421-6826, www.papertrail.ca. Classes taught in English or French in papermaking, marbling, related arts, and studio rental scheduled on an as-needed basis.

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. For information about upcoming workshops at PapierWespe, visit www.papierwespe.at/fileadmin/user_upload/Programme/PAPIERWESPE_programm_2019_RZ_web.pdf

Penland School of Craft, Penland, NC, (828) 765-2359, www.penland.org, Penland offers a full program of craft workshops, including papermaking and paper arts. For information on upcoming workshops in paper and book arts, visit http://penland.org/workshops/books-paper/.

Pyramid Atlantic, Hyattsville, MD, (301) 608-9101, www.pyramidatlanticartcenter.org, offers workshops in papermaking, printmaking, and book arts. For more information on upcoming classes, visit https://www.pyramidatlanticartcenter.org/workshops.

Sculptural Papermaking, Oct 6, 13 and 20, with Gretchen Schermerhorn. Learn how to build armatures and moulds for creating three-dimensional paper forms.

Pronto Papermaking, Oct 9, with Christy Ball. Come dip your toes in the pulp (not literally), and quickly learn how to form, press and dry sheets of handmade paper.

Community Pulp Pour, Oct 16, with William Burke. We will be tag-teaming to pull sheets using a variety of large-scale molds. 

Cast Paper Collagraphs, Oct 26–27, with Laura Asher. Create dimensional, caustic-looking prints using a technique called collagraphy and freshly pulled sheets of handmade paper.

Pulp Painting, Nov 5, with Christy Ball. Create painterly images using nothing but paper pulp! 

Pulp Casting from Vegetables, Nov 20, with William Burke. This workshop is great for anyone interested in natural sculpture or expanding their view of papermaking.

Introduction to Western Papermaking, Dec 15. This workshop covers the basic techniques of Western-style hand papermaking,

Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking. Atlanta, GA, (404) 894-5726, paper.gatech.edu. The EXPLORE! series consists of nine educational workshops dedicated to the art and science of paper. Perfect for homeschoolers or anyone looking to experience the diverse potential of paper. For upcoming workshops and other programming, visit paper.gatech.edu/upcoming-workshops.

EXPLORE! Festive Fall Colour Papermaking, Oct 10. Be inspired by the season in this hands-on papermaking workshop where you will make your own sheets of paper.

San Diego Book Arts, 8680 Washington Avenue, La Mesa, CA 91942, www.sandiegobookarts.com. The mission of San Diego Book Arts is to serve as an educational and creative resource for the community and to advance the book as a vital contemporary art form. For information on upcoming classes, visit www.sandiegobookarts.com/classes/.

San Francisco Center for the Book, San Francisco, CA, (415) 565-0545, sfcb.org. Book arts classes, workshops, events, and exhibitions year-round. For information on upcoming classes, visit sfcb.org/workshops.

Introduction to Paper Sculpture, Oct 6, with Michelle Wilson. For any student interested in using handmade paper to create sculptural forms with armatures, this is a class for you!

Introduction to Japanese Style Papermaking, Nov 5–6, with Michelle Wilson. Students in this workshop will learn to make thin yet strong paper in the Japanese tradition.

Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Otis, OR, (541) 994-5485. www.sitkacenter.org, offers workshops, residencies, and community events at its facility near Cascade Head and the Salmon River estuary in Oregon. For information on upcoming workshops, visit www.sitkacenter.org/workshop/workshopslist. 

The Soapbox: Community Print Shop & Zine Library, Philadelphia, PA, info@phillysoapbox.org, www.phillysoapbox.org, offers studio space, a zine library, and other resources for anyone interested in print-, book-, and zine-making. For upcoming workshops, visit www.phillysoapbox.org/events.

The Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA, (412) 261-7003, contemporarycraft.org. Classes in fiber, book art, and other media in Pittsburgh’s historic Strip District. Information about upcoming workshops can be found at contemporarycraft.org/education/. 

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. Studio time, consultation, and instruction available. For information on upcoming papermaking workshops, visit www.swschool.org/_community-classes/adults/papermaking.

Textile Art Center, New York City, New York. textileartscenter.com/, NYC–based resource center for textile art which offers classes, workshops, open studio rentals, and events. For information on upcoming workshops, visit textileartscenter.com/index.php?route=classes/category.

West Dean College, Chichester, West Sussex, U.K., (0)1243 811301, short.course@westdean.org.uk, www.westdean.org.uk. West Dean College of Arts and Conservation in West Sussex provides course work and degrees in creative arts and conservation fields, including papermaking, bookbinding, and printmaking.

Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY, (845) 658-9133, info@wsworkshop.org,
www.wsworkshop.org. The Women’s Studio Workshop rents studio spaces in etching, papermaking, letterpress, silkscreen, book arts, and ceramics. Visit www.wsworkshop.org/rent-studios/ for current rates and details.


> EVENTS

The CODEX Effect and the Emergence of the “Third Stream” in the 21st Century is a two-day symposium at The Grolier Club in New York on October 18–19. For more information, visit www.codexfoundation.org/the-codex-effect/the-codex-effect-program.

Morgan Rising on October 5 from 5:30-9:30pm at The Morgan Conservatory is an autumnal art party with papermaking workshops, a print sale, libations, and more. Tickets are available online. For more information, visit www.morganconservatory.org/morgan-rising,

Radha Pandey leads an India Book Arts and Culture 2019 tour November 9–24. This intimate two-week tour of India offers a peek into the studios of various working artists and craftspeople in printmaking, papermaking, and dyeing. For more information visit www.radhapandey.com/tours.


> EXHIBITIONS

Bound & Unbound 5: Altered Book Exhibition will be on display from August 26, 2019 through January 3, 2020. Entry is free during library hours to this international juried art book exhibition sponsored by University Libraries, University of South Dakota. For more information, visit libguides.usd.edu/BU5.

Cut & Paste: Works of Paper is an exhibition organized by the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia featuring 11 paper artists. The exhibition is currently on view at the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking and runs through November 14. An opening reception will be held on September 6 from 6-8 pm. For more information, visit paper.gatech.edu/cut-paste-works-paper.

The Valda Quick Biennial Paper Arts Exhibition Hidden is an exhibition of paper art by members of Papermakers of Victoria. The show will run October 21–November 3 at the Box Hill Community Arts Centre Gallery, with an opening reception on October 24 starting at 6:30pm. For more information, visit papermakers.org.au/exhibitions/.

Thread Count: The Intersection of Mathematics and Fiber Arts is an exhibition currently on view at the Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts in Columbus, Ohio featuring textile and paper artists. The exhibition is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.oac.ohio.gov/Riffe-Gallery/On-View.

Women's Sphere (Is Wherever She Makes Good) is currently at the Weir Farm National Historic Site in Wilton, Connecticut. Featuring six artists, including paper artist Aimee Lee, this exhibit marks 100 years since the 19th Amendment was passed and honors the effort, creativity and vision of all women. Open to the public during regular hours, the exhibit closes October 31, 2019. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/wefa/planyourvisit/current-exhibit.htm.


> CALLS FOR ENTRIES

Treewhispers is an ongoing installation of flat handmade paper rounds with personal stories, poetry, and art related to trees. The project continues to seek contributions. The project was started by Pamela Paulsrud and Marilyn Sward. For more information, visit treewhispers.com/here.

> OPPORTUNITIES

The Women's Studio Workshop (WSW) in Rosendale, NY, (845) 658-9133, info@wsworkshop.org, www.wsworkshop.org, has available the following upcoming artist residencies. All applications open June 1 and are due October 15.

The Art-in-Education Workspace Residency at the WSW is for artists with teaching experience, a knowledge of intaglio, silkscreen, or hand papermaking, and an interest in working with public school students. For more information, visit wsworkshop.org/residencies/art-in-ed-workspace-residency/.

The Studio Workspace Residency is open to artists who want 4–6 weeks of concentrated work time in any of our studios: etching, papermaking, letterpress, silkscreen, book arts, photography, or ceramics. For more information, visit wsworkshop.org/residencies/studio-workspace-residency/.

The Pollination Project seeks to unleash the goodness in every person by offering seed grants to social-change agents who wish to spread compassion in their communities and in the world for the benefit of all. Pollination Project Seed Grants are open to individuals and community groups in all disciplines. Applications accepted on a rolling basis. For more information, visit thepollinationproject.org/funding-guidelines-for-grants/.

> PUBLICATIONS, FILMS, VIDEOS

European Hand Papermaking: Traditions, Tools, and Techniques, by Timothy D. Barrett. In this important and long-awaited book, Barrett offers a comprehensive “how-to” book about traditional European hand papermaking aimed at a variety of audiences as the companion volume to Barrett’s Japanese Papermaking: Traditions, Tools and Techniques. For more information, visit thelegacypress.com/barrett-papermaking.html.

Mark Lander’s papermaking videos on YouTube are soothing as they are educational. Six videos are currently up, watch the series here: www.youtube.com/channel/UCtwOnNk8KcyEUdAALaMgm9w.


> MISCELLANEOUS

Podcast time! Paper Talk is an ongoing series of interviews by Helen Hiebert featuring artists and professionals who are working in the field of hand papermaking. Subscribe to Paper Talk in iTunes.

Seeking interns: Jim Croft, a bookbinder and papermaker who lives in the foothills of the Bitterroot Mountains in rural north Idaho, is seeking interns to help make books from raw materials. Particular focus will be on rebuilding a water-powered paper stamper. Also ongoing: flax, hemp, and cotton fiber processing; and medieval bookbinding using wooden boards and clasps. Interns have access to an extra wood-heated cabin with a board shear, guillotine, and fiber cutter. More information is available at  cargocollective.com/oldway/Story-Place. Snail mail (Jim Croft, PO Box 211, Santa, ID 83866) is the best and quickest way to inquire about this internship opportunity.

Combat Paper is raising funds to replace its touring vehicle to allow the continuation of its upcoming workshop schedule. Combat Paper is a group of artist veterans who host workshops that transform military uniforms into handmade paper, with a portable papermaking mill that has been traveling the country with a team of facilitators for nearly ten years. Visit www.gofundme.com/combatpaper for more information.

Taller Leñateros is Mexico’s first and only Tzotzil Maya book- and papermaking collective. Founded in 1975 by the Mexican-American poet Ambar Past, the workshop is dedicated to documenting and disseminating the endangered Tzotzil language, culture, and oral history. See their entry in Atlas Obscura, and visit their website at www.tallerlenateros.com/index.php learn more.

The inaugural Chantry Library Subject Bibliographies focuses on South Asian Paper. Compiled by Jasdip Singh Dhillon, features familiar names such as Dard Hunter and Edo Loeber. The Subject Bibliographies aim to support the work of conservators by providing curated information through up-to-date lists of key information sources about a given subject, chosen by a specialist. Visit chantrylibrary.org/chantry-library-subject-bibliographies-2/ to learn more.

> 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, and xuan. Mention this ad for 10% discount, paperwoman@paperconnection.com.

Cotton Linter Pulp. All quantities available. Call Gold’s Artworks, Inc. (910) 739-9605.


HAND PAPERMAKING

loves to hear from readers:
newseditor@handpapermaking.org


SPECIAL THANKS

Hand Papermaking acknowledges these recent

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donations are greatly appreciated and tax

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Colautti Ivanova, Sally Wood Johnson,

Kristin Kavanagh, Betty L. Kjelson, M. P.

Marion, Edwin Martin, Anne Q. McKeown,

Nancy Pike, Nancy Pobanz, Melissa Potter,

Margaret Prentice, Alta Price, Charles G.

Raney, Harry & Sandra Reese, Dianne L.

Reeves, Kathleen Stevenson, Elise Thoron,

Kathy Wosika

Friends: John L. Becker, Christopher Eley,

Susan Kanowith-Klein, Fran Kornfeld,

Patricia O’Neal, Leslie Paisley, Bonnie Reisman,

Amy Richard, Peter Sowiski, Taiko

Suzuki, Peter Thomas

In-kind: Adobe Systems Inc., Tom Balbo,

Janet De Boer, Peter Ford, John Gerard,

Shireen Holman, Dard Hunter III, Microsoft

Corporate Citizenship, Steve Miller

Founding Contributors to theHand Papermaking

Endowment: 49er Books, Shirah Miriam

(Mimi) Aumann, Cathleen A. Baker, Tom

Balbo, Timothy Barrett, Sidney Berger

& Michèle 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 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 S. Wood

Contributors to the Hand Papermaking

Portfolio Archive Fund: Tom Balbo, Simon

Blattner, Tom & Lore Burger, Jeffrey Cooper,

Susan Mackin Dolan, Drachen Foundation,

Michael M. Hagan, Joan Hall, Joyce

Kierejczyk, Betty Kjelson, Ann Marshall,

honoring David Marshall, Julie Reichert,

Laura Merrick Roe, Richard Schimmelpfeng,

Mary Schlosser, Mina Takahashi,

Aviva Weiner, Beck Whitehead