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HAND PAPERMAKING
NEWSLETTER number 136 • october 2021
Interim Newsletter Editor: Amanda Degener
Columnists: Sidney Berger, Donna Koretsky, Winifred Radolan, Amy Richard.
Hand Papermaking Newsletter is published quarterly. Annual subscriptions to Hand Papermaking magazine, which includes the quarterly newsletter, cost $65 per year in the US; $75 in Canada; $95 elsewhere. Two-year subscriptions are $120 in the US; $140 in Canada; $180 elsewhere. Institutional subscriptions are $90 per year in the US, $120 outside the US. To receive a printed copy of the newsletter, add $25 to your yearly subscription. A stand-alone newsletter subscription to the newsletter, which excludes issues of the magazine, is now available for $10 per year. Payment in US dollars is required. Visa/Mastercard/Paypal is accepted. For more subscription information:
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The deadline for the next newsletter (January 2022) is November 15. We encourage letters from our subscribers on any 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 upon request.
Hand Papermaking is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organi-zation. Staff: Michael Fallon, Executive Director; Mina Takahashi, Magazine Editor; Amanda Degener, Interim Newsletter Editor; Karen Kopacz, Designer. Board of Directors: May Babcock, Colin Browne, Jazmine Catasús, Lisa Cirando, Candy González, Joan Hall, Lisa Haque, Kazuko Hioki, Kelly Taylor Mitchell, Darin Murphy, Anela Oh, Erik Saarmaa. International Board of Advisors: Yousef Ahmad (Qatar), Timothy Barrett (US), Simon J. Blattner (US), Kathryn & Howard Clark (US), Mandy Coppes-Martin (So. Africa), Jane Farmer (US), Peter Ford (UK), Helen Frederick (US), Simon Barcham Green (UK), Helen Hiebert (US), Therese Hofmann (Brazil), Dard Hunter III (US), Kyoko Ibe (Japan), Winsome Jobling (Australia), Carolina Larrea (Chile), Roberto Mannino (Italy), Beatrix Mapalagama (Austria), Bob Matthysen (Belgium), Radha Pandey (India), Giorgio Pellegrini (Italy), Brian Queen (Canada), Victoria Rabal (Spain), Vicky Sigwald (Argentina), Lynn Sures (US), Aytekin Vural (Turkey).
Co-founders: Amanda Degener and Michael Durgin.
Dear Readers,
It is with pleasure that I return to Hand Papermaking as the interim newsletter editor. Some of you might remember me as teaming with Michael Durgin as one of the co-founders and early co-publishers of Hand Papermaking magazine. Back then the idea of adding the newsletter was to provide our readers with more timely workshop offerings and to feature advertising. Clearly the newsletter has become much more than this because of the regular contributors: Sidney Berger, Donna Koretsky, Winnie Radolan, Amy Richards, and Maria Olivia Davalos Stanton. Maria Olivia will no longer be a regular columnist because they are entering conservation school. We wish them well in their continued relationship with paper. With this issue we begin a new series called “On Board with Hand Papermaking” introducing our readers to Lisa Cirando, one of the dedicated team of volunteer board members for Hand Papermaking. All individuals who work with us deserve kudos for furthering paper knowledge and building the paper community through our high-quality publications focusing on the art, craft, history, and science of papermaking.
Amanda Degener
Jugaku Bunsho – The Person and His Work“
20th Century Washi: Jugaku Bunshō – The Person and His Work” will be on exhibit at Muko City Museum in October 2021 in conjunction with an international symposium. The events will introduce the breadth of Jugaku’s 20th-century artifacts to those involved in handmade paper around the world.
In Japan, Jugaku Bunshō (1900–1992) advocated for traditional washi before the country’s opening. He went on a pilgrimage to papermaking regions in search of the original essence of washi. In 1943, he wrote his Travel Diary of Papermaking Villages (Kamisuki-mura tabi nikki), a monumental publication with numerous samples of washi affixed to its pages. The vast amount of raw paper that Jugaku gathered and surveyed in the early part of the 20th century includes varieties unseen by the world. After Jugaku’s passing, the collection was donated to Takachō in Hyogo Prefecture and is preserved today as “Washi Museum: The Jugaku Collection.”
Jugaku’s collection reveals the rich handcraft of ancient Japanese papermaking traditions and variations, even as it traces the changes that mechanization and mass production imposed on Japan during mod-ernization. It contains samples from the most shining era of handmade washi production in Japan.
Exhibition Details
Dates: Saturday, Sept. 18–Sunday, Oct. 24
(Closures: Sept. 21 & 27; October 1, 4, 11 & 18)
Hours: 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
Location: Muko City Museum, Japan
The international symposium takes place on Saturday, October 16, starting at 9:15 am. (This is Japan time; note that JST 9:15 in the morning will be 8:15 in the evening EST in the US).
For more detailed information about, and to registration for, the free online symposium visit: https://jugaku.sakuraweb.com/international_symposium/on_washi2021/conference.html.
next up
Guest editor Kelly Taylor Mitchell in conversation with Mina Takahashi.
Mina Takahashi (MT): It’s been such a delight to work with you on your issue of the magazine. I love that you titled it Call and Respond, which also says something about the way it came into being. I called out to you to contribute to the Summer 2021 Oral Histories issue, and to ask you for other suggestions, and you responded with such a wonderful list of possibilities that it felt perfect and urgent to have you guest edit the follow-up issue for Winter 2021.
Kelly Taylor Mitchell (KTM): Oral histories are a big part of my practice so I remember my ears immediately perked up. Oral histories en-compass such a wide range of issues. It’s a resource, and an origin point; it’s also a catalyst for making, and can provide a conceptual framework for a body of work, or a practice, or an idea. Oral histories can lead you to so many different places, right? How do we build oral histories? Can we, in the present day, make them and situate them in the past, even though we don’t have access to primary sources, much less a transcript? Pulling together this issue was an opportunity to invest time thinking about these ideas with folks who are already on my radar and to dig deeper into folks who I already looked to and admire. It was energizing and exciting. There was also a kind of call and response, which became apparent, with the artists in terms of their interdisciplinary approach to paper.
MT: I think that’s a really important point. Paper is wonderful on its own and in its own right, but it’s also a natural and sometimes quiet partner to all kinds of other disciplines, and that kind of work doesn’t always find its way back to being discussed in the hand papermaking field. So we really need to seek out and and bring that work back to feed into what’s happening in our field, another kind of call and response.
KTM: Yes, this also affirms the idea that it is a conversation that artists are actively having, subconsciously or consciously, in their practices through their work. It’s been fascinating to see the through lines with many of the artists in the issue, and how their work relates back to oral history as a resource, as a medium; with connections to kinship ideas of craft having ancestral power, stories in material history, and how oral histories can lead us down all of those varying paths, which then introduce further paths. Oral histories are building blocks for how we build our present and of course, our future. There is agency in imagining our stories—past, present, and future—when maybe they aren’t accessible or available. Those histories, the ones that you do have access to—that’s really empowering and important work. That can happen inside of one’s practice. It’s this work that I am excited about presenting in Call and Respond.
along the paper road...
Paper House-Revisited
In this issue, Donna includes the correction of the pronunciation of ‘Huvver’ and writes about a paper house where approximately 100,000 newspapers were used to build it.
On a recent overcast summer day I drove to the coastal Massachusetts town of Rockport to revisit the nearly century-old Paper House. For years, I would take my papermaking students to this extraordinary cottage during our annual two-week papermaking workshops when Carriage House Paper was located in the Boston area; however, it’s been at least a decade since my last visit and I wondered about the current condition of all that newspaper.
From a distance, it looks like an average home, but when you get close, you are indeed aware that this is no ordinary cottage. Not only are the exterior and interior walls made from newspaper, but also the ceiling, window treatments, and all the furniture. In 1922, Swedish immigrant Elis F. Stenman, working in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and his wife Esther bought land in the Pigeon Cove section of Rockport with the idea to build a summer home.
As a mechanical engineer, Mr. Stenman designed machines that would bend and shape wire into paper clips and other useful inventions. Perhaps he had a special interest in mundane things like paper clips and newspapers, but he soon began to experiment with recycling newspaper as insulation material. Two years later he hired a carpenter to erect a traditional wood frame, floor, and roof, and then Mr. and Mrs. Stenman spent the next 20 years making the rest of the house out of newspaper. The walls are made from layers of newspapers pasted together and folded and nailed into place. The finished exterior walls are 215 layers thick. Both the exterior and interior paper walls are covered with layers of marine-grade varnish. The furniture is made from newspapers that are rolled into logs. Mr. Stenman would tightly roll a section of a newspaper with the aid of a long wire with a loop on the end. The paper was rolled dry and then glued together at the end and tied with string until dry. Each roll is less than an inch in diameter and was then cut to various sizes, assembled, and glued to make Lincoln Log-type furniture.
Mr. Stenman also wanted to see if he could preserve the print on the newspapers, and nearly every piece of furniture has a noticeable theme. There is a grandfather’s clock wrapped in newspapers from the capital cities of the then 48 states. Neighbors eagerly assisted in supplying the Stenmans with newspapers and one of them wrote to each capital city to request a paper for the clock project. The titles of each of these newspapers are featured on the front of the clock.
A writing desk is made entirely from newspapers reporting on Charles Lindbergh’s 1927 transatlantic flight. A radio cabinet is built with papers with articles about Herbert Hoover’s 1928 presidential campaign. Another group of furniture is made entirely from the Christian Science Monitor. The foreign papers that were supplied by a friend who worked in Washington DC, became a bookshelf. Mr. and Mrs. Stenman’s house immediately attracted so many curious visitors that they ended up turning it into a museum in the 1940s, building a normal summer home for themselves next door.
I am happy to report that the Paper House is just as I remembered it from ten years ago. It is still set up as a museum on the honor system. My cousin and I were the only visitors at 11 am on a Sunday. After marvelling at the outside paper walls, yellowed with years of annual varnishing, we opened the front door to the first room, crowded with paper furniture; there was an octagonal paper table with octa-gonal paper chairs, a paper desk, paper bed, paper bench, and paper lamp. Besides the grandfather’s clock, the main room featured a piano covered in rolls of newspaper, a paper fireplace mantel (the floor and sides are made from brick), and other paper furniture. Even the table containing free handouts, postcards for sale, and instructions on where to put the $2 admission fee was just as it was ten years ago. The pamphlet History of the Paper House and the xeroxed sheet of “Frequently asked Questions” was still on the table.
After putting our admission fee in the box and posing for pictures outside the house, we got back into the car just as the New England skies opened into a torrential downpour. After nearly 100 years, the paper walls perhaps show a bit more wear, as top varnished layers are peeling off, revealing fragments of articles and advertisements from the past. Otherwise, this remarkable paper house has remained intact, a curious and wonderful tribute to the strength and durability of paper.
Pronounciation of “Huvver”It has come to my attention that I misled my readers in my description of the pronunciation of the word “huvver” in the January 2021 issue (number 133) of Hand Papermaking Newsletter. In “Know your Papermaking Lingo,” I discussed the interesting papermaking term huvver, which Simon Green had mentioned in his presentation “Reminiscences of Hayle Mill” at the virtual NAHP 2020 conference. Huvver refers to the wavy condition of the edges of newly dried paper.
Huvver goes away in time, as opposed to cockle, which is a permanent waviness. In my column, I wrote that huvver is pronounced like “hover.” Simon brought to my attention that huvver is pronounced differently in British English. I wish to be historically correct, and do not want to be responsible for Americans forever mispronouncing huvver. And since huvver is not an American English word (it may be Dutch), I will defer to Simon as to the correct pronunciation, and this is where it gets tricky. Simon describes huvver as rhyming with “lover” or “cover,” but not “hover." As an American, I cannot discern this distinction. They all seem to rhyme. But ask any Brit. They will insist that this is the proper pronunciation of huvver. Tim Barrett summed it up during a humorous email exchange with Simon by saying, “If it is true that ‘Americans cannot pronounce “hover" like Brits do,’ then we could probably also agree that Americans will not be able to pronounce ‘huvver’ the way Brits do.”
–Donna Koretsky
Since 1998 this column has featured paper musings from Elaine Koretsky (1932–2018), renowned paper historian, researcher, and traveler. Since 2016, her daughter Donna Koretsky, co-founder and owner of Carriage House Paper, has continued the legacy.
teaching hand papermaking
Catching Up Over the Vats
In this issue, Winnie and friends prepare kozo and make Japanese-style handmade washi paper.
I have always found satisfaction and a sense of peace when engaged in the ritualistic preparation of fibers for making washi, or Japanese paper. And this summer, after a long pandemic dry spell, my preparation experience was even more fulfilling. Rona Richter, a longtime friend and paper artist, and I have been offering “washi in the Garden” workshops for many seasons. After the 2020 hiatus, we were delighted to find a few friends who were anxious to get back into the vats and the company of other artists.
And thus arose the opportunity to prepare the beautiful, long bast fibers of kozo and gampi! The bundles of fiber each had an overnight soak in buckets of water to soften and swell the cellulose. The next day, as I brought my cook pots of water and dissolved soda ash to nearly boiling, I split each long strand of fiber into approximately ½" widths. The coiled fibers were gently lowered into the cook solution, which was brought up to a temperature that maintained a gentle rolling boil. Soon, wafts of that “soft pretzel aroma” drifted through the neighborhood, as my pots cooked outdoors. I gently turned the contents of the pot every thirty minutes to best assure even heat during cooking. In about two hours the gampi fibers tested done, the fibers pulling apart into webbing with the grain and tearing across the grain with a gentle tug. However, the coarser, and probably older, Thai kozo fibers took double the time to cook. (This is un-usual but not unheard of.)
I let the cooked fibers cool overnight in their liquid. Then I drained the brown liquor of cook water and began my dunk- and-rinse process through five buckets of clean water. This rinsing was to clear away residual non-cellulosic materials. also picked off any large pieces of outer bark, but did not do the labor-intensive “chiri picking” to clear all specks.
The workshop participants were not interested in hand-beating the fibers with me (my preferred method), so the fibers had a quick, non-traditional, swimming trip through the Hollander beater to further hydrate and fibrillate them. I also cut up, soaked, and cooked some dried leaves discarded by my clivia plant. The long, strap-like leaves have parallel veining, a good source of fiber. Cooked and rinsed clivia fibers were then incorporated with one kozo vat to provide some variety for the papermakers.
It was a beautiful day for making washi together, neither too hot and sunny, nor humid. The Washi Gods were smiling! We set up tables for vats and work stations under a tent in Rona’s driveway, where there was a canopy of trees to further cool us. Our small group of talented women were all veterans of previous washi gatherings, so minimal time was needed for introduction. I stirred fiber into the vats, and then took some of Rona’s pounded and soaked tororo-aoi root, which she had harvested and put in her freezer the previous fall and added it to the fiber slurry. A substance from these roots, neri, thickens the water and suspends the fibers, enabling multiple dips of a Japanese paper mould, or sugeta, into the vat to form the washi sheets. (We also had a backup batch of synthetic formation aid, purchased in powder form and mixed with water the night before, in case the neri got too hot.) But the real root never lost its viscosity and served us well all day, fortunately!
With the vats set up, everyone prepared a couching station with a foundation of wet synthetic chamois, covered by a piece of Pellon interfacing. Our sugetas were fashioned using bamboo brush mats, covered by a layer of mosquito netting and suspended between two wooden frames. We gave a refresher demonstration of the nagashizuki method of sheet formation. Multiple thin layers of fiber are collected in multiple dips and allowed to settle on the screen. By the time every-one had made about three sheets of washi from each of three vats—kozo, gampi, and kozo/clivia—there was a sense of flow in the workshop. Our papermakers couched successive sheets onto layered Pellon to make handling easier after the pressing stage.
By noon, the posts of washi were growing and the trips to the vat were slowing. A lunch break on Rona’s deck provided everyone sustenance, both with food and the nourishment of conversations between friends who have been too long apart. And then, refreshed, everyone went back to the vats.
Later in the afternoon, with our energy waning and our paper posts swelling, it was time to press the paper and drain the vats. Our variation on traditional gentle overnight pressure on the paper posts was a bit creative. We layered the posts between dry chamois and wooden boards, then added pressure by first standing, then sitting on a chair, atop the post. People took turns applying the pressure and bailing out the vats.When everything was drained, rinsed, and tucked away, we dis-cussed how to dry the paper by brushing the wet sheets onto wooden boards. (Other smooth, non-porous surfaces would also work.)
Our artists have plans to paint, draw, and print on their washi. One will incorporate it in her joomchi (a traditional Korean paper) as well. It was a wonderful time spent together in creative community! We are now looking forward to the next washi adventure, which will include pigmented fibers.
–Winifred Radolan
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.
decorated paper
Hikmet Barutçugil
In this issue, Sidney writes about the contemporary master paper marbler Hikmet Barutçugil and his contributions in marbing, public activites, and publishing.
Hikmet Barutçugil is one of the great masters of marbling. The flowing style in many of his pieces is distinct and graceful, and in some cases he combines the marbling with artwork, some made by him, and some by his wife Efsun. Barutçugil is perhaps one of the most important marblers in history because of his skills as an artist and teacher. He is honored in his country as one of the great artists of Turkey, where Ebru is a tremendously admired and supported art.
Turkey is perhaps the place where marbling was invented. (No one really knows for sure.) But whether it was first created there or not, Turkey has been supplying amazing marbled paper for many centuries. As Nedim Sönmez has written, “Since there are no reliable records of the history of Ebru, its origin cannot be dated exactly.” It is to be supposed that the Turks started using Ebru between the 6th and the 10th century, the period in which Turks and Chinese shared the secret of papermaking.
The Turkish Cultural Foundation website has the following info: Barutçugil has contributed to hundreds of events and exhibitions on traditional arts, given short-term courses and seminars in the U.S., Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Austria, England, Egypt, Tunisia, Sweden, Syria, Jordan, Pakistan, India, Bahrain, and Iran to encourage a reemergence of Ebru in the minds of art lovers. He has lectured at the Royal College of Art (London), Internationale Gessellschaft für Musik-Ethnologie und Kunstheraphie Forschung (Wien, Austria), the Otonom University (Madrid, Spain), the University of Graz (Graz, Austria), the Basel Paper Museum (Basel, Switzerland), the University of Massachusetts (Boston), and the Lok Virsa Museum (Islamabad, Pakistan). During this journey, he has also provided a multitude of articles for newspapers and magazines, attended numerous TV programs, and received numerous awards. He has given 149 lectures worldwide [and] con-ducted countless courses and seminars. Barutçugil has opened or participated in more than 156 exhibiions, 60 of them abroad.
He is also a master of the floral marble, showing many kinds of flowers beyond the common tulip that young marblers grasp easily. At the Marblers Gathering in Gatlinburg, Tennessee,in 2002,1 Barutçugil was an honored dignitary. One of the sessions consisted of an “open trough” display, with many marbling baths set up and available for participants to show their skills. Barutçugil stood out, with one masterpiece after another. He even joined forces with at least one other marbler, Galen Berry, whose brilliant work was dazzling many attendees. Berry combed out one of his rainbow marbles using a clever double-comb that he made, and Barutçugil put a flower into the corner—done with such ease and savoir faire that people could hardly believe what they saw. As I recall, it was a chrysanthemum, and it was perfect.
Barutçugil is spreading the word with his public presence in lectures, classes, exhibitions, and workshops. When I was in Istanbul for the last gathering, I was told by many of his students that, thanks to him, marbling is taught in many schools in Turkey, and that there are now 45,000 practicing marblers there. If you make a “family tree” of marblers, you will find one marbler teaching a second; the second teaching a third; and so on. But Barutçugil has taught hundreds, and many of them have taught hundreds. It is no wonder that many of the best marbling in the world today is done by someone on his extensive family tree.
Barutçugil was the genius who organized a Marblers Gathering that took place in Istanbul, May 7–14, 2016. Many a meeting of artists might last a day or three. This was eight days of intense marbling acti-vity, including eight completely different exhibitions, each at its own venue, and each with a full-color publication showcasing the artists in each of the exhibits. And each opening had its own speakers and nibbles and splendor. The efforts it took to pull off cannot be imagined, but Barutçugil did it. He is clearly passionate about the art of Ebru and wants to spread it as widely as possible.
One effort to do this can be seen in his publications, in Turkish, English, German, and sometimes other languages. He has written more than a dozen full-color books about marbling with many of his beautiful works on display. One of his recent books is the second edition of The Dream of Water,2 an informative text about the entire craft, with a focus on marbling in Turkey. It covers the history, tech-niques, materials, methods, and applications of the papers, along with showing traditional marbling patterns, how flower marbles are made, and how to deal with problems that may come up. And the volume is filled with beautiful color pictures, many of which are Barutçugil’s papers on glorious display.
Barutçugil’s kindness and modesty are suggested in part of a statement we find in his The Dream of Water, titled “Conclusion”:
Essentially, the objective of the art of marbling, as in allIslamic arts, is the search for “divine beauty.” As there is noend to divine beauty, there is no end to art although there is a final point when one reaches one’s desire. However, when that final point is reached, art surpasses itself and become a non-art and purity begins. Let God help us toreach that point. I consider this book a comma in my experi-ences. My deepest wish is to present the new experiments that I will try to develop and combine in more detailed books for the lovers of the art of marbling. I hope that there will be people who will [read] this book and prosper so that they may remember us with prayers of thanks.3
Hikmet Barutçugil’s contributions are evident in three distinct realms: Marbling, Public Activities, and Publishing. Decorated papers are everywhere because they improve our lives in many ways. They are so important that in their centuries of history they have proliferated everywhere in the world where paper is used. Hikmet Barutçugil has done more for marbling than almost any other person. Anyone who brings so much beauty into the world deserves our thanks.
–Sidney Berger
Sidney Berger is Director Emeritus of the Phillips Library of the Peabody Essex Museum, and a professor on the faculty of the library schools at Simmons University 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.
studying hand papermaking
Research: Handmade Paper in Sicily
In this issue, Amy writes about her journey motivated by the Palermo State Archives, home of what is said, by some, to be the oldest surviving public paper document in Europe.
Fully vaccinated and donning brand new N-95 facemasks, my husband and I took a leap of faith this summer and ventured abroad to see our eldest son and wife, who live in Sicily. Like so many others, we were determined to spend time with them along with our youngest son after being limited to virtual visits for the past year and a half. Even with the vaccines, it felt risky, but we were unwilling to go another year without a family gathering. Our hope was to sneak in a trip before another COVID surge or hurricane popped up back home, both of which happened as we returned.
While our main destination was Sicily, we ended up adding a couple extra countries to our passports, inspired by seriously low airfares to Lisbon. The plan was to meet in Portugal, which we would explore for several days before driving to Seville, Spain for more of the same, and then fly on to Agrigento on the beautiful Trinacria (“three-sided island,” a.k.a. Sicily) just south of the “toe” of Italy. Despite many logistical challenges (multiple COVID tests, mandatory traveler locator forms, and random changes to flight itineraries), I was happy to discover that my passion for travel was still intact as we enjoyed exploring distinctly different cul-tures, languages, foods, and exceptional natural beauty of faraway lands.
At the top of my list was the Palermo State Archives, home of what is said, by some, to be the oldest surviving public paper document in Europe. Dated March 25, 1109, it is described as an official mandate of the Countess Adelaide (a.k.a. Adelasia), third wife of the Norman Count Roger I (1031–1101 CE) and mother of the future King Roger II of Sicily. Written in Greek and Arabic, this humble piece of paper raises many questions about the role Sicily may have played in the spread of papermaking technology to Europe.
I first became aware of this obscure historical treasure along with a few other early paper documents found in Sicily (from 1097, 1102, and 1112) when reading Paper Before Print by Jonathan Bloom.1 Thanks to this groundbreaking book, the crucial development of Arab-world papermak-ing and its considerable contribution to paper history is finally receiving the attention it deserves.2
Reference to the “Adelaide mandate” was scant until recently, so I'd never thought to try and track it down, which is why I was so thrilled to have inadvertently stumbled across a description, image, and actual location in a resource for tourists, of all things. Note: This free, downloadable publication was part of a larger project, Treasure Maps: Twenty Itineraries Designed to Help You Explore the Cultural Heritage of Palermo and its Province.3 It may seem odd for someone to be so excited about a piece of paper, but for me it represents a host of questions about papermaking in Sicily that has been simmering since 2017 when we visited Ortigia on the island’s eastern coast. A tiny peninsular island, one kilometer long and 600 meters wide, Ortigia was part of the larger city of Siracusa and had served as that city's historical center as far back as the seventh century BCE.
From the photograph of the actual sheet of paper, it appears to be barely there—a fragile web of cellulose fragments. And yet, as described by Bloom, it is enough material for the experts to have determined a format consistent with other Arab papers of the time, even suggesting it was probably imported from North Africa. (Bloom also mentions that North Africa and Spain are thought to be early locations for the production of Arab-world paper, before its introduction to northern Italy and the rest of Europe.)4
My curiosity on this subject was initially piqued as we were standing in front of the Fountain of Arethusa, a beautiful spring-fed structure complete with a stand of papyrus plants and happy mullet swimming in circles. (This same fountain is said to have saved local citizens from certain death during numerous sieges throughout Sicily’s long history.) Looking west across the harbor, with the emerald green Mediterranean Sea just a few hundred yards south of me I began to wonder . . .
Everything I’d read about the transfer of papermaking from the Arab world to Western Europe asserts that the earliest papermaking mills were established in Spain and northern Africa several centuries before any production in northern Italy. It also seems to be accepted that “the Sicilians did not make paper but imported it from North Africa, Islamic Spain, or Valencia.” And yet, as Bloom also describes, Sicily shared a cultural heritage and government with the Arabs of North Africa from 837 to 1061, before the Normans took over.5
Looking at a map, it’s easy to imagine how the various Arab caliphates (rulers) would have made it a priority to gain control of an island and its numerous ports especially when one considers that Arab mariners would have had to literally navigate their ships around Sicily to reach their other strongholds in North Africa (Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco) and Spain.
Which brings me back to the Fountain of Arethusa on that fine November morning when a host of questions began to surface: Is it really possible that no one was making paper during the two hundred years of Arab rule in this remarkable coastal city with such easy access to an abundance of clean spring water, just steps away from a major port of the Mediterranean?
Could the lack of evidence of Sicilian paper mills and/or paper during the Medieval period be the result of the numerous earthquakes, fires, and tsunamis that occurred over the centuries, including one in Siracusa in 1169 and again in nearby Catania in 1693?6
Or perhaps, the lack of paper evidence is due to the edict in 1231 by Frederick II, king of Naples and Sicily, who prohibited the use of paper for public documents because of its perishable nature (i.e., compared with parchment).7
I am the first to admit that there is much that I need to learn on the subject, but a few idle daydreams seem harmless enough, so thanks for humoring me. As a schoolteacher once told me, travel is one of the most valuable things we can do to cultivate curiosity. After being in the COVID bunker for too long, this recent trip to Sicily was a welcome boost to the imagination, which is, after all, at the heart of learning.
–Amy Richard
Amy Richard is a visual artist, writer, and proprietor of Amy Richard Studio in Gainesville, Florida where she produces original artwork, teaches papermaking, and tends to her kozo garden. In this column series, Richard explores the unique energy of handmade paper, the spiritual and healing characteristics of the process itself, and the opportunities for studying papermaking in colleges, universities, and other art centers in the United States and abroad.
on board
Lisa Cirando
Here begins our new series introducing Hand Papermaking's board of directors. Amanda Degener had this conversation in the summer of 2021 with Lisa Cirando as she was contemplating sacred lotuses (Nelumbo nucifera) at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens near her home. Lisa joined the board in 2016 and has served as the organization's Chair (2017–19) and Treasurer (2020–21).
Lisa Cirando began her lifelong partnership with water and fiber when she started making paper in her kitchen while attending law school. Living in New York in the 1990s, Lisa worked as an intern at Dieu Donné (dieudonne.org) where she met Mina Takahashi, Paul Wong, Helen Hiebert, and many other artists. It was there she learned that “paper could speak volumes.”
When Lisa moved to northern Maine to work in legal services, she discovered Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (haystack-mtn.org) and later enrolled in Amanda’s summer workshop. Her favorite part of the workshop was experimenting with natural dyes. While the standard technique is to dip sheets into an indigo vat, Lisa left her paper on the ground to catch the indigo drips, marking time in blue (see image).
Soon, Lisa was on the road as often as possible, searching out new teachers and papermaking experiences far and wide. One summer, she drove from Brooklyn to Minneapolis to attend classes at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts (mnbookarts.org) stopping along the way at The Morgan Conservatory (morganconservatory.org) in Cleveland, in Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin, with a side trip to Rosendale, New York, to take a class at the Women’s Studio Workshop (wsworkshop.org). She returned to the Morgan for the kozo harvest in 2015, and to Haystack in 2016 as teaching assistant for artist and leading hanji researcher and practitioner Aimee Lee (see Hand Papermaking, Winter 2010).
Shortly after Lisa joined the Board of Hand Papermaking, she took on the role of Chair during a momentous year following an executive director transition. “This was a tough time,” noted Lisa, “but the dedication of our community made it all possible. Lots of nonprofits do not survive a change in geographic location and a new executive director, and we did both.”
Hand Papermaking’s Bylaws were amended under Lisa’s leadership, which had not been done since the 1990s. Upon joining the Board, Lisa read through all the Board minutes and the Board Manual to learn more about the history of the organization. Did I mention that Lisa’s day job is as an insurance recovery lawyer?
When I asked her what she liked most about serving on the Board, Lisa said: “The Hand Papermaking Board is an extremely vibrant, collegial, and hard-working group. We are democratic and non-hierarchical. The past couple years have been challenging for all nonprofit arts organizations, and we have had to work through some very difficult conversations. I still have so much to learn, and I am continually inspired by each and every one of my colleagues on the Board.”
We are delighted to spotlight Lisa’s volunteer work for Hand Papermaking and thankful for the skills she has brought to the Board as well as her love of what happens when water meets fiber. Lisa is soon to conclude her tenure on the Board of Hand Papermaking. “Board service is the way I show gratitude to all my teachers. It has been an honor, and a thrill, to be part of this legacy.”
–Amanda Degener
LISTINGS
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
2022 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,
including papermaking and book arts. Currently
offering class enrollment for fall in-person
classes, abingtonartcenter.org/school.
Amy Richard Studio, Gainesville, FL, www.-
amyrichardstudio.com. Amy specializes in
Japanese-style papermaking and sculptural
paper, teaching online classes as well as
private instruction/independent study opportunities
(currently online only). For workshop
information, visit www.amyrichardstudio.
com/teaching or email amymiami.richard@
gmail.com.
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.
Artists Book House is a new organization
devoted to the Book Arts: writing, reading,
printing, bookbinding, papermaking, typography,
calligraphy, poetry, fiction, memoir,
artist’s books, publishing, comics, zines, and
much more. Soon to be located in the Harley
Clarke House on Lake Michigan in Evanston,
Illinois, Artists Book House is a place where
artists, writers, readers, and other thoughtful
people can gather to learn and create. Through
education, exhibitions, publications, and
events, this new organization expands the
community, promotes the literary arts and
the crafts of book making, rejoices in the physsical
form of the book, and embraces an
interdisciplinary approach to the book arts.
Artists Book House Conversations, a monthly
series of video conversations with book artists,
illustrators, cartoonists, writers, poets,
librarians and book collectors, can be found at
https://artistsbookhouse.org/conversations.
The Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta, Canada,
(403) 762-6100 or (403) 762-6180, www.-
banffcentre.ca. The Centre is a learning
organization leading in arts, culture, and
creativity across dozens of disciplines. Artist
residencies in fully equipped print, textile,
fiber, and papermaking studios.
Book Paper Thread, learn@bookpaperthread.
com, bookpaperthread.com. Book
Paper Thread offers online workshops
to learn basic skills, explore artists books,
or discover new paper treatments. Four
book and paper instructors join together
from across the country to present their
expertise online, in your own home or studio.
For additional remote learning opportunities,
visit bookpaperthread.com/online-workshops.
Brainbridge Artisan Resource Network,
Brainbridge Island, WA, (206) 842-4475,
https://bainbridgebarn.org/. Community art
center with classes and open studios in a
variety of art fields, including book arts and
printmaking. For all remote learning opportunities
and select in-person workshops, visit
bainbridgebarn.wildapricot.org.
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.
For additional course information, visit
classes.folkschool.org/Browse.aspx.
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. For info about workshops,
visit carriagehousepaper.com/workshops.
Center for Book Arts, New York, NY, (212)
481-0295, centerforbookarts.org. The Center
for Book Arts is a contemporary arts organization
dedicated to the art of the book through
Oct 2021 • 11
tPhe apertrail
Handmade Paper & Book Arts
Papermaking Supplies
Raw Fibre – Dry Pulp – Additives
Pigments – Equipment – Books
Marbling and Bookbinding Supplies
Methocel – Inks – Equipment – Books
Board – Sewing Supplies – Binding Posts
Call, write, or e-mail for your free catalogue
135 Lexington Court, Unit 4
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2J 4RI
1-800-421-6826
info@papertrail.ca
Fax 1-519-884-9655
http://www.papertrail.ca
For more information, please contact:
David Reina, (718) 486-0262, reinadesigns@aol.com
79 Guernsey Street, Brooklyn, New York 11222, USA
David Reina Designs Inc.
Providers of quality equipment for the hand papermaker
for over twenty years . . . offering Hollander Beaters,
Hydraulic Presses, and Paper Drying Systems.
Maiwa School of Textiles, Vancouver, British
Columbia, (604) 669-3939, maiwa.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 more. For a list of upcoming
workshops, visit https://maiwa.teachable.
com/courses.
Massachusetts School of Art and Design,
Boston, MA, (617) 879-7200, pce.massart.edu.
MassArt’s Professional and Continuing Education
offers courses and workshops in fine
art and design including book arts and printing,
professional design certificates, summer
immersive programming, and more. For more
information about fall classes & workshops, visit:
https://pce.massart.edu/catalog/fall-2021.
Minah Song Art Services, Arlington, VA, (646)
352-3828, Paper conservation studio in the
Washington DC metro area that also offers
workshops. For more information, 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. For information
on upcoming workshops in papermaking
and paper marbling, visit www.mnbookarts.
org/category/papermaking-paper-marbling.
exhibitions, classes, public programming,
literary presentations, opportunities for artists
and writers, publications, and collections.
For information on workshops, visit centerforbookarts.
org/classes.
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 Lor-Eto.DA@gmail.com or (632)
942-3974.
Dieu Donné Papermill, Brooklyn, NY, (212)
226-0573, www.dieudonne.org. Beginning
and advanced papermaking classes, open
studio sessions and community studio memberships.
For remote learning opportunities
during the closure, visit www.dieudonne.
org/remote-learning for more information.
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 about upcoming
programs, 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 remote learning opportunities,
visit helenhiebertstudio.com/productcategory/
class/.
Hook Pottery Paper, LaPorte, IN, (219) 362-
9478, hookpotterypaper@comcast.net,
www.hookpotterypaper.com. Hook Pottery
Paper consists of a clay studio; a combined
book, paper, and print studio; and a gallery
shop. For information on residencies, workshops,
and experiences at Hook Pottery Paper,
visit www.hookpotterypaper.com/classes.
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. For information on workshops, visit
kalbookarts.org/workshops/.
Karen Hanmer Book Arts, Glenview, IL, www.-
karenhanmer.com. A private studio in suburban
Chicago offering workshops and instruction to
working practitioners and dedicated hobbyists,
focusing on a solid foundation in traditional
bookbinding skills. For more information on
online workshops, visit www.karenhanmer.
com/teaching/#WorkshopSchedule.
12 • hand papermaking newsletter
Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory
and Educational Foundation, Cleveland,
OH, (216) 361-9255, www.morganconservatory.
org. The Morgan Conservatory Open
Studio program provides artists and students
access to studio space and equipment;
gives 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 free online lessons, visit
www.morganconservatory.org/online-classes.
Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency, Saugatuck,
MI, ox-bow@saic.edu, www.ox-bow.org.
Through its affiliation with the School of the Art
Institute of Chicago, Ox-Bow offers offers a wide
range of opportunities for artists at all stages.
For more information, visit www.ox-bow.org/-
take-a-class.
Paper Rain Studio, Santa Fe, NM. 505.692-3474.
Jacqueline Mallegni, www.mallegni.com, paper.-
rain.studio@mallegni.com. Jacqueline offers
online interactive papermaking and fiber art
workshops via Zoom. Visit the website for details,
registration, and art news.
Papermakers of Victoria, at Box Hill Community
Arts Centre, Whitehorse, Victoria, Australia, ph.
9885 2479, www.papermakers.org.au. Papermaking
studio offering workshops, exhibitions, and
studio access. For more information, visit papermakers.
org.au/workshops.
The Papertrail, New Dundee, Ontario, Canada,
(800) 421-6826, www.papertrail.ca. Workshops
taught in English or French in papermaking,
marbling, related arts, and studio rental scheduled
on an as-needed basis.
PaperWorks, Tucson, AZ, paperworks.info/
index.html. This Sonoran Collective for Paper
and Book Artists provides educational and
creative opportunities through workshops, programs,
collaborative groups, community
exhibitions by PaperWorks members, and
scholarships for students studying paper arts.
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/workshops.
Penland School of Craft, Penland, NC, (828)
765-2359, www.penland.org, is an international
center for craft education, offering a
full program of workshops, including printmaking,
papermaking and paper and
arts. For workshops and remote learning
opportunities, visit penland.org/workshops/
overview-of-penland-workshops.
Pulp & Deckle, Portland, OR, is a papermaking
studio that focuses on sharing the art, craft,
history and science of paper as a creative medium
and offers workshops, demos, lectures, custom
collaborations and an artist residency program.
Visit www.pulpanddeckle.com for more info.
Pyramid Atlantic, Hyattsville, MD, (301) 608-
9101, www.pyramidatlanticartcenter.org,
offers workshops in papermaking, printmaking,
and book arts as well as residencies, apprenticeships,
and internships. For remote learning
opportunities during the closure, visit www.pyramidatlanticartcenter.
org/pyramid-at-home.
Robert C. Williams Paper Museum. Atlanta,
GA, (404) 894-5726, http://paper.gatech.edu.
An internationally renowned resource on
the history of paper and paper technology,
the museum’s mission is to collect, preserve,
increase and disseminate knowledge about
papermaking–past, present, and future. To
read their reopening updates, and to explore
remote learning opportunities, visit paper.-
gatech.edu/upcoming-workshops.
San Diego Book Arts, 8680 Washington Ave.,
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 workshops, visit
www.sandiegobookarts.com/classes.
San Francisco Center for
the Book, San Francisco,
CA, (415) 565-0545, www.-
sfcb.org. Book arts classes,
workshops, events, and
exhibitions year-round.
For information on upcoming
workshops, both
virtual and in-person, visit
sfcb.org/workshops.
Sitka Center for Art and
Ecology, Otis, OR, (541)
994-5485. www.sitkacenter.
org. The Sitka
Center offers workshops,
residencies, and community
events at its facility near Cascade Head
and the Salmon River estuary in Oregon. For
workshop information, visit www.sitkacenter.-
org/workshop/workshopslist.
Snow Farm: The New England Craft Program,
Williamsburg, MA, (413) 268-3101. www.snowfarm.
org. Workshops at Snow Farm span eight
subject areas, including printmaking and
paper/book arts. For more information on
reopening policies and workshops, visit www.
snowfarm.org/workshops/class-listings/covid-
19-updates-reopening.
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 remote learning opportunities, visit www.-
eventbrite.com/o/the-soapbox-community-printshop-
amp-zine-library-26170124449.
The Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh,
PA, (412) 261-7003, www.contemporarycraft.-
org. Classes in fiber, book art, and other media
in Pittsburgh’s historic Strip District. For workshop
information, visit contemporarycraft.org/-
education, and for remote learning opportunities
and other resoruces, visit contemporarycraft.
org/cc-online-resources.
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
more information on upcoming classes, visit www.
swschool.org/community-classes/adults.
Textile Art Center, New York City, New York,
http://textileartscenter.com. NYC–based resource
center for textile art which offers classes, workshops,
open studio rentals, and events. For remote
learning opportunities, visit textileartscenter.
com/adult-classes.
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 provides course
work and degrees in creative arts and conservation
fields, including papermaking, bookbinding,
and printmaking. For remote learning opportunities,
visit www.westdean.org.uk/study/online-hub.
Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY, (845)
658-9133, info@wsworkshop.org, www.wsworkshop.
org. The Women’s Studio Workshop has
been a professional artist studio dedicated to
the creation of community, opportunity, empowerment,
and development for all women, trans,
and genderfluid artists, with studio spaces
including papermaking and book arts. For a
list of upcoming artist opportunities, visit the
WSW webiste at https://wsworkshop.org/-
opportunity-calendar/.
Oct 2021 • 13
WHAT WILL YOU MAKE?
PENLAND.O
G/BOOKS-PAPE
EVENTS
CODEX VIII Extraction Words on the Edge
will take place April 10–13, 2022 in Berkeley,
CA. Registration for the Book Fair and Symposium
will open October 1; all Exhibitors are
required to contact CODEX in order to receive
the registration form and code and new Exhibitors
need to apply. For more information, visit
www.codexfoundation.org/home.
EXHIBITIONS
The Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory is
showcasing the works of founder Tom Balbo
this fall in the exhibition, “In Search of a Second
Moon,” www.morganconservatory.org/insearchofasecondmoon
Balbo draws on the pandemic,
isolation, quarantine, nature, wildlife, shape,
and color in his wide-ranging imagery. Exhibition
dates: Sept. 24–Oct 9; reception on Oct. 2.
Explore the online exhibition, Washi, a History of
Japanese Papermaking, at the Robert C. Williams
Museum of Papermaking at paper.gatech.edu/washi.
“In Residence: Selections
from Haystack’s
Open Studio Residency”
is an online
exhibition of eight
artists from various
disciplines who have
served residencies at
the Haystack Mountain
School of Craft.
The exhibition includes
work that was
either made during,
or inspired by, their
time at Haystack.
The program extends
our commitment to
supporting artists
and encouraging the development of new ideas.
To view the exhibition, visit www.haystackmtn.
org/in-residence-2020.
“Solastalgia: Book Art and the Climate Crisis,”
is running currently through October
17 at the Main Gallery at the Minnesota
Center for Book Arts and as a virtual exhibition
at www.mnbookarts.org/solastalgiavirtual-
exhibition. Curated by Torey Erin, the
exhibition features expansive and experimental
works by twenty local, national, and international
artists addressing the paradoxical nature of
grief, despair, beauty, elegy, regeneration, and
loss that we are facing as we confront one of the
most defining issues of our time, climate change
and the suicidal consumption of the planet’s
natural resources. Solastalgia is a term coined
by environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht to
better describe the psychological pain caused by
recognition that the place where one resides and
that one loves is under immediate assault. From
traditional codices to pop-up books to sculptural
vessels made of bacteria cultures, this exhibition
is both a call to alarm and a symbol of hope that
through compassion and ingenuity, it is possible
to imagine new futures.
Opening on Sept. 17 and running through Nov.
14, the exhibition “Reflecting Back to the Future”
will celebrate the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center’s
40th anniversary with an exhibition of treasured
artworks curated from the organization’s archive
by its founder Helen C. Frederick. The archive is
a collection of art made during printmaking and
publishing residencies that Pyramid operated
from 1981 to 2007. Many of the works have been
in storage for decades, remaining unseen until
now. Most of the works in the exhibition will be
for sale, with proceeds going to Pyramid Atlantic
Art Center’s Next 40 Fund.
OPPORTUNITIES
The Kalamazoo Book Arts Center invites
printmakers to participate in their Poets in
Print broadside series. Find out more about
this collaborative opportunity by contacting
Katie Platte at katie@kalbookarts.org or
by visiting kalbookarts.org/opportunities.
Treewhispers is an ongoing installation of flat
handmade paper rounds with personal
14 • hand papermaking newsletter
500 Tenth St. NW, Atlanta, GA 30332
404.894.5700 | www.paper.gatech.edu
September 17 - December 3, 2021
BOSQUE, woodland for wildlife by Priscilla Spitler
Wildlife features approximately 50 works by
members of the Guild of Book Workers.
Free Virtual Talks
Tuesday, Sept 14, 8pm (EST)
The Book: The Past (Dr. Nick Wilding)
Tuesday, October 12 , 8pm (EST)
The Book: The Present (Dr. Jesse Erickson)
Tuesday, November 9, 8pm (EST)
The Book: The Future (Dr. Sarah Werner)
stories, poetry, and art related to trees. The
project, started by Pamela Paulsrud and Marilyn
Sward, continues to seek contributions. For more
information, visit treewhispers.com/here.
The Pyramid Atlantic Art Center offers
year-round workshops in printmaking,
papermaking, book arts, and hybrids thereof.
As part of a robust and diverse schedule of
offerings they welcome unsolicited workshop
proposals. Workshop proposal reviews are
ongoing. For more information, visit www.
pyramidatlanticartcenter.org/pyramid-atlanticworkshop-
proposal.
November 15 is the deadline to apply for the
2022 slate of residency grants at Women’s
Studio Workshop (WSW) in Rosendale, NY,
https://wsworkshop.org. Among the available
grants are the following: Studio Residency
Grant (https://wsworkshop.org/residencies/
studio-residency-grant); Legacy Residency
Grant (https://wsworkshop.org/residencies/
legacy-studio-residency-grant); Art-in-Ed Artist’s
Book Residency Grant (https://wsworkshop.
org/residencies/art-in-ed-artists-book-residency-
grant/); and Artist’s Book Residency
Grant (https://wsworkshop.org/residencies/
artists-book-residency-grant/). More information
about the WSW's annual opportunities,
is available on the online Artist Opportunity Calendar
at https://wsworkshop.org/opportunitycalendar/.
PUBLICATIONS, FILMS, VIDEOS
Watch the PBS special The Book Makers at
www.pbs.org/video/the-book-makers-bzy8li/.
From the esoteric world of book artists to the
digital library of the Internet Archive, the film
spins a tale of the enduring vitality of the book.
Retiring University of Iowa Center for the Book
director, MacArthur Fellow, and renowned papermaker
Tim Barrett reflects on his storied, 34-year
career at Iowa. Watch Tim Barrett: The Story of
a Papermaker on YouTube.
Paper Talk is an ongoing series of interviews
by Helen Hiebert featuring artists and professionals
who are working in the field of hand
papermaking. New podcast episodes each
month. Subscribe to Paper Talk in iTunes.
ONLINE PROGRAMMING
From 1619 to beyond, black craftspeople, both
free and enslaved, worked to produce the
valued architecture, handcrafts, and decorative
arts of the American South. The Black
Craftspeople Digital Archive seeks to enhance
what we know about black craftspeople by
telling both a spatial story and a historically
informed story that highlights the lives of black
craftspeople and the objects they produced.
View the project at blackcraftspeople.org.
Quarantine Public Library, a collaborative project
dreamed up by Katie Garth and Tracy Honn,
is a repository of books made by artists. The
works published are for anyone to freely download,
print, and assemble—to keep or give
away. Browse the dozens of artist’s books at
www.quarantinepubliclibrary.com/by-artist.
Designed by Big Jump Press in response to
the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery,
and Breonna Taylor, Read This Out Loud
is a downloadable book template available for
anyone to use. Make as many copies of this
book as you can and disperse them in your
community. Links to downloads and video
demonstrations can be found at bigjumppress.
blog/read-this-out-loud/.
Each week, Fellows in the Winterthur/University
of Delaware Program in Art Conservation
are sharing tips on how people can care for their
personal collections while they are staying
safe at home! To read Attics and Basements and
Closets, Oh My!, which includes posts on
paper and pest management, visit www.artcons.
udel.edu/outreach/public-outreach.
The inaugural Chantry Library Subject Bibliographies
focuses on South Asian Paper.
Compiled by Jasdip Singh Dhillon, this entry
features familiar names such as Dard Hunter
and Edo Loeber. The Subject Bibliographies
aim to support the work of conservators by
Oct 2021 • 15
providing curated information through upto-
date lists of key information sources about
a given subject, chosen by a specialist. Visit
chantrylibrary.org/chantry-library-subjectbibliographies-
2/ to learn more.
MISCELLANEOUS
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.
CLASSIFIEDS
Classifieds in the Hand Papermaking Newsletter
cost $2 per word, with a 10-word minimum.
Payment is due in advance of publication.
Equipment needed to make handmade paper
at home. Includes press, papercutter, two
moulds and deckles, hand mixer, cotton linters,
and so on. $500. Contact Mary Bates by
phone at 603-995-4351 or via email at marybatessnh@
gmail.com.
Pure wool handmade papermaking FELTS,
36" by 48", weight a minimum of 1.1 pounds
each. To learn more, visit www.LanaDura.
com, and contact Minna White at landlamb-
@gmail.com
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.
Five different sized molds with polyester
screens. Never used. Made in the 1980's
with Timothy Barrett. Email: icwehrle@
yahoo.com.
HAND PAPERMAKING
loves to hear from readers:
newseditor@handpapermaking.org
Subscribe online at https://simplecirc.com/subscribe/
hand-papermaking-magazine.
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR DONORS
Hand Papermaking acknowledges recent contributors
to our nonprofit programs. All donations
are greatly appreciated and tax deductible. Our
tax ID number is 52-1436849. Call or write for
information on annual giving levels, automatic
monthly gifts, and other ways to support us.
benefactors: Colin Browne, Lisa Cirando,
Joan Hall, Mark Tomasko
patrons: Tom Balbo, Sid Berger & Mich.le
Cloonan, Sue Gosin, Alta Price
underwriters: Yousef Ahmed, Michael Durgin,
Lois & Gordon James, Darin Murphy, Ingrid
Rose, Kenneth Tyler
sponsors: Eric Avery, May Babcock, Tom &
Lore Burger, John Cirando, Marian Dirda,
Susan Mackin Dolan, Michael Fallon, Jane
Farmer, Helen Hiebert, Kyoko Ibe, Robyn
Johnson & Peter Newland, Debora Mayer,
Peter Newland & Robyn Johnson, Laura Roe,
Michelle Samour, Robert Specker, Kathy Wosika
donors: Margaret F. Arend, Tom Bannister,
Elena Osterwalder Bonny, Sarah Louise Brayer,
Carol Brighton, Nancy Cohen, Jeffrey Cooper,
Elizabeth Curren, Kerri Cushman, Gale Deery,
John Dietel, Devie Dragone, Linda Draper, Jerry
Exline, Kathleen Fitzgerald, Catherine Futter,
Sara Gilfert. Lori Goodman, Mabel Grummer,
Lisa Hartman, Richard Haynes, Shireen Holman,
Jamie Kamph, David Kimball, Thomas Lang,
Katie MacGregor, Julie McLaughlin, Todd Moe,
Marcia Morse, Mary O’Shaughnessy, Elaine Nishizu,
Sandra Reese, Renee Rogers, Robbin Ami
Silverberg, Jennifer Spoon, H. Paul Sullivan,
Thomas Taggart, Mina Takahashi, Violeta
Tayeh, Beck Whitehead
supporters: Christine Aaron, Marlene Adler,
John Babcock, Timothy Barrett, Anne Beckett,
Ann Cicale, Wavell Cowan, Jennifer Davies,
Amanda Degener. Barbara DiSalvo, Karla &
Jim Elling, Dorothy Field, Barbara Futter,
Tatiana Ginsberg, David Lance Goines, Guild
of Papermakers, Pat Hammerman, Robert
Hauser, Yukari Hayashida, Winsome Jobling,
M. Monat Isaacs, David Kimball, Steve Kostell,
Aimee Lee, MP Marion, Edwin Martin, Ann
McKeown, Betsy Miraglia, Tim Moore &
Pati Scobey, Catherine Nash, Nancy Pike,
Melissa Potter, Mary Price, Brian Queen,
Dianne Reeves, Bonnie Reisman, Carolyn Riley,
Michele Rothenberger, Kathleen Stevenson,
Deborah Stone, Louisa Swift, Pamela Wood,
Jennifer Woodward
friends: Jack Becker, Elizabeth Boyne, Nancy
Carlson, Lucia Harrison, Mary Hennigan,
Kristin Kavanagh, Susan Kanowith-Klein,
Chris Leatherwood
in-kind donations: Janet De Boer, Peter
Ford, John Gerard, Dard Hunter III, Microsoft
Corporate Citizenship, Steve Miller
founding contributors to the hand
papermaking endowment: 49er Books,
Shirah Miriam (Mimi) Aumann, Cathleen
A. Baker, Tom Balbo, Timothy Barrett, Sidney
Berger & Mich.le 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 Roe, Richard
Schimmelpfeng, Mary Schlosser, Mina
Takahashi, Aviva Weiner, Beck Whitehead
contributors to our 2021 auction fundraising
events: Jeff Abshear, Jane Ingram Allen,
Rhiannon Alpers, Maxine Apke, Mary Ashton,
Amalia Aviles-Lugo, John Babcock, May Babcock,
Tom Balbo, Jenna Bonistalli, Colin Browne,
Ingrid Butler, Cave Paper, Jazmine Catas.s, Lisa
Cirando, Kathryn Clark, Daniel Colvin, Kerri
Cushman, Amanda Degener, Katherine DeLamater,
Ilze Dilane, Katy Dement, Susan Mackin Dolan,
Karla Elling, Dale Emmart, Helen Frederick,
Tatiana Ginsberg, Joan Hall, Helen Hiebert, Frances
Hunter, Lois James, The Japanese Paper Place,
Debra Ketchum-Jircik, David Kimball, Genevieve
Lapp, Aimee Lee, Claudia Lee, Thomas Leech,
Robert Mannino, Lee McDonald, The Morgan
Conservatory, Marcia Morse, Henry Obeng, Jill
Odegaard, Hannah O’Hare Bennett, Bridget
O’Malley, Radha Pandey, The Paper Circle,
Andrea Peterson, Tedi Permadi, Kelsey Pike,
Alta Price, Victoria Rabal at the Capellades Paper
Mill Museum, Jackie Radford, Erica Spitzer
Rasmussen, Margaret Rhein, Amy Richard, Laura
Roe, Virginia Sarsfield, Kim Schiedermayer,
Jillian Sico, Robbin Ami Silverberg, Peter Sowiski,
Jennifer Spoon, Lynn Sures, Peter & Donna
Thomas, Judy Tobie, Marjorie Tomchuk, Michelle
Tuegel, Twinrocker, Gibby Waitzkin, Michelle
Wilson, Paul Wong, Kathy Wosika