HAND PAPERMAKING

NEWSLETTER number 139   July 2022

Interim Newsletter Editor: Amanda Degener

Columnists: Sidney Berger, Donna Koretsky, Amy Richard,

Jackie Radford, & Genevieve Lapp

Sponsors: The Robert C. Williams Papermaking Museum,

University of Iowa Center for the Book, Penland School

of Craft, Carriage House Paper, the International Paper

Museum, and Paper Connection International.

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Staff: Michael Fallon, Executive Director; Mina

Takahashi, Magazine Editor; Amanda Degener,

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Welcome Genevieve!

Occasionally you run into someone who has a spark, something more than youth or intelligence. For lack of a better term, I will call it “positive energy.” Whatever that is, Genevieve Lapp has it, and it is one of the many reasons it is great working with her. She has experience writing online, including for Arnold Grummer’s blog and on an educational blog of her own called The Fiber Wire. She approaches her work creatively and with respect for others. She received her undergraduate degree from Syracuse University in environmental studies, focused on communication, culture, and writing.

Genevieve has experience with production papermaking, makes art with paper, and has a master’s degree in paper engineering from State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse. She spent two years working as a research and development technician at Knowlton Technologies, a specialty paper mill in Watertown, New York. The paper mill used over 150 types of fibers, many of them synthetic. Lapp was responsible for a lot of paper testing, making sure the papers had certain properties that were important to the customer.

As an artist, Genevieve has exhibited paper and book works nationally and internationally and she worked with Alejandro Geiler, a production hand papermaker in Buenos Aires whom she deems her mentor. For Geiler, she made paper for the store that was attached to the paper mill, sometimes producing 200+ sheets of paper a day. The establishment is a print and paper studio, with screen printers and bookbinders work-ing to make journals, posters, and stationary sets from Geiler’s paper, while also selling them as sheets in the store.

In 2013, Genevieve was an intern at Cave Paper and also helped make paper for the Winter Book at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, where she is currently a member of the artist collective. When I asked Genevieve what I should let people know about her, she wrote: “I love helping papermakers, particularly new ones, find answers to process and paper science questions. I enjoy community building activities and events. I believe that we all have something to learn and something to share concerning our craft, regardless of our experience. I live in Minnesota with my son, husband, and long-haired chihuahua. I like gardening and macaroons. I’m looking forward to being plugged into the paper community as the newsletter editor.”

Genevieve’s engagement with paper––in the commercial industry, making artwork, and writing about handmade paper––gives her a well-rounded point of view. We are lucky she will be part of the team. My only advice to Genevive is to persevere. Often it just gets down to the day-in-and-day-out workload and all the tiny decisions that become something that truly matters.    

–Amanda Degener

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along the paper road . . .

Mitsumata

In this issue, Donna Koretsky introduces an article by her mother Elaine Koretsky that first appearred in the July 2007 issue of the Hand Papermaking Newsletter.

From Donna Koretsky:

Over the years, I have been cultivating a variety of papermaking plants in my Brooklyn, New York garden, just as my mother Elaine Koretsky did in her Massachusetts garden. My latest acquisition is mitsumata, botanically known as Edgeworthia chrysantha. Last year I paid $25 (plus shipping) to the Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh, North Carolina for a tiny stalk of this plant in a 3.5-inch pot. Having survived its first winter, my now twenty-inch-tall mitsumata plant is covered in oblong green leaves.

I first encountered mitsumata growing in New York when Lynn  Sures and I visited the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. I remember the day clearly because it was the last event we attended before the world shut down in March 2020. At that time of year the enormous bush of mitsumata was awash in intoxicating yellow tubular flowers.

I want to include here a reprint of Elaine Koretsky’s column from the July 2007 issue (#109) of the Hand Papermaking Newsletter. Her adventure with mitsumata was quite different from mine. I had the modern luxury of Google to help me find and order my sapling from North Carolina, while Elaine had a lively, old-fashioned adventure—hunting it down growing wild in Georgia. This is her story.

From Elaine Koretsky:

Most of my adventures on the paper road have occurred in Asia. In 1980, however, I had an extraordinary experience in the United States, seeking “wild mitsumata.”

The tale begins in Boston, with a lecture by Dr. John Creech, Director of the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. He spoke about the introduction of Japanese plants to the United States. I asked him specifically about Edgeworthia (in Japanese, mitsumata). He replied that the National Arboretum was growing it. Soon afterwards, in mid-March, when I was preparing to give a papermaking workshop at the Greenwood Gallery in D.C., I wrote to Dr. Creech to arrange a visit to the Arboretum to see the Japanese plants there, especially the Edgeworthia.

When I arrived at the Arboretum, Dr. Creech took me out to the site of the Japanese gardens. He discovered that the Edgeworthia had expired during the unusually harsh winter and had been dug up. A gardener was dispatched to look for the corpse. After a successful search, I was given the Edgeworthia remains. Eventually, when I returned home I made some lovely paper from it, and sent a sheet to the Arboretum. Meanwhile, Dr. Creech introduced me to Dr. Fred Meyer, Director of the Arboretum’s herbarium.

Dr. Meyer explained the difficulties of growing Edgeworthia in the D.C. climate, and mentioned that those plants were growing wild in northern Georgia. He gave me a fascinating article reprinted from the botanical journal Rhodora.1 Marie Mellinger, a Georgia botanist, had observed a group of plants unknown to her, growing wild along Wolf Creek in Rabun County, located in northeastern Georgia in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She sent samples of the plant to the National Arboretum for identification. Dr. Meyer was the botanist who identified the plant as Edgeworthia chrysantha, native to China and the Himalayas, and introduced into Japan as a source of paper. The puzzle was their occurrence in the southeastern United States.

The following summer, August 1982, I was invited to teach at the Arrowmont School in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I consulted a map and found Rabun County close to the junction of Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Immediately I telephoned my papermaking friend Beverly Plummer, who lived in Burnsville, North Carolina. She needed no coaxing to embark upon an expedition to find the mysterious mitsumata.

When my teaching sessions ended, I got a ride to Asheville, met up with Bev, and we set off in her truck to locate Wolf Creek. We reached Rabun County and stopped at a country store to ask directions. A county sheriff happened to be there, and he told us exactly how to find Wolf Creek. But then he emphasized, “You gals gotta be careful! You should be wearing high rubber boots. There’s snakes in them creeks!” We thanked him very much for his advice and drove off.

After a considerable distance, wondering if we were really getting to our destination, we noticed some men fixing utility poles. Again we asked directions to Wolf Creek. They said we were getting close, and we followed their instructions. Finally we spotted a creek on the right of the road, and stopped at a church to verify if we had located the right creek. However, we heard people singing in the church and did not want to interrupt them. A little further along, we found a house where two women were sitting in the kitchen shelling peas and shrimp. I asked them if this was the location of Wolf Creek. The older woman immediately drawled, “Are you’all lookin’ for that Japanese paper plant?” Incredible! We certainly did not anticipate that reply, but we definitely were in the right place!

Bev and I walked along the creek inspecting all the plants. Unfortunately, we did not know exactly what to look for. Mitsumata blooms in late winter to early spring. When I was in Japan in April 1976, I had seen mitsumata bushes covered with brilliant yellow flowers at the Oji Paper Museum in Tokyo, and a whole field of them in bloom at the home of the famous papermaker/book artist, Seikichiro Goto, near the base of Mt. Fuji. It was a magnificent sight, but I did not actually observe the structure of the plant. The flowers emerge before the leaves and totally cover the entire plant, obscuring the ternate branches that give the plant its Japanese name.2 Bev and I found quite a number of plants that we thought were mitsumata, although we wished we could have positive identification.

The next summer I returned to Gatlinburg to teach, and Bev was delighted to embark upon another hunt in Wolf Creek. This time I telephoned Marie Mellinger, explained my mission, and made an appointment to meet in Rabun County. Mrs. Mellinger was a delightful lady, as well as a very competent botanist. As we walked along the creek, she identified all the mitsumata growing there. It turned out that our guess the prior year was correct.

We were thrilled when she dug up some small plants and presented them to us to grow. We also learned that every spring Mrs. Mellinger brings a group of people to Wolf Creek to count the mitsumata plants and determine how far they have spread. That explained why the two women last year had known about the “Japanese paper plant.”

Our final discovery on the whole subject was the origin of these plants in Rabun County, half a world away from East Asia. In 1902 David G. Fairchild, Agricultural Explorer, introduced to the United States three new plants from Japan, namely, mitsumata, udo, and wasabi. The 20-page article he wrote about these plants is fascinating. He explains how they are cultivated, how to propagate them, and how to use them. He even describes the entire process of papermaking.3

The final bit of information was the story of how the mitsumata arrived at Wolf Creek and grew wild there. We received a copy of an article written by Margaret Shannon.4 She wrote that on one of Mrs. Mellinger’s explorations, the group had discovered an old home site. It had burned down, leaving only the foundation. But surrounding this site were many garden plants, such as crepe myrtle, daffodil, and Edgeworthia. Miss Shannon found out that Edgeworthia was first grown at the U.S. Plant Introduction Station in Chico, California, while some plants were sent to W.T. Ashford, a nursery owner in Atlanta, Georgia.

Meanwhile, a family named Haynes had built a home close to Wolf Creek in 1906. Mr. Haynes was in the printing business and had started to grow Edgeworthia with the view to the possible production of paper from it. Apparently, he had obtained plants or seeds from the Ashford nursery.

Although the house was destroyed, the mitsumata kept growing, adapting well to its environment. Miss Shannon observed that “. . . starting out from the yard of the Haynes house, Edgeworthia has been proliferating for some 70 years now, with the help of Wolf Creek, the birds, and the beavers who decorate their dams downstream with branches of the Japanese paper plant in bloom.”

I am happy to report that the little mitsumata plants survived, both in Burnsville, North Carolina, and Brookline, Massachusetts. Bev was delighted that her plants thrived, displaying a profusion of yellow flowers every spring. Mine also flourished, although they had to be brought inside my house each winter. Occasionally, I exhibit one of the mitsumata plants at the annual New England Flower Show, which occurs in early March. At that time the plant is in full flower, looks spectacular, and always receives a well-deserved First Award Blue Ribbon.                                                    

1. William Duncan and Marie Mellinger, “Edgeworthia (Thymelaeaceae) New to the Western Hemisphere,” Rhodora, vol. 74 (1972).

2. Ternate means “arranged in threes,” and mitsu means three in Japanese, referring to the branching of the mitsumata.

3. David Fairchild, U.S. Department of Agriculture, bureau of Plant Industry – Bulletin #42 (1903).

4. Margaret Shannon, article published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sunday Magazine, 1977.

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.

art made with paper

Guillermo Summers

Our regular columnist Winifred Radolen takes a break, and in this issue Genevieve Lapp writes about the artwork of Guillermo Summers of Madrid, Spain.

Paper artists look at paper differently; they don’t just see a paper for its color, weight, size, or feel. A paper artist sees what a paper could become. Among other things, they can see and create origami tessellations, quilled storybook illustrations, or fine paper cuts. These paper artists see the potential of paper. Yet, another kind of paper artist exists. This artist does not shape the paper into a different object or use it simply as the surface for painting or printing. Instead, for this artist, the paper material informs the mark making and remains an integral part of the visual result. Like a sculptor bringing figures out of marble, paper artists like Guillermo Summers bring the personality of handmade paper into the spotlight.

At work in Madrid, Spain, Guillermo sees paper, specifically handmade paper, as the fundamental axis of his artistic production. His creative process starts with considering the paper, or support, first. “I consider the support as an essential piece in the genesis of any of my works,” Guillermo writes. “The characteristics of the paper and the voice of the material itself are the basic elements that define this development.”

For Guillermo, handmade paper holds an irresistible attraction. In a way it feels alive. He is most interested in papers with irregularities, particularly ones with fibers distributed in a manner he calls “somewhat anarchic.” Together with the transparency and subtlety that only handmade paper can transmit, the irregularities in imperfect paper are actually perfect for his inspiration. Combined they convey possibilities and encounters with other media. The textures on the surface start the conversation.

Looking at his piece, “Wishing My Days Away,” you can see this philosophy present itself. The lokta fibers of the handmade Nepalese paper are not smothered in inks or hidden behind paints. They are brought forth to participate in the image, or rather the image is conceived around their being. Guillermo writes, “The idea is to perceive the sensuality of the paper through its partial transparency and irregularity. What catches me is the evocative subtlety of these fibers that can be dyed or not, and can even be worked on the basis of different superpositions of layers with elements of all kinds such as threads or jute ropes.”

“In Keep it Up,” we look at a figure balancing on their hands, veiled by a curtain of threaded lines, atop a thicket of sprawled and reaching tree branches. The body is a black silhouette, but not just black, the undyed fibers from the paper add a contrast. Fibers form paper to give the image a home. The paper then adds a layer of
spirit to the image by filling the exerted human form with soft, lightly veiled wisps. The result is a balance of substance and delicacy. The lokta fiber is again left exposed in The Wind and the Tree, conveying movement and life to an otherwise two-dimensional presentation.

Discovering handmade papers from Nepal, Japan and Korea ignited a love of the material that the readers of this newsletter know well. Since that chance discovery, all of Guillermo’s work has been on paper. We have seen examples of his deliberate practice of encorporating the sheet irregularities into the final image. He also alters the presentation of the sheet itself, experimenting with transparency and opacity. Following the traditional path of the encaustic practice, he layers oil, wax, and resins like dammar, exposing the sensuality of the paper with a play of fiber and light.

His practice in now shifting, not away from paper but into different paper traditions. “I am investigating large-format papers with European fibers (such as cotton) of a high grammage to generate textures and investigate the possibilities of color, so my idea is still mainly to work on paper exclusively,” he writes. He is even trying his own hand at papermaking, rehydrating cotton sheet pulp and mixing in waste paper to make small creations. Having the papermaking experience is invaluable to him. “It makes you more aware of what the whole process involves and consequently you can intuitively anticipate reactions from the material,” he writes. “I really like to investigate and experiment in small formats and intervening with paper pulp in other papers. It is a very rewarding sensation and with infinite creative possibilities.”                                                  

To learn more about Guillermo’s works and see his studio space, visit his online portfolio on Instagram @guillermo.summers.art/.

             —Genevieve Lapp

Genevieve Lapp is a hand papermaker and mother who lives in Minnesota. She loves connecting with people in the papermaking community, particularly on Instagram.

decorated paper

Paper Termonology

In this issue, Sid Berger writes about termonology for The Dictionary of the Book.

The Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America fair is coming up in a couple of weeks in New York, and I have already been sent several catalogs from the sellers. One of them in particular impacts my decision to write this column. Simon Beattie is one of England’s premier booksellers, and his knowledge of decorated paper is excellent.

On top of this, I am approaching the final stages of production of the second edition of my publication The Dictionary of the Book, which is filled with terminology having to do with paper. In fact, there are nearly 200 terms about paper, many focus on decoration.

As my earlier columns on marbling indicated, the terminology of decorated paper is fluid and complex. There are scores of common marbled patterns, some of which have more than one name. Is that “French snail” or “Dutch curl”?  The two names delineate the same pattern. It was beyond the capacity and aim of The Dictionary of the Book to name all marbled patterns, though some, like “Nonpareil” and “Spanish marble,” needed clarification.

The Simon Beattie catalog actually listed two items under “Decorated Paper” rather than by author and title. One of them was a 1715 text by Demosthenes, bound with paste paper endsheets (see Fig. 1.). Beattie’s learned commentary says, “Stylish paste-paper endpapers: ‘veined’ paste paper (geädertes Kleisterpapier in German) in four colours with impressed decoration. A sheet of paper, covered with the coloured paste, was pressed against another sheet. Then the wave pattern was traced on the dry side of one of the sheets with a finger before the sheets were pulled apart again, resulting in an overall veined effect with an additional white pattern in the coloured paste.” He is describing a pulled sheet, done in red, purple, green, and yellow, and exhibiting an extraordinary and quite lovely decorated paper. The technique using one’s fingers to “pattern” the paste paper while two surfaces of fresh, wet colored paste are still together (before they have been pulled apart) was not uncommon.

Beattie has another entry for paste paper, for item 17 in this catalog, a volume done in England. He says, “The binding here is covered with paste paper, a rare find on an English book. Most paste papers came from Germany, and the technique certainly began there, but some paste paper was made in Britain in the eighteenth century, specifically at Fulneck, near Pudsey in West Yorkshire, by the émigré Sisters of the Moravian Church who settled there in 1744. It is quite possible that the paper here was one of theirs.” (See Fig. 2.)

My points here are that decorated papers have a long and complicated history, they have their own extensive vocabulary, and people in the book world need to be familiar with the techniques of decoration and the vocabulary of the trade. Beatty correctly adds that such covers over an English text are particularly rare, and that the paper could have been made in England. The Moravians also had communities in the U.S., in Pennsylvania, for instance, where such papers were produced, possibly by the women members. Typical of these—and almost all—decorated papers of the 17th through the 20th centuries is that the makers/artists are unknown.

The second edition of The Dictionary of the Book will have more than 30 terms for decorated papers, though, of course, there are scores of others—especially those delineating marbled patterns. I could not include the names of the many patterns of marbled papers; I had to stay more at the general level (e.g., marbled paper) rather than at the more specific level (e.g., bouquet marbling, peacock marbling).  Einen Miura, one of the best marbled paper experts, lists no fewer than 67 named patterns. Even paste papers have their subcategories:  printed, pulled, combed, daubed, and spattered, along with mixed techniques in which more than one of these methods of paste distribution and decoration is used. The Dictionary of the Book, with its 2000 terms, had to stay at the more general level, though its extensive bibliography names a great many volumes that may be consulted for the various patterns and their names.  

The terms in The Dictionary of the Book broadly cover the whole world of books, from their manufacture and materials, to their purchase and sale, to their place in the bibliographical world. Naturally, paper plays a central role in books, so it is represented extensively in the volume. I would like to hear from readers of this column if they think particular terms—especially those related to decorative paper—should have been included. A third edition may be in the offing.

–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.

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studying hand papermaking

A Gathering of Papermakers

In Hand Papermakiang Newsletter number 131, Amy Richards shared the link to an annotated bibliography she has been assembling. Recently, she ran into a title published in 1988 that she has added to her website. [https://www.amyrichardstudio.com/hand-papermaking-resources].

A Gathering of Papermakers is a “must-have” for anyone interested in the history of papermaking as well as practical applications for use in the studio or classroom. Published in 1988 and edited by the late papermaking champion Elaine Koretsky, this book has most definitely endured the test of time. In fact, it will be included in all of my future class reading lists.

Seventy-five pages bound with a humble black paper cover, this unassuming publication does not get far from my desk these days; I am fascinated by every one of the six essays, which were distilled from presentations made during a special gathering of individuals celebrating the 10-year anniversary of papermaking at Carriage House. And what a gathering that must have been, with so many innovators in one place. I would have given anything to be there.

The first essay, by Alexandra Soteriou, features her experiences and photos from field research into India’s lost papermaking tradition, particularly in central India. Seeking historic papermaking sites, Soteriou reconnects the dots from a rich history that was lost in obscurity for far too long. She begins with anecdotes of traveling with Mr. S.B. Kothkie who served as the papermaking instructor for Mahatma Gandhi’s center, which had a hand papermaking facility, in Wardha.

Detailed descriptions of waist-high papermaking pits carved out of rocky ground as well as the finely woven grass and horse-hair papermaking screens give one a deeper appreciation of the culture and people who had their own distinct papermaking techniques and heritage.

While reading, I couldn’t help but wonder about the connection between the origins of papermaking in China and the origins of Buddhism in India and the moment those two life-changing events converged.

Next is Dorothy Field’s essay about papermaking in Ban Mai, Thailand, a northern village that exuded “peace, harmony and order.” Traveling with her husband and daughter, Field does a beautiful job of documenting their experiences and observations while visiting with several papermaking families in a place where “small thatched shelters were furnished with benches and a water jug for weary passersby.”

It’s impossible to read these accounts without wanting to try to replicate the described papermaking techniques. One example is Field’s description of a technique for removing bark from paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera), referred to as “sa” in Thailand. Unlike other Asian traditions of working with young suckers or saplings, the Thai papermakers use cuttings from large trees, cooking the logs over open flames, charring the outer bark until it splits open before peeling off the bark, scraping the outer bark, and then storing the inner bark for future use.

I replicated these steps recently with some Florida paper-mulberry saplings I am using for an installation, and sure enough, heated over a hot fire, the bark sizzled and split making it easy to remove; a weird feeling to hold the sapling and feel the bark expanding and then splitting. I have not used the bast fiber yet; stay tuned.

The same sense of wonder occurred on reading the third essay, “A Variety of Beaters,” co-authored/presented by Helmut Becker, Lee McDonald, David Reina, and Elaine Koretsky. Organized into four sections, this chapter features the different modern-day Hollander beaters developed by the authors with a discussion of the evolution and reasoning behind their designs.

Reading this short piece provides a captivating window into the minds of these brilliant folks who have dedicated their lives to making it possible for us all to practice our craft with some of the best designed beaters around, each one offering a unique design and purpose. I especially loved reading about the evolution of Lee McDonald’s Oak Park Beater, designed so the pulp flows over and under itself unlike with the traditional oval-shaped tub. I realized that the “swinging arm” modification developed during that time was the precursor to his current Oracle beater design, a work-horse portable beater that I have had the pleasure of owning for about 10 years now.

Winifred Lutz follows with her chapter “Shrinking to Expand,” a 12-page essay about utilizing, for creative purposes, paper’s natural tendency to shrink. As she describes: “Shrinkage during drying is normally viewed as an inevitable but undesirable phenomenon in papermaking. . . . However, accepted and accentuated, it can expand the physical and visual language that papermaking yields.” A trailblazer in sculptural paper, Lutz provides detailed discussion on the use of high-shrinkage pulps; manipulation of fully shrunk sheets, with/without pressing; using vertical shrinkage to create patterns, and much more. It is dense, so be sure to have a strong cup of coffee or tea nearby and a notepad for brainstorming ideas that are sure to flood your brain while reading.

The fifth essay, ”Permanency in Paper Art" by Elaine Koretsky is a godsend for those of us who struggle with questions about the permanency of handmade paper. As Koretsky explains in her beloved straightforward style: “The purpose of this seminar is to examine certain factors involved in papermaking that contribute to that paper’s permanence and/or durability, and to show the testing methods used to gauge these factors.”

These eight pages of detailed analysis and data shared information from thousands of hours of experience and related discussions (about pigments versus dyes, water quality, pH considerations, buffers, etc.) that should be required reading for every paper artist.

And finally, the icing on the cake is Donna Koretsky’s essay, “Decorative Papermaking: Special Effects Using Luster Pigments or You Can Do What They Tell You Not To.” Celebrating the fusion of Asian papermaking techniques and European or “western” materials and equipment, her discussion of ways to creatively use unexpected (and/or unwanted) reactions between various additives could be life-changing for many artists—like the time many of us have inadvertently used a PNS coagulant with pigmented pulp treated with retention agent and were mystified by the crazy effects. The eight different methods she shares at the end of her essay––on dipping freshly formed sheets into multiple vats of colored pulp for special effects––is mind-blowing.

It is hard to overstate the value of the field research, ideas, and photo documentation shared by these authors. We are all indebted to them for their contributions, made at considerable effort and expense, not to mention the numerous risks and adventures they have all had both in the studio and abroad––but you have to read their publications to find out more.

–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 around the world.

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from the paper community

Cotton Rag and a Racial Reckoning

Jackie Radford contacted the Hand Papermaking Newsletter with her idea for this article. We are always happy to entertain ideas from the paepr community for publication. The following is Jackie’s contribution.

I started 2020 with a project-based grant and a new beater. The project involved expanding my papermaking with garden plants in partnership with Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont, North Carolina. And then, COVID. Strict quarantine required a pivot so I hauled out my stash of cotton rag. Making cotton rag paper had long been in the back of my mind and I welcomed the chance to dive deep. And then George Floyd was murdered. I stood, isolated, in my North Carolina studio surrounded by a field of cotton as I heard George Floyd call for his Mama.

I was born in the South, grew up in the South, and I reckon I’ll die in the South. For me, cotton has always been connected to slavery. And I was raised a racist; I think we all were.

Sort, soak, beat while I watched the protests. Pull, wave, wave, drain while I listened to “Code Switch” and Ibram X. Kendi. Press, dry, inspect to the murder trial of Ahmaud Arbery. Beat, pull, press, dry as I watched the murder trial of George Floyd. The meditative act of production papermak-ing gave me the mental and emotional safe space to wrestle with my Southern-ness and my place in the institutional racism of the South.

I soaked myself in the pain of Black voices while my rag soaked in water. As my beater macerated the rag, I chewed through both my abiding love of and my profound despair of my Southern heritage. Old beliefs and constructs were destroyed and remade into a blank sheet of paper ready to receive a better way.

About ten thousand sheets of paper and a year and a half later, I continue the process of destruction and re-forming that is cotton rag papermaking. The process is now muscle memory for me, leaving my mind free to continue the unearthing of ingrained racist attitudes and constructs. Every time I think I’m done, I discover more.

–Jackie Radford

Jackie Radford is a papermaker and book binder who works in her studio near Charlotte, North Carolina. Radford’s work is influenced by the texture and sensory nature of the materials she works with.

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on board with hand papermaking

Darin Murphy

Darin Murphy, chair of Hand Papermaking’s board, is the Library Assistant Director for the School of the Museum of Fine Arts now merged with Tisch Library of Tufts University. This article came out of a conversation with Darin Murphy the Codex symposium and book fair in Richmond, California, and was enhanced through correspondence with Darin’s colleague John Schulz, emeritus faculty in the SMFA Print and Paper Area.

Darin Murphy is an artist whose works involve found objects and assemblage. He says, “Working at an art school all day every day is like feasting. I am an artist who became an art librarian. . . . When I was five my brother, who is a good storyteller, explained the table of elements to me. I learned we are all connected, and we are all a combination of solid and gas. This has influenced how I have seen the world ever since.  This is heaven and hell and everything in between, so live in the now.”

As a librarian Darin encourages the students to use and handle the libraries’ special collections; he brings in objects to reflect what’s happening in art today all over the world. Darin recognized the growth of comics and graphic novels as a significant art form and made it part of the art-school library. The collections also include exhibition catalogues, artist monographs, art-historical texts, technical manuals, periodicals, media, artist books, zines, and more. His hands-on approach with artist books gives students a great introduction to the library. It is one of the first opportunities students have to actually handle books as art objects, which is often liberating.

Tufts is highly supportive of special collections. They have added 16,000 print titles  (for a total of 44,000) in less than 6 years. John Schulz writes, “Darin started at School of the Museum of Fine Arts with almost nothing for a budget and wanted to maximize the impact of what he could do so he collected small edition artist books and zines. . . . He managed to grow the collection over the years and when the merge with Tisch Library and Tufts happened, it was in a great spot to expand.”

Darin saw a copy of Hand Papermaking magazine when he worked at a fine arts library and his first response was, “Who tips in handmade paper? This is great!” Artist and former board member Michelle Samour introduced him to Hand Papermaking’s handade paper portfolios. Darin finds the portfolios an extraordinary resource for the students. They pick up the paper and ask, “How did they do this?” Then they reach for the booklet that accompanies the handmade paper artworks and their questions are immediately answered.

In the last two years, with the board and staff working together Hand Papermaking has a new website, an updated board manual, revised bylaws, revamped committee structure, and, importantly, a new Black Writers Fellowship program. Darin says, “It is imperative to cultivate younger people. We are succeeding at this and with it comes enormous opportunities.”

Darin Murphy is excited about what is possible with handmade paper. He says you can “transform it into sculpture, performance, and painting. The investigation of fiber as expression is endless. The primacy of drawing as expression finds its way on this ground of expression. Yet paper is so young, we are only 2,000 years into it.”

Darin Murphy would probably place himself as a speck in the history of art, library science, and hand papermaking but his influence is huge especially the way he activates others. After our conversation my impression of him is that he is always looking forward with a sense of what came before. He is a great example of a creative person making a big difference to Hand Papermaking as an organization and the broader community.

–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 October 2022 newsletter is August 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 information about summer camps can be found at abingtonartcenter.org/camps/.

Amy Richard Studio, Gainesville, FL, www.amy-
richardstudio.com. Specializing in Japanese-style papermaking and sculptural paper, online classes as well as private instruction/independent study opportunities (currently online only). For more information: amy@amyrichardstudio.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, typo-
graphy, 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 phys-
sical form of the book, and embraces an
interdisciplinary approach to the book arts.
Artists Book House Conversations, a 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. For spring learning, visit book-paperthread.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 carriagehouse-paper.com/workshops.

Cave Paper, located in Tuscon, AZ, is a handmade paper production studio owned by Zoë Goehring and operating since 1994. Each sheet of Cave Paper is formed and colored by hand. Cave specializes in papers colored with natural dyes such as walnut, indigo, and persimmon. To contact Cave Paper, visit their website at www. cavepaper.com.

Center for Book Arts, New York, NY, (212) 481-0295, centerforbookarts.org. The Center
for Book Arts is a contemporary arts organi-
zation dedicated to the art of the book through 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 con-
sultancy in a variety of crafts and livelihoods, inclu-
ding 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 mem-
berships. For information about current class offerings, visit https://www.dieudonne.org/adult-classes.

Halden Bookworks, Tistedal, Norway, www.haldenbookworks.no/about-us, is a center for book arts that houses a letterpress print shop, a bookbinding studio, and a papermaking studio. Our mission is to further cultivate the field of book arts in Norway and internationally by offering studio space, hosting workshops and events, and conducting research within the field.Halden Bookworks is run by Radha Pandey & Johan Solberg.

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 oppor-
tunities, visit helenhiebertstudio.com/product-category/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, work-
shops, 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.

InterOcean Studios, at www.interoceanstudio.org, is the creative intersection of paper, book, and letterpress located in Englewood/Denver Colorado.Our studio offers exciting ways to engage with the book
and paper arts through work-
shops, residencies, exhibitions and community events. Read more about our reopening in 2022 and rich papermaking past at www.interoceanstudio.org. To contact the Studio, or to begin receiving their newsletter, visit www.interoceanstudio.org/contact.

Kalamazoo Book Arts Center, Kalamazoo, MI, (269) 373-4938, info@kalbookarts.org, www.kalbookarts.org. The Center offers classes in book printing and binding, print-
making, 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 karenhanmer.com/gallery/teaching/scheduled-workshops.

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 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 summer classes & workshops, visit: pce.massart.edu/catalog/summer-2022/.

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.

Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory and Educational Foundation, Cleveland,
OH, (216) 361-9255, www.morganconserv-atory.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 work-
shops in papermaking, printing, book arts, and
mixed technique. For information about upcoming workshops, visit www.morganconservatory.org/allworkshops.

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
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 Commun-ity Arts Centre, Whitehorse, Victoria, Australia, ph. 9885 2479, www.papermakers.org.au. Papermaking studio offering workshops, exhi-
bitions, 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 sched-
uled 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, pro-grams, 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 print-
making, 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, appren-
ticeships, and internships. For information on upcoming workships, visit pyramidatlantic-artcenter.org/education/workshops/.

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. For a list of upcoming programs, visit paper.gatech.edu/program-listing.

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.sandiego-
bookarts.com/workshop-events.

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.sitka-center.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/workshops. For info on residencies: www.sitkacenter.org/residencies.

Snow Farm: The New England Craft Program, Williamsburg, MA, (413) 268-3101. www.snow-
farm.org. Workshops at Snow Farm span eight subject areas, including printmaking and paper/book arts. For more information on workshops, visit www.snowfarm.org/workshops/class-listings.

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-print-shop-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/studio/-
upcoming-workshops, and for a list of upcoming events, visit contemporarycraft.org/calendar.

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, work-
shops, 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 conserva-
tion fields, including papermaking, bookbinding,
and printmaking. For remote learning opportun-
ities, visit www.westdean.org.uk/study/online-hub.

Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY,  (845)
658-9133, info@wsworkshop.org, www.wswork-
shop.org. The Women’s Studio Workshop has been a professional artist studio dedicated to
the creation of community, opportunity, empower-
ment, 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.

EVENTS

The 2022 conference of North American Hand Papermakers (NAHP), “Activating Maerials,” will take place in Miami, October 7–9. For more information, visit www.northamericanhand-papermakers.org/2022-conference.

EXHIBITIONS

“In Deep Water,” featuring paper works by Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback, will  be on exhibition in the Gallery Route One Project Space, Pt. Reyes Station, CA, from Nov. 19 to Dec. 25. For more information, visit galleryrouteone.org/exhibits/upcoming/.

“A Community of Artists: African American Works on Paper from the Cochran Collection”
will run at the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking Aug. 5–Dec. 2. Showcasing fifty 20th century artists, this exhibition shows how works on paper illuminate the ways in which artists’ work and lives were in communication with one another and the larger art world. For more information, visit https://paper.gatech.edu/upcoming-exhibits.

The Fiberart International 2022 Exhibition of Art runs now through August 30 at the Brew House Association and Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh. For more information about the exhibition, which features the work of more than 40 artists, and about associated programs such as lectures, demonstrations, workshops, and guided tours, visit fiberartinternational.org/.

OPPORTUNITIES

Treewhispers is an ongoing installation of flat handmade paper rounds with personal 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 a wide range of artist opportunities in printmaking, papermaking, and book arts, including residencies, apprentice-ships, and internships. The center also accepts exhibition proposals, offers a range of artist services, and has an artistic associate program. For more information on all of these opportunities, visit https://pyramidatlanticartcenter.org/artist-opportunities/.

Helen Hiebert is offering a 5-day retreat this summer,  August 22–26, called Creating Paper in the Colorado Rockies. The retreat will encourage participants to explore the endless potential of paper. We will experiment with various techniques—cutting, folding, collaging, weaving, and glue your own handmade paper—to create a variety of paper objects that will intrigue the eyes and illuminate the spirit. Set in the peaceful, tiny hamlet of Red Cliff, surrounded by mountains, the river, and aspen trees as they begin to change their glorious fall colors, the focus will be on finding inspiration to create and rejuvenate. All levels of art experience are invited. For more information, visit https://helenhiebertstudio.com/2020-red-cliff-paper-retreat/.

Inter-Ocean Studio, a school of letterpress printing, bookmaking, and papermaking, holds both major curated exhibitions and informal “process-based” exhibitions to feature the work of our community members and residency participants. Our mission is to highlight both the exploratory and final aspects of creating work in the “book and paper arts” with the intention of giving artists a welcoming space throughout the creative process. is currently
accepting proposals for exhibition opportunities for 2023. More details and an application form can be sent via email. Use the Contact page at https://www.interoceanstudio.org/contact to send a request for documents and submission framework.

The Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory
is proud to annouce it has established a BIPOC Scholarship Fund to beneift artists from Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) communities. This Fund offers full scholarships to artists within the BIPOC community wishing to learn through and use the Morgan’s facilities. Any self-identified BIPOC artists (emerging or established) may apply for a scholarship for any of our studio workshops. Scholarships are based on availability.By providing funding to BIPOC artists, the Morgan recognizes the lack of representation of artists of color in paper and book arts. In addition, the Morgan acknowledges that part of its role as a community studio space and educational foundation is to create more diverse and equitable experiences by taking on an active role in providing more oppor-tunities providing access and resources. For
more information, visit www.morganconservatory.org/copy-of-artist-residencies.

The International Center for the Arts in Italy is offering, this fall from Sept. 18 to Oct. 2,  The Art of Paper, a summer retreat that will explore the potential of paper as a basic material and as a medium for artistic pursuits.
Four internationally known instructors—Amanda Degener, co-founder of Cave Paper; Carol Barton of Popular Kinetics; Helen Hiebert
of Helen Hiebert Studio; and Denise Carbone from the University of the Arts—will lead workshops in various aspects of the paper arts. Students will get sixteen hours of instruction in each of the following areas: hand papermaking, creating paper-based objects, sewn bookbindings, and designing pop-ups. The session will also include field trips to the Fabriano Paper Mill and to the city of Florence, along with several other stops. In addition, Amanda will be offering optional morning Tai Chi sessions to be held near the fountain in our lovely public garden overlooking the surrounding mountains. For more information about this once-in-a-life-time opportunity, visit https://www.icaitaly.com/retreats/the-art-of-paper.

The 8th Collegiate Paper Art Triennial will take place in the Fall of 2022, offering college students an opportunity to share their art made using hand-made paper with a broad audience. Venues hosting the exhibition include university galleries, museums, and art centers around the United States.

Radha Pandey is offering a Book Arts Tour of India in February, 2023. This intimate look into
India is for those who wish to see behind the scenes of various working artists and craftspeople. Augmenting visits to art and craft centers, museums, studio visits and workshops, participants will have a chance to observe traditional wood block carving and printing on cloth, gain experience in natural dyeing, take a visit to a miniature painter’s studio and engage in traditional as well as modern papermaking methods. On this visit, we will unfortunately not be visiting places like the Taj Mahal. If participants are interested in a visit, we can help arrange their travel post tour. For more information visit www.radhapandey.com/tours.

PUBLICATIONS, FILMS, VIDEOS

Hand Papermaking is pleased to announce the impending publication of The Language of Color, the fourteenth edition of our celebrated handmade paper portfolio series. It is a complex examination of a weighty theme: What does color mean? In the hands of a skilled
papermaker, color has a range of aesthetic qualities from deep translucency, earthy softness, rich opacity, to a blush, ethereal tone. In a wider sense, however, how we read and connect with color reflects reinforced cul-
tural meanings, where we come from, even where we are emotionally at a given time and place. Through color one can examine relationships of belonging and otherness and investigate nuances of emotion, spirit, place, and culture. Color in paper communicates in ways that we cannot through words, opening us up to connecting with others and transforming our understanding of the material and our community. These ideas inspired a brilliant collection of 18 artists from Europe, Africa, and all corners of the United States whose 16 paper works were chosen by curator Hong Hong. To represent the “the language of color” in paper, some artists built their works with an emotive and compelling pastiche of colored pulps. Other artists delved inward into their own psychic
understanding of what color means to them
and to others. Still others made works in-
sprired by external sources: The natural world, ecological systems, science, cosmology,
literature, and personal histories. The final result is a portfolio that is rich in color, meaning, and import. The 18 artists who contributed 16 works to The Language of Color are: Rebecca Alm & Amanda Degener, Tom Balbo, Kerri Cushman, Katharine Delamater & Colleen Lawrence, Sue Drummond, Gina Fowler, Leah Frankel, Susan Gosin, Viviane Colautti Ivanova, Genevieve Lapp, Henry Obeng, Anela Oh, Ingrid Schindall, Megan Singleton, Maria Amalia Wood, and Derick Wycherly. A custom-made clamshell box houses the works, each in a protective folder imprinted with the artists’ names. A handbound booklet, with letterpress-printed cover, contains statements from the artists, details about each piece, and commissioned essays by Hong Hong and writer Bridget Donlon. The portfolio is edited by Mina Takahashi and designed by Steve Miller.
Booklet covers are letterpress printed by Steve Miller, and the clamshell boxes are made by Colin Urbina of Low Mountain Bindery. The edition is limited to 125. The prepublication price is $450 (compared to
$650 once the portfolio is published), plus shipping costs. All proceeds from sales of our paper portfolios benefit, and support the programs of, Hand Papermaking, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the traditions and contemporary development of handmade paper and paper art.

Helen Hiebert’s book, The Art of Papercraft: Unique One-Sheet Projects Using Origami, Weaving, Quilling, Pop-Up, and Other Inventive Techniques, was recently published by Storey Publishing. In it, Hiebert has compiled a one-of-kind collection of 40 unique projects,
each using just one sheet of paper. Combining decorative paper techniques like marbling, stamping, and stenciling with
dimensional techniques like origami, cutting, folding, quilling, stretching, weaving, and pop-ups, The Art of Papercraft offers a rich variety of projects that will delight crafters, artists, and designers alike, including paper votive lights, pop-up cards, folded paper gift boxes and envelopes, woven paper wall hangings, miniature one-sheet books, and much more. Helen Hiebert is author of several books on papermaking and paper crafts, including The Papermaker’s Companion and Papermaking with Garden Plants and Common Weeds. She teaches papermaking classes and workshops, writes a weekly blog, and is the Paper Talk podcast host. For more information, visit https://www.workman.com/
products/the-art-of-papercraft/paperback.

Retired University of Iowa Center for the Book director, MacArthur Fellow, and renowned paper-
maker Tim Barrett reflects on his storied, 34-year career at Iowa. Watch Tim Barrett: The Story of a Papermaker on YouTube.

Women’s Studio Workshop offers a treasure  trove of artist books made by residency particpants going back to 10 1979. While some editions are out of print, many editions by well-known and up-and-coming artists are offered for sale. For more information, visit https://wsworkshop.org/collection/.  

Reams in the Desert: Papermaking in Utah, 1849–1893, published by The Legacy Press, is the first book to explore the complete story behind pioneer paper production in the Old West. Paper had been made commercially in the United States for well over a century by the time that the first paper made west of the Mississippi River emerged from the vat. Complicated by isolation, the story of Utah’s small and short-lived paper industry stands as one of the few success stories of Latter-day Saint-sponsored “home manufacture.” Even so, Utah’s paper “industry” became a casualty of economies of scale that characterize the industrial age. Drawing on primary sources and a deep study of the product itself, author Richard L. Saunders explores the personalities, sacrifices, and decisions driving Utah’s four-decade experiment with paper production. An appendix by paper historian Cathleen A. Baker provides a description of the pulping technologies, as well as hand and machine papermaking methods and equipment in use in the Utah mills. For more information, or to order your copy, visit www.thelegacypress.com/reams-in-the-desert.html.

Elisa Pellacani, president of the ILDE Associ-ation (ilde.info), has edited and published a book/catalogue called Il libro d'artista, giardino della mente (The artist’s book, garden of the mind).
In 700 full-color pages, the presents texts by more than 30 authors and a selection of works from the association’s Festival of Artist Books photographed by Laura Sassi.The book/catalogue uses images and a series of contributions and texts to talk about the theme of the garden, seen as a reflection of an inner space, and its natural components, which identify it and provide material for a two-year-long reflection. Elisa Pellacani, ph. Laura Sassi, pag. 712, ed. Consulta librieprogetti, ISBN 978 88 6988 058 2, 40 Euro, 2022. With texts by Marta Aguilar Moreno, Franco Arminio, Georgina Aspa, Douglas Pierre Baulos, Marilyne Bertoncini, Vitaliano Biondi, Marco Boccitto, Elena Bordacconi, Loretta Cappanera, Roberta Cardarello, Enrique Carro, Anita Cerpelloni, Bibiana Crespo-Martín, Mariko Date, Gwen Diehn, Lorenza Franzoni, Iván García Sala, Daniela Kasimir, Simona Inserra, Elena Iori, Izaki Taldea, Laura Ladendorf, Najla Leroy, Giampiero Lupatelli, Graciela Machado, Susana Malagón, Eva Marxen, Margarita Mascaró, Stefano Mazzacurati, Monica Michelotti, Sandro Parmiggiani, Manfredi Patitucci, Ugo Pellini, Sofia Piqueras Mir, Ramon Puig Cuyas, Alain Regnier, Marco Ruini, Eleonora Spada, Marta Villa, Pia Wortham, Francesca Zoboli.

ONLINE PROGRAMMING

From 1619 to beyond, black craftspeople, both
free and enslaved, worked to produce the
valued architecture, handcrafts, and decor-ative 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 pro-
ject dreamed up by Katie Garth and Tracy Honn, is a repository of books made by artists. The works published are for anyone to freely down-
load, 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/Uni-
versity 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 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.

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 News-
letter 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 TO OUR DONORS

Hand Papermaking acknowledges recent contri-
butors 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: Joan Hall, Mark Tomasko, Beck Whitehead

patrons: Tom Balbo, Lisa Cirando, Sid Berger
& Michèle Cloonan, Sue Gosin, Darin Murphy, Erik Saarmaa, Michelle Samour, Kenneth Tyler

underwriters: Yousef Ahmed, John Cirando, Lois & Gordon James, Ingrid Rose

sponsors: Eric Avery, Tom & Lore Burger, Kerri
Cushman, Susan Mackin Dolan, Devie Dragone,
Michael Durgin, Michael Fallon, Jane Farmer, Kim Grummer, Helen Hiebert, Robyn Johnson & Peter Newland, Debora Mayer, Marcia Morse, Robert Specker, H. Paul Sullivan, Mina Takahashi,
Aviva Weiner, Kathy Wosika

donors: May Babcock, Alisa Banks, Tom Bannister,
Sarah Louise Brayer, Ann Cicale, Jeffrey Cooper, Amanda Degener, John Dietel, Karla & Jim Elling, David Engle, Jerry Exline, Helen Frederick, Lori Goodman, Richard Haynes, Margaret Heineman, Shireen Holman, Kyoko Ibe, Jamie Kamph, Enid Keyser, June Linowitz, Julie McLaughlin, Sharon Morris, Jeannine Mulan, Anela Oh, Elaine Nishizu, Nancy Pike, Alta Price, Joy Purcell, Renee Rogers, Annabelle Shrieve, Thomas Siciliano, Kathleen Stevenson,
Bernie Vinzani, April Vollmer, Paul Wong

supporters: Marlene Adler, John Babcock, Timothy Barrett, Kathryn Clark, Nancy Cohen, Marian Dirda, Iris Dozer, Tatiana Ginsberg, Mabel Grummer,  Guild of Papermakers, Lisa Haque, Robert Hauser, Viviane Ivanova, Kristin Kavanagh, Susan Kanowith-Klein, David Kimball, Steve Kostell, Lea Basile-Lazarus, Aimee Lee, Winifred Lutz, MP Marion, Edwin Martin, Lynne Mattot, Ann McKeown, Tim Moore & Pati Scobey, Catherine Nash, Nancy Pobanz, Melissa Potter, Brian Queen, Dianne Reeves, Carolyn Riley, Michele Rothenberger, Pamela Wood

friends: Jack Becker, Anne Beckett, Lee Cooper, Elizabeth Curren, Dorothy Field, Lucia Harrison, Margaret Miller, Deborah Sternberg-Service, Don Widmer

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 & 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 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, Arnold Grummers’ Papermaking, Howard Aronson,
Mary Ashton, John Babcock, May Babcock,
Tom Balbo, Hannah O’Hare Bennett, Jenna
Bonistalli, Cave Paper, Colin Browne, Ingrid Butler, Jazmine Catasús, Lisa Cirando, Kathryn Clark, Dan Colvin, Kerri Cushman, Amanda Degener, Katharine Delamater, Ilze Dilane, Kathy Dement, Susan Mackin Dolan, Dale Emmart, Tatiana Ginsberg, Green Banana Paper, Helen Frederick, Joan Hall, Helen Hiebert, Frances Hunter, Nancy Jacobi, Lois James, David Kimball, Genevieve Lapp, Aimee Lee, Claudia Lee/Liberty Paper, Thomas Leech, Robert Mannino, Lee McDonald, Marcia Morse, Henry Obeng, Jill Odegaard, Radha Pandey, the Paper Circle, Tedi Permadi, Andrea Peterson, Kelsey Pike, Alta Price, Victoria Rabal, Jackie Radford, Margaret Rhein, Amy Richard, Laura Merrick Roe, Virginia Sarsfield/Handmade Paper Gallery, Jillian Sico, Robbin Ami Silverberg, Peter Sowiski, Lynn Sures, Peter & Donna Thomas, Judy Tobie, Twinrocker Paper, Gibby Waitzkin, Michelle Wilson, Paul Wong, Kathy Wosika

AND AN EXTRA-SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS

Carriage House, the International Paper Museum, the University of Iowa Center for the Book, the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking at Georgia Tech University, the International Paper Connection, Penland School of Craft

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