HAND PAPERMAK ING
N E W S L E T T E R
Number 83, July 2008
Newsletter Editor: Shireen Holman Advertising & Listings: Mary Tasillo Desktop Production: Amy Richard
Columnists: Cathleen A. Baker, Sidney Berger, Susan Gosin, Helen Hiebert, Elaine Koretsky, Winifred Radolan, Mary Tasillo, Pamela Wood.
Hand Papermaking Newsletter is published four
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is August 15. Please direct all correspondence to
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Hand Papermaking is a 501(c)(3) non-profit
organization. Staff: Tom Bannister, Executive
Director; Mina Takahashi, Magazine Editor;
Shireen Holman, Newsletter Editor; Mary Tasillo,
Ads & Listings; Deborah Selk, Portfolio Binder.
Board of Directors: Cathleen A. Baker, Sidney
Berger, Shannon Brock, Inge Bruggeman, Georgia
Deal, Gail Deery, Jim Escalante, Helen Hiebert,
Ann Marie Kennedy, Barbara Lippman, Andrea
Peterson, Margaret Prentice, John Risseeuw, Beck
Whitehead. Board of Advisors: Timothy Barrett,
Simon Blattner, Gregor R. Campbell, Mindell
Dubansky, Jane M. Farmer, Helen C. Frederick,
Elaine Koretsky, James Sitter, Marilyn Sward,
Claire Van Vliet, James Yarnell. Co-founders:
Amanda Degener and Michael Durgin.
Dear Subscribers,
In 2008 we are introducing a digital version of HAND PAPERMAKING NEWSLETTER.
Check it out at www.handpapermaking.org/newsletter. The traditional printed version you
now hold in your hands will still being published, in the same format subscribers have enjoyed
for 20 years. But now there is a choice.
The digital version looks the same as the printed version, but it can be read on your computer
screen or printed on your home printer. Subscribers choosing the digital version will receive
their newsletter about two weeks sooner. The digital version also features photos that can be
seen in a large color view, text that is searchable, direct advertiser links, and more bells and
whistles to come.
Subscribers will enjoy the first three 2008 newsletters in both formats. We ask that current
subscribers let us know a preference before September 1 so that the October issue of the
newsletter can be delivered in the format desired. Please send us an email (info@handpaper
making.org) indicating your preferred delivery method, and share any comments or suggestions
you may have.
Sincerely, Tom Bannister
Dear Readers,
I would like to let you know about the Traditional Papermaking Village Project that I am
developing in the village of Baang, Hungduan, in Ifugao Province, in the Philippines. The
purpose of the project is to provide jobs to the villagers using local materials and traditional
techniques. Rice is a major crop in this area, so handmade paper would be made from rice
straw (Oryza sativa). We are also planning to use piЦa (pineapple, Ananas comosus), Isabela
kozo (Paperifera kajinoki, paper mulberry from Isabela province), and saba banana (Musa
balbisiana) fibers. The villagers would support themselves selling sheets of paper as well as
souvenir items made from handmade paper. Eventually I envision adding an artist’s village
where artists could stay and create collaborative works.
Presently I am looking for sponsors for this project. My plan is for the village to open on
January 1, 2009. For more information, please contact me at the following address:
Asao Shimura/Cannabis Press (CP)
Poking, Kapangan
2613 Benguet, Philippines
asaoshimura@yahoo.com
Dear Papermakers,
Rumble, rumble, rumble … what is that sound? Why, it’s the low purring of a Critter Hollander
Beater! It is one of over 240 Critters created by Mark Lander of New Zealand in the
past ten years.
In May 1998, Mark heard the cry of many an itinerant papermaker all across the world and
set about to produce exactly what was needed: a workhorse that is lightweight, resilient, and
portable. When Mark created Critter #1 from bits and pieces, little did he realize that he had
just given birth to the “Critter Project!”
And Mark has a heart as large as his Critter Project. WomanCraft (www.womancraft.net),
part of Deborah’s Place charity in the Chicago area, is the grateful recipient of a 5# Critter that
has been in use since 1999. He has also donated time and talent in many situations where he
could promote hand papermaking and mentor new papermakers.
Mark Lander has given a great gift to the papermaking community all over the world,
making it possible for quality papers to be produced in garages and basements by beginners
as well as professional working artists. In furthering the promotion of hand papermaking,
his Critter Project has made him much revered by those who have become proud owners of a
Critter – and by those who also aspire to have one purring in a corner of their own world one
day.With gratitude and thanks on the tenth anniversary of the Critter,
Shirah Miriam (Mimi) Aumann
Reeds Spring, Missouri
use
as wrappers for round bricks of tea. It
> ALONG THE PAPER ROAD...
This regular feature offers paper musings from
Elaine Koretsky—renowned paper historian, researcher,
and traveler. In this issue Elaine continues
the account of her 2007 trip to China. Recent
natural disasters in Asia have raised concern about
the welfare of papermakers and paper villages. We
will keep our readers informed as we hear news.
After remarkable papermaking experiences
in Anhui Province, I went on to
more adventures in Yunnan and Sichuan
Provinces, accompanied by a small group
of people interested in paper history. Our
first stop in Yunnan was the village of
Longzhu in Heqing County. It is hard to
believe that this was my eighth visit to
this enclave of papermakers. The one-lane
dirt road winding through the mountains
had not changed much in the years since
1994, when Heqing County was an area
closed to foreigners. With persistence I
had managed that year to obtain permission
to see the papermakers there,
although photography was not allowed.
I shall always remember my feelings
when we had negotiated the mountain
terrain and finally descended into the
valley of the papermakers. When I looked
around, I saw only the mountain peaks
totally surrounding the village, and I felt
we had arrived in Shangri-la. To complete
the scene, I observed a group of four
papermakers under a shelter, on the other
side of the road alongside a fast-running
stream. As we started to walk across rocks
in the stream to reach the papermakers,
several wild horses came down from the
mountains toward us, delicately maneuvering
through the rushing water. It was
an incredible sight. Therefore, it should
not be surprising that I have returned to
Longzhu many times.
In 2007, however, I documented many
changes. In 1994 I had noticed that the
papermakers’ moulds and sheet formation
were unusual. The back of each
wooden frame was two inches high and
slightly curved. The moulds measured
29 x 29 inches, yielding a paper size of
21 inches square. To form a sheet, the
papermaker made two dips into the pulp
toward him, and after each dip vigorously
sloshed the pulp back and forth against
the high wooden back of the frame. His
motions were somewhat reminiscent
of the Japanese style of nagashizuki. He
tossed the excess water off at the back,
and then quickly slapped the back edge
of the mould on the surface of the vat
before couching it on his post of papers.
I inquired about the fiber used, and was
told it was paper mulberry. The papermakers
cut the trees and remove the
inner bark themselves. They cultivate
some of the mulberry trees, but also use
wild mulberry that they find about six
miles away. We did not actually observe
the cooking, which was done only once
a month. We learned that the fiber was
cooked twice, the first time with limestone
ash for three days; the second
cook, with wood ash, also for three days.
Then the fiber was rinsed in a pond,
which took about 15 days for soaking and
squeezing out the water. The papermakers
used a foot-operated stamper to beat
the fiber. When the pulp was mixed
with water in the vat, a formation aid,
obtained from the root of a certain pine
tree, Ketelleria evelyniana, was added.
The papermakers formed 610 sheets
in one post, pressing it with an ancient
winch-type wooden press. Later, a group
of women separated the sheets and
Dear Hand Papermaking Readers,
I thought readers might be interested in
hearing about origami airplanes in space
(information from a CNN.com article):
Takuo Toda, the head of the Japan Origami
Airplane Association, has wanted to
fly an origami shuttle to earth from space
since 1977. Finally the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency has become interested,
and is funding three years of feasibility
studies to see whether it would work. The
paper shuttles are made of sugar cane
fibers that are resistant to heat, wind, and
water. The theory is that their light weight
will minimize the friction that causes
damage to space vehicles during re-entry
into the Earth’s atmosphere. Tests on a
prototype have been conducted by Shinji
Suzuki, a professor at Tokyo University’s
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
The prototype successfully survived
Mach 7 speeds and temperatures of 446
degrees Fahrenheit in a hypersonic wind
tunnel. Results from the project could
influence the future design of shuttles and
space probes.
Sincerely,
Beverly Sky
Somerville, Massachusetts
> LETTERS
HAND PAPERMAKING loves to hear
from readers. What’s your opinion?
What’s happening? What’s on your
mind? Send your letters to the editor by
email: newseditor@handpapermaking.org
July 2008
ing paper by hand in Suojia. Apparently
they have found a steady market for their
production.
The final papermaking operation we
saw in Yunnan Province was in Lijiang,
where Nakhi papermaking is demonstrated
to visitors. I had visited there on
previous expeditions, and was amused
to see a large photo of my husband and
myself now hanging on a wall. The
original site of Nakhi papermaking is in
Bai Di, a remote area in the mountains
that is difficult to reach, but thoroughly
worthwhile (I have been there twice). The
demonstration in Lijiang is fairly authentic,
and ancient equipment is displayed.
The group of people with me enjoyed seeing
this papermaking process, which is
unique.1 Everyone bought a considerable
amount of paper, but one
of my group, Chris Harrison,
a prominent British
paper conservator, wanted
to purchase the papermaker’s
apron, which bore the
workshop’s logo. The papermaker
thought about
it, and then declared that
the only person to whom
he would sell the apron
was me. I felt obliged to
buy it for my friend, so I
agreed. But there was a
second papermaker who
owned a similar apron and he wanted me
to buy his also. Therefore, I bought both,
and now Chris and I each have a distinctive
“Dongba Paper Workshop Apron”.
This article has concentrated on Yunnan
Province; further 2007 adventures
in Sichuan Province (where Elaine was
totally embarrassed—includes a fateful
photo) will be described in the next issue
of the newsletter.
1. For a description of Nakhi papermaking, see
“Artist’s Notes on Dongba papermaking” by Jane
Ingram Allen, HAND PAPERMAKING vol. 22,
no. 2, (Winter 2007).
At the October 2007 Friends of Dard
Hunter meeting in Washington,
D.C., I attended a presentation by Drew
Matott, who spoke about his Combat
Paper Project and a technique which he
calls pulp printing. In brief, the technique
involves pushing pulp through
a stencil onto a base sheet of freshly
couched paper. Many of us have experimented
with this technique (sometimes
called pulp stenciling), but what makes
Matott’s method unique is the way in
which he creates his stencils, as well as
his printing method.
Matott’s interest in printing with pulp
developed when he began performing
street interventions—interactive performances
in which he engaged participants
in papermaking on the street. He wanted
to incorporate text and sophisticated
imagery, and he needed a method that
was fast, since he could only hold the
attention of pedestrians on the street for
one or two minutes. Matott was looking
into having Mylar stencils cut with an
architectural plotter when he met Tim
Mosely from Silver Wattle Press (www
.silverwattlepress.com) at the CODEX
book fair. Mosely was using a technique
he’d developed to pulp print pages for
his artist books. Matott analyzed Mosely’s
technique and started experimenting
with silk screens and eventually developed
the following system for making
silk-screen stencils.
The silk screen that Matott has found
to work best with most imagery is 60
mesh. This is available from silk-screen
suppliers or large art supply stores like
Dick Blick. Matott prepares several
screens at a time, so that he has them
ready when he needs them. He also
prepares large screens (approximately
16”x20”), so that he has enough screen
for multiple smaller screens that he can
cut down as he needs them.
To prep the silk screen for transferring
an image, stretch it over a frame (simply
staple it over something like a canvas
stretcher) and coat it with a standard
photo silk-screen emulsion used for
textiles. Coat both sides of the screen
with the emulsion. After the emulsion
is dry, cut the screens off of the frames
and use them immediately, or store them
was very lovely paper, the sheets displaying
strands of unbeaten mulberry that
provided an interesting texture.
The original purpose of my expedition
was to locate papermakers in the
Gaoling Mountains of western Yunnan,
so next we headed in that direction, first
to the city of Tengchong. Years before I
had visited a hand papermaking mill on
the outskirts of that city, but the mill had
closed. We learned that many villages of
papermaking had once flourished in that
area, but only one remained, Guanyintan,
where a single family still made paper by
hand. We found the place, a mere tenminute
drive from our hotel, and I was
able to document the family’s final days
of papermaking; they planned to cease
operations within the month. Two women
were forming sheets of
paper from wood pulp
and mulberry fiber using
counter-balanced moulds
consisting of a wood frame
with a bamboo screen held
in place by two hinged
deckle sticks. The mulberry
fiber had been cooked
in lime and bleached.
Formation aid was used,
made from the Opuntia sp.
cactus. Beating was done
in a Hollander, and a screw
press used for pressing the
paper, with final drying by brushing the
sheets onto vertical heated plates.
To reach the papermakers in the Gaoling
Mountains, however, the trip took
more than four hours, driving on rough
roads along paddies of harvested rice, and
tobacco fields under cultivation, with a
stop at Jie Tou town for lunch. I inspected
the town’s lively marketplace, where I
saw many stalls selling handmade spirit
paper. Here our guide received directions
on how to find the papermakers, and
eventually we arrived at Suojia, although
the final several miles were very slow
as we followed a tractor whose friendly
driver agreed to show the way. We visited
one papermaking family that was making
spirit paper for burning as well as brightly
colored paper that was sold to dealers for
use in making decorative paper objects.
The processes and equipment were quite
similar to what we had seen in Guanyintan,
except that the fiber used was entirely
paper mulberry, and drying was done by
overlapping sheets on both the inside and
outside walls of their houses and then
brushing them to dry in the air. The most
astounding fact we learned here was that
there are currently forty-five families mak-
in a light tight container, like a black
contractor’s bag or a black bag for storing
photographic paper.
Now you are ready to transfer your
imagery onto the silk screen, but first you
need an image. You can use any black
and white image—a photocopied image
or a photo that has been altered in
Photoshop will both work well. You can
play around with the contrast and density
of your image on a photocopier or go into
Photoshop to adjust the image by using
image settings, curves, levels, and contrast
features. When you are satisfied with
your image, photocopy or print it onto a
transparency.
The next step involves exposing the
image from the transparency onto the
silk screen, which you can do in a variety
of ways. For each of these methods,
place your transparency with the image
on top of the silk screen (toner in direct
contact with screen emulsion) and then
put a piece of heavy glass on top to keep
it flat. To expose the image you can use a
silk-screen exposure bulb in a shop lamp
(these are available at silk-screen suppliers
or large art supply stores) with the
light on for approximately 12 minutes,
keeping the light a distance of 12” away
from the screen and glass. You should
always make a test exposure on a piece
of silk screen to test the length of your
exposure. If the emulsion washes out of
the non-image areas, the exposure wasn’t
long enough. If the emulsion won’t wash
out the exposure was too long. Adjust the
exposure time accordingly. If you have
access to a polymer plate machine (this
is Matott’s preferred method) you can
expose the image for 10-15 seconds; a
third method devised by Andrea Peterson
involves utilizing the power of the
sun to expose your silk screen using a
cyanotype method.
After making the contact print, use
a hose to spray water evenly onto both
sides of the silk screen for 2-3 minutes,
until you can see through the image
areas when you hold it up to the light. Be
careful, because the photo emulsion is
water-soluble and could start to dissolve.
To set the emulsion, bake the exposed
screen for 10 minutes at 125º or hang it
out to dry in the sun for an hour.
Now it is time to make your print. For
pulp, Matott usually beats one pound of
cotton linters with the roll down (listen
for that high-pitch grinding) in a Reina
beater for 4-6 hours until it is very short
(be careful that you don’t grind the beater
roll—watch for grey discoloration). He
has also tried using a roll of toilet paper,
which was successful when beaten in a
Valley Beater for 1 1/2 hours with all of
the weights on.
To print with pulp, first pull a base
sheet of paper and couch it. Now lay
your silk-screen stencil on top of the base
sheet. Matott uses a thick piece of pellon
to mask the edges of his image (for example,
a persons head) so that the sprayed
pulp doesn’t spray outside the image area.
Take a spritzer bottle (a simple gardening
spray bottle) and fill it with watered-down,
pigmented, over-beaten cotton mixed to
the consistency of maple syrup. Choose
the widest spray option on the bottle
and spritz aggressively through the silk
screen, as though you were putting glass
cleaner on a window. The force of the
spray is important because it pushes the
pulp through the screen. When you’ve
completed your print, pull the stencil off
the base sheet and rinse it off.
Now you can get creative. Play with
altering the color of your backing sheet
and print. Make duotones by spraying two
tones through the screen—they will bleed
together (like airbrushing). Layer the
same image multiple times by moving
the screen over different areas on the base
sheet. Take a body of text, lay that screen
down and place a screen with an image
over the top to create a double exposure.
The text will take on the shape of the
image. Mask image areas with pellon or
shaped deckles. Since the silk screen is
flexible, you can work sculpturally, too.
The sky is the limit. After completing
your prints, press and dry them as you
normally would.
The image you see here is a detail of a
pulp print called ‘Breaking Rank,’ created by
Drew Cameron and Drew Matott in 2008.
For more information about Drew
Matott and the Combat Paper Project,
visit www.greendoorstudio.net .
Based in Philadelphia, Winifred Radolan operates
an itinerant teaching papermill, and has taught
papermaking to thousands of adults and children.
Winnie calls this issue’s column “The Best Laid
Plans…or Be Sure to Have Plan B, Maybe C!”
Driving home from the planning
meeting I had with the principal of
Longfellow Elementary School and my
sponsoring art center, I harbored the
alarmingly recurring thought, “I just
agreed to do WHAT?” The two-hour session
was four times as long as meetings
usually run—this should have been my
first clue that it might be a white-knuckle
adventure! This residency was meant
to be a ground-breaking first time that
a whole school population, ages K-4th
grade, would “adopt” the horseshoe crab
through my conservation/papermaking
lesson. What took two hours of planning
was figuring out and scheduling the logistics
of working with as many students
in six days as I normally would see in ten,
and keeping it all on Mondays, with the
exception of a couple of national holidays.
And oh, by the way, the principal wanted
me to involve literacy in the project, as
well as have the students leave the school
with some lasting wall-mounted artwork.
As I mulled over the schedule it began
to make sense, although my hands hurt
in anticipation of all the work they would
do, helping the sheer number of children
who would need my assistance in making
paper in one day.
On the first two scheduled Mondays I
would meet five classes a day for one hour
each. I was certain that after one hour of
looking at and touching horseshoe crab
molts and models up close, students
and teachers alike would be intrigued by
this remarkable creature. On days three
and four of the residency I would guide
everyone in making their own take-home
piece of handmade paper. And on days
five and six the classes would view the artful
horseshoe crab video, “The Crabs, the
Birds and the Bay,” while each student
contributed his/her papermaking mark
to a 22” x 30” sheet of poured paper for the
class collaboration pulp paintings. I would
then press, dry, and mount the ten individual
Horseshoe Crab Pulp Paintings, to be wallmounted
outside each classroom’s door.
With a solid
plan in mind I
thought, “Let
the adventures
begin.”
Here is how
things have been
unfolding. On
days one and two I discovered that a very
disgruntled music teacher had not been
notified that she wouldn’t be able to hold
her class in the art room on my scheduled
Mondays. And all the students were
supposed to attend a “special music assembly”
with her kids performing, so she
was certain that I would have no students
in my 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. time slot!
I side-stepped these crises by electing to
have my classes meet next door in the
library. It had a space more conducive to
sitting in a circle on the floor and examining
treasures from my horseshoe crab
box anyway. As we progressed through
the five one-hour classes, I was astounded
to find only one or two children who had
even heard of horseshoe crabs! These
children live 1Ч hours away from the
beaches where the majority of East Coast
horseshoe crab mating and related bird
feeding frenzy occurs. I was also alarmed
to learn that instead of the promised
twenty-two-student class size, I actually
met with twenty-six to twenty-eight children
in each group, with whom, in weeks
three and four, I would have only one
hour to make paper!
Day three, my first papermaking day,
got off to a rocky Monday morning start.
The seriously diligent crossing guard had
not received the memo instructing her
to allow me to drive through the school
yard up to the rear basement door, where
I was to unload all the heavy papermaking
paraphernalia. This left me parking half
a block away on the street in front of the
school, then carrying everything up one
flight of steps and down two in order to
reach my destination, the art room. And
water access was a tiny hand sink in the
girl’s lavatory down the hall. In spite of
these logistical nightmares, I enjoyed
making paper with all 130 children each
day (nearly a new record for me, never to
be repeated!). I scaled back my usual pulp
layering process in order to fit everything
into the restricted time frame. Each child
pulled a “base sheet,” then carried it back
to the couching spot at his/her table. At
each table small dishes of pigmented pulp
paint and pipettes were available for the
children to apply design layers to their
sheets. Then, of course, I pressed all the
paper and brought it home to restraint dry
on luan boards.
Over the next weekend my daughter
helped me pour the large sheets of paper
for day five’s collaborative pulp paining
sessions. I prepared stencils of horseshoe
crabs and shore birds, as well as more
liquid pulp paint. As I packed the car that
morning, I was careful not to forget the
video and the horseshoe crab brochure for
each child. At the last minute I grabbed my
collection of children’s books which I had
shared with the students on day one. These
books became “Plan B” when the requested
VCR monitor was nowhere to be found.
Another exercise in flexibility arose
when none of the teachers recalled being
scheduled for the 10:00 a.m. time slot. All
four classes planned on arriving in the art
room at 11:00 a.m.! So I suggested splitting
the three kindergarten classes into
two half-hour sections from 1:00 – 2:00
p.m. Somehow it all worked out, giving
me free time to ventilate by writing this article.
When the VCR monitor finally materialized,
classes were quite engaged by the
video. This allowed small rotating groups
of three students each to make their paper
marks on the collaborative pulp painting,
and then return to viewing the film.
It is my hope that after I’ve completed
this residency some of the teachers
will work with their students to create
language/visual artworks to submit to
Ecological Research and Development
Group’s annual juried student arts competition,
“Young Voices.” But even if this
doesn’t materialize, I am certain that many
young people will have been introduced
to two of my
life’s passions,
papermaking
and horseshoe
crabs.
If you are
interested
in learning
more about
ERDG and viewing some of the student
artworks in “Young Voices,” please visit
www.horseshoecrab.org.
ON-LINE
What is common to paper, cooking,
and the web? The recipe, or URL
in the latter case, must work again and
again. I had originally picked a different
site for review, but, to my dismay, the
URL wouldn’t work—the server would
not let me load it. So maybe I will be able
to review it in the future. While this is not
uncommon to the web (which changes all
the time), flexibility, as in life, is the key.
Let us go to the
United Kingdom
and visit the British
Association of
Paper Historians,
at http://www
.baph.org.uk/.
This site is not
filled with technological
goodies;
just simple
web fare.
The splash
page gives us the basics of the group’s
purpose, which is “to act as a focal point
for sharing information on historical paper
research … by promoting contact between
those involved and by providing information
on current developments.” In addition,
they seek to arouse interest in papermaking
history, to promote the study of all aspects
of paper history, and to support centers
that preserve papermaking equipment and
archival records.
The menu buttons on the left direct
you to information about committee
members, the association’s events, and
the quarterly newsletter archives. You can
get to an index of articles in individual
newsletter issues, but you need to be
a member in order to read the articles
themselves.
Click on ‘General Reference.’ The
first of five items is the ‘Glossary of
Papermaking Terms.’ This glossary is
quite comprehensive, beginning with
abaca and ending with vat. No matter
how many times I see a terminology list,
I come away with something old becoming
new again. In this case, I discovered
that ass has a different meaning in relation
to papermaking!
The second item, ‘Paper Makers’ Index’
is still under construction. So, onto the
third, ‘Old English Paper Sizes.’ This is
fun, scrolling down through the names
and sizes. The main categories are Writing
Papers, Cut Writing Papers, Book
and Drawing Papers, Printing Papers,
Cartridge Papers, and Board. The papers
within each category have sheet sizes
listed in inches. This is a good chart and
reference for paper facts. Now you know
the size in inches of foolscap. No, it is not a
hat that a jester wears.
The next item is a suggested reading
list, and the final item consists of
summaries of the recommended books.
The comment for Dard Hunter’s book,
Papermaking: The History and Technique
of an Ancient Craft, sums up what many
in the United States believe as well: “This
book, for which there is, as yet, no comparable
publication, is a complete and
authoritative survey.” Amen. There are
many more books on the list that could
be helpful papermaking resources.
‘Picture Galleries’ is the sweetest part
of the site. You will get your choice of
four areas: items made of paper, such as
bank notes, customs stamps, historic engravings
and photos, and decorated end
papers; papermills; production of paper;
and watermarks. This gallery section is a
must for reference, as well as a true joy to
view, and definitely worth your time.
The last of the reference archives is
‘Paper History.’ These are essays, and
somewhat less pictorial. The sub categories
here are ‘Early History of Paper,’
‘First Papermill at Dartford,’ ‘History of
Papermaking in the United Kingdom,’
and ‘Paper - one of the most important
inventions of the last two millennia.’
So, there is something on this web
site for
everyone,
beginners
and
paper
gourmets
alike. It is
a simple
but well
done tool for paper research. At the
same time, it is just plain fun.
PS: In my last column, I was cleaning
up my bookmarks and I came across a
free download that easily separates dead,
non-working URLs from good ones.
With this tool, you do not have to open
each one to see if it is still a viable location.
Here is my free gift www.aignes
.com/deadlink.htm (it’s freeware), and
happy cleaning (special, for the first 20
readers only...).
Cathleen A. Baker, PhD, is Senior Paper Conservator
at the University of Michigan Library. She is
author of By His Own Labor: The Biography of
Dard Hunter and proprietor of The Legacy Press
(www.legacy-press.com), specializing in the printing,
paper, and bookbinding arts. Here Cathleen clarifies
the differences between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ paper.
As a paper conservator with almost
forty years experience, I have often
been asked: Is only handmade, rag paper
good? What the questioners are referencing
as “poor” paper attributes are those
they have observed, such as brittleness
and a brown color, and those they have
read about, such as acidity and the need
to deacidify. When trying to answer this
question, I have tried, at the very least,
to convey the idea that paper is good
when it eminently serves the purpose for
which it was made and when it has aged
without undergoing significant negative
changes to the furnish of the paper.1
Over the past 100 years, the notion has
grown that paper made from rag fibers
and formed by hand is, by definition,
so much better than paper made from
non-rag fibers, notably wood fibers, and
made on a machine. This simply is not
the case. Serviceable and stable paper is
good paper. “Good” is guaranteed as long
as the manufacturer, informed by a deep
understanding of how the paper can be
utilized to the best advantage, selects the
appropriate raw materials and method of
formation.
My idea of “good” paper was put to
a challenge recently while I conserved
ninety-seven maps bound in an eighteenth-
century atlas in the University of
Michigan’s Special Collections Library.2
While bound and without the aid of a
transmitted-light examination, the various
German-made (?) papers that comprise
this atlas look quite similar—they are
clearly laid and off-white in color. They exhibit
a range of condition from excellent
to poor (the latter based on damage from
external sources: water, dirt, insects, and
handling). The most significant tactile difference
between them is the gelatin sizing,
which ranges from well to middling to poor.
Once the maps were removed from the
binding and examined on a light table,
it was immediately obvious that, from a
papermaking point of view, they could not
have been more different.
After this examination, I classified the
papers into two types: fine (41 maps) and
coarse (56 maps). The fine papers exhibit
a relatively clear formation with few or
no defects, such as “papermaker’s tears”
or knots (clumps of fibers, denoting poor
beating). Most of the fine papers were not
watermarked, although a few sheets have
ones that are difficult to interpret due
to the density of the engraving and the
hand-applied watercolors overlying them.
Although there is little to distinguish the
fine from the coarse papers in normal
light, in transmitted light the coarse paper
is unbelievably “knotty”—the entire body
of the paper consists of knots that, in the
worst papers, often touch one another.
The image below is representative of this
coarse paper; the space within the latitude/
longitude grid is about 55 mm x 35 mm.
The coarse papers were invariably countermarked
AH or HA in the center of the
right or left half of the sheet, indicating that
the two moulds used to form these sheets
had watermarks
sewn onto opposite
halves of
the laid covers.
(The fact that this
paper is laid is
more easily seen
in raking light
than in transmitted!)
I cannot
help thinking that
if this handmade
paper were on the
market today, it
would be roundly condemned as terrible.
It is interesting, therefore, that the
“poor” quality of this paper did not dissuade
the printer from using it. While
a relief (letterpress) printer would have
found this paper unusable due to the
tendency of the knots to break or flatten
out the relatively soft type metal, they did
not present an insurmountable problem
for the intaglio printer. Prior to the nineteenth
century, all paper was dampened,
which softened it, making it more receptive
to the actions of the printing press,
and saving ink.
The pressure
of the common
press used to
print books was
light compared
to the more substantial
pressure
that was generated
from the
cylinder or rolling
press used
by the intaglio
printer. Therefore
the softened
knots in this coarse paper could be forced
into the engraved lines lying below the
Sidney Berger, a professor at Simmons College
in Boston and Director of the Phillips Library at
Peabody Essex Museum, has been collecting and
researching decorated paper for over thirty years.
This is a column about the ‘maniacal collector.’
One of the pleasures of collecting
decorated papers is finding new
things. In fact, one of the frustrations
of collecting decorated papers is finding
new things, too. It is frustrating because
there is so much of it out there, and for
the maniacal collector (as I count myself),
no collection is complete without one of
every kind and pattern of paper.
As my recent column on Chiyogami
papers indicated, there is seemingly no
end to the patterns of these wonderful
sheets, and I want one of each. Impossible,
I know; but I still want one of each.
Part of the problem has to do with human
inventiveness. There are millions of patterns
out there, and seemingly endless techniques
of decorating paper, so no collection can ever
be complete. So I must content myself with
what I can find—and afford.
For this column I would like to look
at the lengths to which a collector will
> DECORATED PAPER
go to add to his holdings. That is, if I
see a decorated paper that I covet (and
that’s most of them), then I want it. For
the true maniacal collector there is no
difference between appreciating an object
and coveting it. This generic observation
about collecting can be supplemented by
other generic statements. For instance,
when you collect something, you can
never have too many. This is a truism for
collectors of all kinds.
Another observation: though we are all
on a limited budget of some size, to the
true maniacal collector, price has little to
do with what we want in our collections.
If we want something badly enough, we
will do everything in our power to acquire
it. I once had an aunt who collected
hats. During the Depression she was
walking to a bank to pay her monthly
rent—$50. All she had that month was
that $50. On the way she saw a $50 hat
in a window. She bought the hat and was
a month late on her rent.
One more truism for a collector is that
focus is a fuzzy concept. Every collector
I know branches out. I know someone
who started collecting hotel shampoos—
the little freebies your get on your sink.
She branched out to conditioners, then
to soaps, then to mouthwashes, then
to combs and sewing kits, and then to
shower caps. We all branch out. I am a
victim of this phenomenon.
My branching out started quite early
when I saw a small box covered in a lovely
Chiyogami paper, full of tiny Chiyogami
sheets for origami. The box contained
at least a hundred little pieces, so I had
to have it. It was the first of many. Our
collection now has scores of little and big
boxes covered, lined with, or containing
papers. There is even a stack of twelve
nesting pentagram-shaped boxes, each
covered with a different Mingei paper—
those attractive Japanese stenciled papers
done in a few colors.
Then there was a box of waxed paper
from the 1930s or ’40s, with its entire
waxed paper roll still in it. The graphics
on the box were nice and the old roll
was in perfect condition. It was a must
for the collection. This was followed by
a little flat box containing paper used
to polish silver, with the original papers
inside. It fell victim to my lust.
In an antique store I found a gem: a
small box, about two by three inches,
containing about twelve tiny paperwrapped
packages of perfumed papers,
each package containing ten tiny sheets.
This French confection indicated that the
tiny sheets were to be burned to release
the perfume into a stuffy room. So it’s a
paper box, containing paper packages,
containing paper “incense,” all beautifully
printed on blue papers. Had to have it!
A few years ago a British dealer, knowing
of my sickness, offered me a small
porcelain covered dish with a scene on it
commemorating the 250th anniversary
of a British paper mill. It didn’t fit anywhere
else in the world more perfectly
than it did in our collection. (Notice that
I say “our,” because my wife is wonderfully
indulgent and has added hundreds
of items to the collection herself. I
have a partner in crime, a sympathetic
mate—the one great treasure in the life
of a serious collector. If you are going
to collect with a passion, make sure you
have a consenting accomplice.)
One other axiom about collectors: every
collector I know learns how to justify
every purchase. We are Masters of Rationalization.
My first rationalization was
that the things I was buying could be
used in my teaching. I could take them
to class. (This rationalization made just
about everything I bought tax deductible,
since it was a professional expense.) But
when I bought an 8-foot-long 75-pound
dandy roll, a huge part of a commercial
papermaking machine that put watermarks
into machine-made paper, I could
Mary Tasillo is a papermaker, book artist, and
mixed media maven based in Philadelphia. She
works at the Center for the Conservation of Art
and Historic Artifacts, and teaches workshops
nationally. In this issue she talks about learning
to adapt.
> FOR BEGINNERS
As a new papermaker who is unlikely
to have a fancy studio set up, you may
find yourself an itinerant papermaker,
making paper wherever you can finagle
access. If you’ve had the benefit of a
couple of different papermaking teachers,
you have discovered that there is no one
right way to do things. Teacher A instructs
you to do just what Teacher B announces
not carry it to class. So I invented a new
justification—a new strategy: I would
bring the students to the dandy roll. We
now have two magnificent dandy rolls.
In future columns I will talk about
other wonderful paper-decorated things
that have found their way to our collection.
Paper is perhaps the most useful,
malleable, and underrated material in
the world.
And I want more of it.
is a bad habit. Likewise, each studio is
different. What happens when you find
yourself in unfamiliar territory, with a
different beating system, or couching
directly to felts instead of pellon, or with a
loft rather than a restraint drying system?
A former professor (who, it must be said,
was a great advocate of my work) drove
me crazy when introducing the printmaking
shop.
This individual’s instructions were: “it’s
just like cooking in a different kitchen.”
The thing is, not all kitchens are created
equal. If I am used to cooking in a tiny
apartment kitchen, I might not know how
to use an industrial-sized stand mixer. If I
don’t have non-stick pans in my kitchen,
I might not know that by using a metal
spoon in your pan, I am ruining it.
By way of confession, I recently put
some wear and tear on a stack drying
system. Not all stack dryers are created
alike, and the stack dryer to which I was
accustomed would have my production
run dry in absolutely no longer than two
days. Well, here I was with a perpetually
damp stack dryer as I exchanged the still
damp paper for fresh wet sheets.
Second confession: my first impulse
was a wish for my own studio, built the
way I like it with vat tables that are low
enough for my own meager height and
stack dryers up to some serious production.
But as I rotated my way through
my 300 sheets, stacked in posts of ten
between felts, because there are only so
many large wet felts I can heft around,
I realized that I would not be learning
much of anything pulling this run in the
familiar studio I used in grad school. I
would never see what it does to couch
my sheets onto felts instead of pellon,
nor would I learn anything about how to
manage the wetness and surface texture
of the felt-couched sheets. I wouldn’t
have become good friends with the Valley
beater through which I ran a good seventeen
loads or so of pulp.
So don’t be afraid of cooking in different
kitchens. A papermaker’s greatest
strength is not a stellar shake at the vat,
but rather superhuman problem-solving
skills. The corollary is: don’t be afraid
to ask questions. A person can get so
accustomed to a familiar studio that one
forgets that things can be done any other
way. So: how do you clean your felts?
How do you load your stack dryer? How
long does it take for your paper to dry?
How do you press your paper? A papermaker
can answer these questions for a
familiar studio. But different pressing
procedures might work better for paper
couched on felts, for example. You’ll
never know until you try...or ask. Instead
of bemoaning your lack of personal
papermaking studio in your possibly
non-existent garage, get out there and
make paper promiscuously. Your studio
knowledge will grow to comprehensive
proportions and when you do get around
to putting together that ideal studio,
you’ll know exactly what works for you.
> more for beginners at:
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts,
Gatlinburg, TN, (865) 436-5860, www.
arrowmont.org. Classes and workshops
in a variety of disciplines, including
papermaking.
Sculptural Papermaking, July 27-August 2,
with Jo Stealey. Enhance your visual voice
through multi-media techniques and innovative
design.
Marbled Paper & Paste Paper Extravaganza,
August 3-9, with Mimi Schleicher. Create
sophisticated and complex designs yielding
gorgeous decorative papers.
Asheville BookWorks, Asheville, NC, (828)
255-8444, www.bookworksasheville.com.
Hands-on workshops including bookbinding,
printmaking, decorative paper, and
basic papermaking.
More Marbling on Paper and Cloth, August
23-24, with Steve Pittelkow. Learn intricate
and unusual patterns, including the Italian
hair vein, Spanish moirО, and other waved
patterns, as well as intricate flowers and
other designs.
Atelier Cirkel, Brasschaat, Belgium, 0032-3
633 05 89, www.ateliercirkel.be.
Working with Handmade Paper, September
20, with Denies Van Loon. Experiment with
color and fibers to make paper and some
small dimensional work.
Bear Creek Paperworks, Columbia, MO,
(573) 442-3360, www.bearcreekpaperworks
.com. Workshops in paper and book arts;
some workshops can be taken for academic
credit through Central Methodist University.
Contact Leandra Spangler at leandra@bear
creekpaperworks.com for more information.
CabrilloArts Summer Workshops, Santa
Cruz, CA, (831) 479-6343, www.cabrillo.edu.
Intensive summer courses in the arts.
Making Paper: An Artist’s Exploration, July
28-August 8, with John Babcock. Explore
handmade paper using fibers and pigments
from around the world to create unique large
format art works.
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.
Japanese Papermaking, August 31-September
6, with Rajeania Snider. Explore fiber preparation,
sheet forming, and decorative techniques,
as well as building your own sugeta.
Making Paper for Small Projects, November
9-15, with Claudia Lee. Make your own
mould & deckle for forming sheets from
traditional fibers, recycled materials, and
plants, then turn these sheets into a variety
of objects.
Carriage House Paper, Brooklyn, NY , 800-
669-8781, www.carriagehousepaper.com.
Papermaking workshops offered in a new
studio space. Visit website for fall/winter
workshop schedule.
Center for Book Arts, New York, NY, (212)
481-0295, www.centerforbookarts.org. Dozens
of book and paper workshops offered in
midtown Manhattan.
Suminagashi Paper Decoration, July 12, with
Yukari Hayashida. Make decorative paper with
basic techniques and simple preparations.
Paper Marbling, August 23-24, with Lauren
Rowland. Learn the basics of water-based paper
marbling using acrylic and tempera paints.
Columbia College Chicago Center for Book
and Paper Arts, Chicago, IL, (312) 344-6630,
www.bookandpaper.org. Papermaking
classes in spacious downtown studios.
Papermaking 101, Tuesdays, June 3-July 8,
with Yukie Kobayashi. Learn the necessary
skills to create your own projects in hand
papermaking, from fiber preparation to
sheet formation to drying.
Intro to Marbling, June 28-29, with Loni
Diep and Brandy LaChapelle. Learn all the
basics of making marbled papers.
Creative Applications of Handmade Paper,
July 12, 19, 26, & 27, with Yukie Kobayashi.
Explore specific fiber preparation techniques
to use for your own artwork.
Cottage Industry Technology Center, 20
Russet St., SSS Village, Marikina City,
Philippines. Workshops, demonstrations
and technical consultancy in a variety of
crafts and livelihoods, including hand
papermaking and related crafts. Contact
LorEto.DA@gmail.com or bookendshere2002@
yahoo.com or (632) 942-3974.
Intensive Hand Papermaking, July 1–3, with
Loreto Apilado. Transform plants from fiber
to pulp to paper in 3 days.
Paper Product Adaptation, October 1, with
Loreto Apilado. Make handmade boxes and
journals.
Dieu DonnО Papermill, New York, NY, (212)
226-0573, www.dieudonne.org. Beginning
and advanced papermaking classes for
adults and children.
Introduction to Contemporary Papermaking,
July 7, August 4, with staff instructor. Learn
the basic papermaking process, as well as
various artistic techniques.
Open Studio, July 16, August 13, with staff
instructor. Experiment on your own with
studio pulps, making sheets up to 11 x 14
inches.
Creative Techniques for Artists, July 23, August
20, with staff instructor. Explore different
advanced techniques in each session.
Green Heron Book Arts, Forest Grove, OR
Classes in book and paper arts at the Acciden
tal BookMaker. Contact pagrass@aol.com
for more information.
The Hall of Awa Japanese Handmade Paper,
141 Kawahigashi, Yamakawa-cho, Yoshinogawashi,
Tokushima 779-3401, Japan, fax
81-883-42-6085, www.awagami.com.
Annual Hand Papermaking Workshop, August
18-23, with staff instructor. Learn to make
traditional paper from kozo, from preparing
the bark to drying the finished sheets.
Historic RittenhouseTown, Philadelphia, PA,
(215) 843-2228, www.rittenhousetown.org.
Summer paper arts workshop series at the
site of America’s first paper mill. For further
information, call (215) 438-5711 or email
programs@rittenhousetown.org.
Magnolia Editions, Oakland, CA, (510) 839-
5268, www.magnoliapaper.com. Workshops
in papermaking, printmaking, and book arts.
Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis,
MN, (612) 215-2520, www.mnbookarts
.org. Classes at the Open Book center for
book and literary arts.
From Bubble Wrap to Bottle Caps: Embellishing
Handmade Paper with Everyday Media, July
7, 14, and 21, with Erica Spitzer Rasmussen.
Explore low-tech methods for surfacing
paper with inexpensive and commonplace
materials that can provide surprisingly
beautiful results.
Intro to Marbling, July 26, with Lin Lacy.
Learn the process and materials needed to
marble paper while creating several patterns.
Low Relief Papermaking, August 16, with Emily
Hoisington. Cast paper pulp using forms and
molds to create sculptural, low relief objects.
Marbling Open Studio, August 23, with Lin
Lacy. Work independently in an open marbling
session under the eye of an artist who
can answer questions and share tips.
Old Ways Book Arts Tools and Workshops,
near Santa, ID, (208) 245-3043, www.geoci
ties.com/oldways_id/, oldway@imbris.com.
Old Ways of Making Books from Raw Materials,
June 26-July 11, with Jim Croft. Learn
to create book arts tools by hand, process
hemp and flax for paper and thread, hand
papermaking, and how to make books with
wooden boards and brass clasps.
Paper Circle, Nelsonville, OH, (740) 753-
3374, www.papercircle.org, papercircle@
frognet.net. Call or e-mail for information
about upcoming paper classes.
Open Studio, second Saturdays, with studio
artists. Gain new skills while working on
themed, relaxed projects.
The Paper Studio, Tempe, AZ, (480) 557-5700,
www.paperstudio.com. Classes in book arts,
papermaking, printmaking, and alternative
photographic processes.
The Papertrail, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada,
(800) 421-6826, www.papertrail.ca. Classes
in papermaking, marbling, and related
arts and studio rental scheduled on an
as-needed basis.
PapierWespe (PaperWasp), Aegidigasse
3/Hof, 1060 Wien, Austria, (0676)
77-33-153, office@papierwespe.at, www.
papierwespe.at. Workshops in English
and German taught by paper specialists in
downtown Vienna.
Papertextils, September 20-21.
Decorative Papers, October 24-26. Explore
both historical and new techniques.
Penland School, Penland, NC, (828) 765-
2359, www.penland.org. A full program of
craft workshops, including papermaking.
Paper & Light, July 6-18, with Ann Marie
Kennedy. Learn about the myriad ways in
which light and paper interact, using several
sheet forming techniques to produce paper
with sculptural possibilities and imagebased
applications.
Color Joomchi, August 10-22, with Jiyoung
Chung. Use low-tech hands-on processes,
adapting this traditional Korean handmade
paper technique to contemporary
two- and three-dimensional art.
A Survey of Decorative Paper Techniques,
August 10-22, with Steve Pittelkow. Use Japanese
methods, paste paper, and marbling
techniques to build a portfolio of papers and
construct objets d’art.
Peters Valley Craft Center, Layton, NJ, (973)
948-5200, www.pvcrafts.org. Workshops in
papermaking and a variety of crafts.
Garden Papers, July 25-29, with Mary Hark.
Use materials from the garden as well
as kozo and gampi to make papers with
unique textures and rich natural colors.
Pyramid Atlantic, Silver Spring, MD, (301)
608-9101, www.pyramidatlanticartcenter.org.
Workshops in papermaking, printmaking,
and book arts.
Papermaking Society, Wednesdays, with
Gretchen Schermerhorn. Bring snacks,
discuss papermaking techniques, and make
as many sheets of paper as you can.
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence,
RI, (800) 364-7473. Continuing education
through the Summer Institute of Graphic
Design Studies.
Paper, Print, Book, June 30-August 5, with
Suzi Cozzens. Experiment with handmade
paper, including recycled materials, plant
fiber, enclosures, and dyes; then apply image-
making techniques and bind into books.
San Francisco Center for the Book, San
Francisco, CA, (415) 565-0545, www.sfcb.org.
Book arts classes and events year-round.
Pastepapers Old and New, August 16, with
Michael Burke. Explore the joys of making
your own historical decorated papers, then
experiment with contemporary designs and
inventive techniques.
Seastone Papers, West Tisbury, MA, (508)
693-5786, www.seastonepapers.com. Workshops
in papermaking, surface design, and
book arts on the island of Martha’s Vineyard.
Seaweed in Paper, July 14 or August 11, with
Sandy Bernat. Collect, process, and incorporate
seaweed in surface design on wet fiber.
Wet Bound Books, July 7, July 21, or August
5, with Sandy Bernat. Work with wet fiber to
form images and bind books in wet pulp.
Pulp Painted and Pressed, July 22, with
Sandy Bernat. Create large art pieces using
pigmented pulp.
Wet and Wild Basics, August 4 or August
25, with Sandy Bernat. Explore the basics
of papermaking, manipulating wet pulp
through painting, lamination, and collage.
Sievers School of Fiber Arts, Washington
Island, WI 54246, (920) 847-2264,
www.sieversschool.com. Summer workshops
on an island in Lake Michigan.
Beginning Papermaking, July 25-27, with
Thomas Grade. Spend a weekend learning
two- and three-dimensional handmade paper
techniques.
Paper: Varying Degrees & Beyond, July 27-
August 1, with Thomas Grade. Learn a
broad spectrum of techniques for forming
handmade papers.
Make & Use Silk Fiber “Paper,” August 1-3,
with Deb Menz. Create fabric from unspun
silk fibers and address many applications
for this material.
Handmade Paper Lampshades, August 29-31,
with Michelle Workowski. Use handmade
papers, barks, and fibers to make as many
lampshades as time will allow.
Southwest School of Art & Craft, San Antonio,
TX, (210) 224-1848, www.swschool.org.
Classes at the Picante Paper Studio. Special
papermaking classes can be scheduled for
one person or a group; please contact Beck
Whitehead for more information.
Advanced Studio Rental, most Wednesdays,
with Beck Whitehead. Use the Picante
studio and equipment; some instruction is
available upon request.
Making Your Own Paper, July 1, with Studio
Instructors. Learn the art of papermaking
through individualized instruction.
Papermaking Saturday, September 6, October
4, November 8, or December 6, with Linda
Draper. Create paper in an environment that
is somewhere between a class and an open
studio.
Sculptural Paper, July 12-13, with Amy Gerhauser.
Make paper to enclose and create
sculptural forms.
Low Relief and Textured Paper, October 18,
with staff instructor.
Special Fibers: Pineapple, Yucca, and Iris,
November 22, with staff instructor.
Stone and Paper Art Center, L.L.C., Mandeville,
LA, (504) 674-9232,
www.stoneandpaper.com.
Hand Papermaking, selected Saturdays,
with Mary Elain Bernard. Learn Eastern
and Western methods of making paper and
incorporate local plant fibers.
Tidewater Papermaking Studio, Del Haven,
NJ. Papermaking retreats at the south New
Jersey shore. Papermaking studio rental
with instruction/consultation also available.
For further info contact Winnie.r@verizon.net
Japanese Papermaking, June 28-29, with
Winnie Radolan. Learn to transform inner
bark fibers from the paper mulberry tree
into special papers of great character.
Paper Basics, July 12-13, with Winnie Radolan.
Explore papermaking techniques from
basic sheet formatting to layering, embedding,
embossing, stenciling, and more.
Plant Fiber Papers, July 19-20, with Winnie
Radolan. Learn what and when to harvest
and how to cook and process fibers from
your garden cast-offs.
High Shrinkage Adventures, August 9-10,
with Winnie Radolan. Construct simple armatures
and wrap with high shrinkage pulp
to make experimental 3-D pieces.
Pulp, Sand, & Sea Immersion II, August 18-
22, with Winnie Radolan. Investigate pulp
painting, pouring large sheets, working with
Japanese fibers, and more.
West Dean College, Chichester, West Sussex,
U.K., (0)1243 811301, short.course@
westdean.org.uk, www.westdean.org.uk.
Papermaking as a Creative Medium, September
18-21, with Carol Farrow. Explore the
versatility of paper and gain knowledge of
Western papermaking techniques, including
two- and three-dimensional forms.
Patterned Papers for Books and Decorative
Uses, October 26-30, with Victoria Hall.
Make paste papers, dip-dyed papers, and
suminagashi marbled papers.
Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY
12472, (845) 658-9133, info@wsworkshop.org.
Summer Arts Institute includes workshops
in papermaking, printmaking, book arts,
photography, and other media.
Sculptural Papermaking, July 14-18, with
Ellen Kucera and Chris Petrone. Learn a
variety of armature-making techniques and
methods for covering forms with handmade
abaca and flax paper.
Pulp Painting: Beyond the Squeeze Bottle, July
21-25, with Shannon Brock. Combine 2-D
image-making techniques with 3-D sculptural
papermaking to create seamless paper
forms.
Cross Pollination: Papermaking and Encaustic,
July 28-August 1, with Chris Petrone
and Laura Moriarty. Create layered collages,
combining hand papermaking and
encaustic techniques.
Introduction to Asian Papermaking, August
4-8, with Kare Carr. Learn each step of
Japanese and Nepalese papermaking
techniques using kozo, from building a
mould to preparing the fiber, and forming
sheets.
Western Papermaking: Cotton, Flax, Abaca,
and Non-Traditional Fibers, August 11-15,
with Eugenie Barron. Explore the unique
characteristics of a variety of fibers, activating
the surface, color, or texture of the
sheets.
> more classes and workshops at:
CALLS FOR ENTRIES
The American Bamboo Society of
Amherst, Massachusetts, invites submission
of work using bamboo as material,
design source, or inspiration for the 2008
Annual Arts & Crafts Competition. For
submission details, email artsandcrafts@
americanbambook.org or call (413) 253-
0459. Submissions are due July 1.
My Paper, My Land, a postcard show
held to coincide with the 2009 IAPMA
Congress in Burnie, Tasmania, invites
entries of mail art. Works should reflect
where you come from and contain at least
eighty percent paper. The size should be
ten by fifteen centimeters. Please send
works through the mail, preferably with
postage stamp and postmark, to Gail
Stiffe, 11 Keltie Street, Glen Iris, Victoria
3146, Australia. Creative Paper’s Gallery
will display the postcards for one month
and on the web. For more details, contact
info@gailstiffe.com. Works should be
sent by March 1.
Conrad Wilde Gallery of Tucson, AZ is
reviewing submissions from book-making
artists working in all mediums for
inclusion in their group exhibition to be
held in September 2008, and from artists
working with handmade and machine
made paper for a 2009 exhibition. View
the General Call for Submissions at www
.conradwildegallery.com. Submissions
for the paper exhibition are due March 3,
2009. The gallery also seeks proposals for
workshops. Questions may be addressed
to info@conradwildegallery.com.
> EVENTS
You are invited to join Hand Papermaking
and Pyramid Atlantic in Silver Spring,
Maryland, on Saturday, August 2. During
afternoon tea beginning at 3:00, Tom
Bannister and Helen Frederick will
speak about why established artists work
with papermaking as an art form, and
Gretchen Schermerhorn will introduce
some notable up-and-coming paper artists
including Lisa Hill who is a featured
in the article ‘Why Beat Pulp?” in the
summer issue. Guests are welcome to
join Gretchen and Lisa in the papermill to
observe the making of a collaborative paperwork,
one of which you will take home
as a keepsake. The event concludes with
wine and cheese upstairs in the Pyramid
galleries for a personalized viewing of
four exhibitions: Fanciful Cravings by
Gretchen Schermerhorn and Maria Barbosa,
Printmakers Scratching the Surface,
Design and Pattern in Handmade Paper,
and Innovative Printmaking on Handmade
Paper. The cost is $55 per person, $50 of
which is a tax-deductible contribution
to Hand Papermaking. RSVP by calling
(800) 821-6604.
Collective Workshops 2008, an elevenday
residential conference offering handson
courses in book, paper, and print
techniques, will be held July 4-15 at Wellington
College in Berkshire, England.
Students will choose three courses from
ten offerings that include Papermaking
with Jim Patterson, Paper Washing and
Bleaching with Karen Vidler, and Historical
& Contemporary Pastepapers with Mark
Walmsley. The first event of its kind in the
U.K., this conference aims to challenge,
encourage, stimulate, and entertain. The
limit of sixty participants gives everybody
the chance to get to know each other. To
receive a brochure or join the mailing list,
email info@collective workshops.org.
The 2nd Annual SLV Folk Arts and Fiber
Festival takes place July 11-13 in Monte
Vista, Colorado, and features workshops
and a vendor fair. Go to www.slvfest.com
for more information or email admin@
slvfest.com with questions.
What It Takes: Fine Craft on Martha’s
Vineyard is a series of events taking place
July 13 through August 8 at the Featherstone
Center for the Arts. Featuring six
Island artists, the exhibitions, lectures,
workshops, and studio tours will highlight
local work in paper, tapestry, ceramics, and
multimedia. For details, visit www.featherstonearts.
org or call (508) 693-1850.
Clay & Paper Camp for Kids will be
offered in Fennville, Michigan, with
papermaker Donna Allgaier-Lamberti
and potter Dawn Soltysiak at Khnemu
Gallery and White Oak Studio. The camp
will be held August 1 and August 8, and
will include instruction in making plant
fiber papers. For additional details, visit
www.KhnemuStudio.com or contact
Donna Allgaier-Lamberti at (269) 236-
0325 or wordspictures@yahoo.com.
Dieu Donné Benefit Auction takes place
October 14 and will honor David Kiehl,
curator of prints at the Whitney Museum
of American Art. The event will be held
at Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan
and will include a live and silent auction
of new works on handmade paper, made
especially for this event, by renowned
and emerging artists. An exhibition of
all donated works will be on view at Dieu
Donné from September 18–October 11. An
opening reception will be held Thursday,
Sept. 18, 6–8 p.m. For tickets or more
information, please contact Peter J. Russo,
Program Manager at (212) 226-0573.
The Friends of Dard Hunter meet annually
to enjoy speakers, presentations,
tours of local paper and book arts facilities,
a trade show, auction, and banquet.
Scholarships are available to those with
financial need. For information on this
conference: www.friendsofdardhunter.org.
The 2008 meeting will be held October
23-26 in Kona, Hawaii, at the Outrigger
Keauhou Beach Resort.
The 10th Biennial Pyramid Atlantic
Book Arts Fair and Conference will take
place November 7-9 in Silver Spring,
Maryland, at the newly erected Cafritz
Art Center at Montgomery College of Art
and Design. The event connects international
artists to collectors and scholars
of the book arts through a dynamic book
fair, stimulating conference lectures,
exhibitions, panel discussions, and
events. Visit www.bookartsfair.org for all
the details.
The 20th IAPMA Congress meets in
Tasmania in 2009 in the coastal town
of Burnie, home to Australia’s largest
handmade paper mill. The conference
theme is Paper of the New World and
Rejuvenation.
Pulp Function, curated by Lloyd Herman,
founding Director of the Smithsonian’s
Renwick Gallery, will be at the Nicolaysen
Art Museum and Discovery Center,
Casper, Wyoming from July 11 through
September 28. It will then travel to
the Plains Art Museum, Fargo, North
Dakota, and the James Michener Museum,
Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Art
made from paper pulp, recycled paper,
cardboard, and papier mache, and cut,
folded, or otherwise manipulated paper
is featured. For more information, visit
www.fullercraft.org or www.thenic.org.
Wake Up: Are We Desensitized? features
political work by three artists, including
work in handmade paper by Mary Tasillo.
The show, curated by Raleigh Caesar,
runs through July at the Pierro Gallery in
South Orange, New Jersey. Call (973) 378-
7754 or visit www.pierrogallery.org
Dieu DonnО Gallery presents Opportunity
as Community: Artists Select Artists, a
two-part show. Part One runs through
July 26 and Part Two is on display August
1 through September 6. For more
information, please contact Catherine C.
Parker, Gallery Director at (212) 226-0573
or cparker@dieudonne.org, or visit www
.dieudonne.org. Next the gallery will display
works donated to the benefit auction,
opening September 18.
Paper Circle in Nelsonville, Ohio, will be
exhibiting the work of several paper and
book artists. The work of Circle Round
the Square is on display in July. For more
information or to view images of past
exhibits visit www.papercircle.org or call
(740) 753-3374.
Uprooted: Handmade Paper on Canvas
is on view July 1 through July 31, featuring
the work of Donna Allgaier-Lamberti.
The show takes place at the South
Haven Memorial Library in Michigan,
and includes collages on canvas and cast
sculptural work using artist-made plantbased
paper. For directions and hours,
call the library at (269) 637-2403.
Play, a year-long evolving interdisciplinary
exhibit is open alongside The
Artistsbook Library at Proteus Gowanus
in Brooklyn. The process for creating
the exhibits and programs, co-curated
by Maddy Rosenberg, is an unfolding
of related art, books, artifacts, objects,
films, and performances, generated by
suggestions of visitors to the gallery, by
a growing number of artists and workers
in many disciplines, and by the rich
interdisciplinary resources of eight
collaborating non-profit organizations.
Work by paper and book maker Robbin
Ami Silverberg is included. Visit www
.proteusgowanus.com or call (718) 243-
1572 for location and hours.
Papierwespe’s Paper Jewelry exhibition
presents a selection of jewelry made
from artists around the world. The
exhibition will be at The Paper Museum
from June to November. For further information,
Papierwespe can be contacted
at (0676) 77-33-153, office@papierwespe
.at, or www.papierwespe.at. The Paper
Museum can be found at this website:
www.papiermuseum.at.
Really Big Paper is on view through July
12 at the Columbia College Chicago Center
for Book and Paper Art. The show
features Jill Littlewood’s full room installation
“Death and Other Lives” and Peter
Sowiski’s large scale pulp paintings that
investigate size with large-scale studies
of nightmarish fantasies of what we now
call WMDs. Visit www.bookandpaper.org
for details.
The 2008 Holland Paper Biennial takes
place June 10 through September 14 at
the Rijswijk Museum in The Netherlands.
An exhibition of contemporary,
international paper art will be accompanied
by a publication entitled Pure Paper.
On September 14 the traditional Grand
Paper Fair will again be held in the
courtyard entrance to the museum and
in the Oude Kerk (Old Church) opposite.
See www.museumryswyk.nl for further
information.
The work of Dick D’Agostino will be
presented in a solo paper light sculpture
show at Harmony Hall in Fort Washington,
Maryland. The show will run from
June 30 to September 2. Featured will
be 30 paper light sculptures of birds,
flowers, fish and abstracts. For more
information, visit www.pgparks.com or
www.dickdagostino.com.
How Do They Spend It? Kids and Paper
Money Around the World is on display
through September 2 at the Robert C.
Williams Paper Museum in Atlanta,
Georgia. Curated by a group of Georgia
Tech students, this show features currency
from around the world. For further
details call (404) 894-7840 or visit
http://ipst.gatech.edu/amp/.
Before Paper opens September 4 at the
new Carriage House Gallery, 245 Kent
Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, with a gala
reception from 4 to 7 p.m. The exhibition
features mankind’s ways of communication
before paper was invented,
including stone, clay, bone, animal skins,
papyrus, leaves, wood strips, and metal.
Artifacts illustrating a world without
paper will be on display alongside documentary
films and books showing many
of the ancient processes. Gallery hours
are every Thursday, 2-6 p.m., through
February. For other hours, call (718)
599-7857. This exhibition is the first of a
series arranged by the Museum of International
Paper History. The sponsoring
organization is The Institute of Paper
History & Technology at 8 Evans Road,
Brookline, Massachusetts, or online at
www.papermakinghistory.org.
Book Arts 8: New Moon 2 Full Moon
is an exhibition of artist’s books using
handmade paper, wood, bamboo,
recycled materials, and more. The show,
along with lectures, demonstrations,
workshops, and a mini-book fair, will
take place at Ortigas Foundation Library
in Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines,
October 7 - 22. Forfurther details please
visit www.ortigasfoundationlibrary.com.ph.
Work in handmade paper by Lisa Hill,
exploring the effects of change over
time within one’s identity, is part of the
MFA thesis exhibition at MICA July 1-12.
A reception is scheduled on July 11.
Contact lhill@his.com for details.
The World of Yugen: Japanese Paper Artworks
by Kyoko Ibe takes place August
29 through January 4 at Krannart Art
Museum, University of Illinois, Champagne-
Urbana. There is an opening on
August 28 at 5:00 and additional related
programs planned. The installation of
large scale hanging paper will be accompanied
by a separate exhibit of Ibe’s
latest two-dimensional washi works.
More details are available at www.kam
.uiuc.edu.
Cultural Collaborative, a small non-profit
working with children in Ghana, West
Africa, is looking for papermakers and
bookbinders to volunteer to teach the
kids next summer. If interested contact
aba@culturalcollaborative.org. For information
on Cultural Collaborative, visit
www.culturalcollaborative.org.
The Creative Residency program in
Visual Arts at The Banff Centre, Alberta,
Canada, provides studio facilities and
support for artists working in a broad
range of media, including papermaking.
Visit www .banffcentre.ca for information
about residencies and facilities, or contact
Wendy Tokaryk at wendy_tokaryk@banff
centre.ca or (403) 762-6402.
Carriage House Paper will sponsor a 2 1/2
week expedition to papermaking areas in
southwest China and northern Thailand
in February 2009, visiting remote villages
where ancient hand skills have been
practiced for centuries. These areas have
spectacular scenic beauty and remarkable
cultures. Specific information will
be available in the fall. For more information,
contact Donna Koretsky at donna@
carriagehousepaper.com or call (718)
599-7857.
Paper, Print, and Book Intensive Study
in Fabriano, Italy will be offered July
13-26 with instructor Lynn Sures. The
course, co-sponsored by Pyramid Atlantic
Art Center and Giorgio Pellegrini of
the Museum of Paper and Watermark,
Fabriano, Italy, will address papermaking,
watermark making, intaglio printmaking,
and binding. Instruction will be given by
noted Italian masters in these techniques,
with language interpretation provided
by instructor Lynn Sures. Field trips
include such medieval cities as Assisi
and Gubbio, as well as natural landmarks.
For registration, contact Pyramid
Atlantic’s Director Jose Dominguez at
jdominquez@pyramid-atlantic.org.
Papermaking Equipment For Sale.
Moulds and deckles (makes 10x13 sheet)
great for teaching, some larger. 18x24 Lee
McDonald mahogany mould and deckle.
Pellons. Felts and blankets. 15-20 dyes
and pigments. New six-gallon wet-dry
vacuum. Linters. 28-inch hydrator with
3/4 horsepower motor attached to large
tank with spigot. One-gallon professional
Waring blender. Hand mixer. Nine black
mortar tubs, one larger tub. Utilatub on
legs with temperature control and hose.
3x4 epoxied water tray for printmakers.
Pails. Contact Zelda Tanenbaum at (516)
876-7373.
Little Critter Hollander Beaters, sized
from 3/4# to 10# capacity. Contact Mark
Lander, 51 Hodgsons Rd, RD2, Rangiora
7472, New Zealand; ph 0064 3 3103132;
email lander-gallery3@xtra.co.nz.
Cotton Linter Pulp. All quantities available.
Call Gold’s Artworks, Inc.
1-800-356-2306.
Paper Press for sale. Versatile, hydraulic
papermaking press with separate stainless
steel couching / drain rolling table.
Press sheets up to 32” x 42” with up to 40
tons of pressure.
Hand Papermaking would like to thank the
following people and organizations who have
made direct contributions to further our mission.
As a non-profit organization, we rely on
the support of our subscribers and contributors
to continue operating. All donations are greatly
appreciated and are tax deductible.
Benefactors: Barbara Lippman, David
Marshall & Alan Wiesenthal. Underwriters:
Cathleen A. Baker, Sidney Berger & Michele
Cloonan, Tom & Lore Burger, Ali Fujino,
Susan Gosin, Hiromi Paper International,
Mary Lou Manor, Charles E. Morgan, Marilyn
Sward, Nancy & Mark Tomasko, Beck
Whitehead, Pamela S. Wood. Sponsors: Gail
Deery, Jane M. Farmer, Helen Frederick, Eve
Ingalls Von Staden, Ingrid Rose Company,
Joyce Kierejczyk, Peter Newland & Robyn
Johnson, Margaret Prentice, Anil Revri,
Kimberly Schenck, Scott R. Skinner. Donors:
Grimanesa Amoros, Timothy Barrett, Nancy
Cohen, Nita Colgate, William Dane, Mona
Dukess, Martha Duran, Karla Elling, Lori
B. Goodman, Helen Hiebert, Rick Johnson,
Sally Wood Johnson, Elaine Koretsky, Hedi
Kyle, Andrea Peterson, Nancy Pobanz,
Brian Queen, Winifred Radolan, Dianne L.
Reeves, John L. Risseeuw, Mary C. Schlosser,
R. H. Starr, Jr., Claire Van Vliet, Tom
Weideman. Supporters: Marjorie & Harold
Alexander, Lois D. Augur, Inge Bruggeman,
Charles Cooper, Wavell Cowan, David Lance
Goines, Helen Hiebert, Mildred Monat
Isaacs, Lou Kaufman, Elaine Koretsky, M.
P. Marion, Edwin Martin, Marion Melody,
Patricia L. O’Neal, Harry & Sandra Reese,
Pam Scheinman, Agnes Schlenke, Jessica
Spring, Karen Steiner, Marie Sturken, Betty
Sweren, Elsi Vassdal-Ellis, Women’s Studio
Workshop, Kathy Wosika. Friends: Annie Alexander,
Anonymous, Ellen K. Berg, Elena
Osterwalder Bonny, Patricia Zobel Canaday,
Nancy O. Daley, Janet Higgins, Courtney
Hudson, Charlotte Johnson, Marcie Kauss,
Pat Feeney Murrell, Joanne Olsen, Camille
Riner, Sally Rose, Gretchen Schermerhorn,
Laurie Shelton, Margaret P. Spoor, Bonnie
Stahlecker, Taiko Suzuki, Marjorie
Tomchuk. In-Kind: Arnold Grummer’s,
Howard Aronson, Tom Bannister, Sid
Berger & Michele Cloonan, Hubert Bockle,
Marco Breuer, Colin Browne, Carriage
House Paper, Amanda Degener, Helen
Hiebert, Ellen Hill, Lisa Hill, Peter Hopkins,
Sukey Hughes, Chuck Izui, Julie Johnson,
Ann Marie Kennedy, Julie King, Bobbie
Lippman, Jill Littlewood, Magnolia Editions,
Roberto Mannino, Russell Maret, Diane
Maurer-Mathison, Pam Paulsrud, Andrea
Peterson, Pyramid Atlantic, Amy Richard,
Kari Rinn, John L. Risseeuw, Gretchen
Schermerhorn, Beck Whitehead.
Please consider becoming a Founding Contributor to the endowment thereby assuring the long-term future of
Hand Papermaking. For more information about this campaign, or to make a pledge, contact Tom Bannister at
(800) 821-6604 or visit www.handpapermaking.org/Endowment.html. Thank you!
> SPECIAL THANKS Recognizing Hand Papermaking’s 20th
anniversary in 2006, the Board of Directors
pledged an initial gift of $10,000 to launch
the Hand Papermaking Endowment Fund.
We now have nearly $40,000 received or
pledged thanks to the generosity of:
*49er Books, Marjorie & Harold Alexander,
Martin Antonetti, *Shirah Miriam (Mimi)
Aumann, *Cathleen A. Baker, *Tom Balbo,
*Timothy Barrett, *Sidney Berger & Michele
Cloonan, Marcia Blake, Inge Bruggeman,
*Tom & Lore Burger, Nita Colgate, Georgia
Deal, Gail Deery, *Jeanne M. Drewes, Bryan
C. Ellison, *Jane M. Farmer, *Helen Frederick,
Jean Freeburg, *Sara Gilfert, *Susan
Gosin, Helen Hiebert, Peter Hopkins, *Lois
and Gordon James, *Sally Wood Johnson,
Julie Jones, Kristin Kavanagh, *David Kimball,
*Elaine Koretsky, *Karen Kunc, Abby &
Mitch Leigh, *Barbara Lippman, *Winifred
Lutz, Allegra Marquart, *David Marshall &
Alan Wiesenthal, Anne & Robert McKeown,
Jesse Munn, *Peter Newland Fund of the
Greater Everett Community Foundation,
*Margaret Prentice, *Preservation Technologies,
L.P., John L. Risseeuw, *Michelle
Samour, *Peter Sowiski, R. H. Starr, Jr.,
*Marilyn Sward, Betty Sweren, *Gibby Waitzkin,
*Tom Weideman, *Beck Whitehead,
*Pamela & Gary Wood.
*Founding Contributor