HAND PAPERMAK ING

N E W S L E T T E R

Number 89, January 2010

Newsletter Editor: Shireen Holman Advertising & Listings: Mary Tasillo Desktop Production: Amy Richard

Columnists: Sidney Berger, Susan Gosin, Maureen and Simon Green, Helen Hiebert, Elaine Koretsky, Winifred Radolan, Mary Tasillo.

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2010) is February 15. Please direct all correspondence

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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, Advertising and Listings.

Board of Directors: Sidney Berger, Frank

Brannon, Shannon Brock, Inge Bruggeman,

Georgia Deal, Gail Deery, Jim Escalante,

Susan Gosin, Helen Hiebert, Ann Marie

Kennedy, Barbara Lippman, Andrea Peterson,

Margaret Prentice, Gibby Waitzkin,

Beck Whitehead. Board of Advisors: Timothy

Barrett, Simon Blattner, Gregor R. Campbell,

Mindell Dubansky, Jane M. Farmer, Helen C.

Frederick, Elaine Koretsky, James Sitter, Claire

Van Vliet. Co-founders: Amanda Degener and

Michael Durgin.

Dear Subscribers,

It is an honor to be invited and to serve as the new chair of the board of the Hand

Papermaking. As a long time reader of the publications, I am delighted to work with such an

impressive and friendly group of artists and scholars.

Many of the organization’s recent successes are the result of efforts by devoted board

members. We hate to see such committed leaders step down, but term limits require it, and

the entire organization owes a great deal of thanks to Helen Hiebert and Bobbie Lippman for

their many years of service, generosity, leadership, and insight. It takes a great deal of time

and effort to keep our organization thriving. We are rewarded with fulfilling professional

relationships and lasting friendships.

Hand Papermaking continues to benefit from a dedicated staff. Tom Bannister’s commitment

to the success of the organization is truly remarkable. In addition to my collaboration

with Tom, I have recently worked as a guest designer with Mina Takahashi and was very

impressed with her professionalism and vision for the magazine. Hand Papermaking’s small

staff and a few dedicated volunteers are working tirelessly and far beyond expectations to

keep our publications and programs energized during these tough economic times.

In the past year we have been increasing our fundraising efforts and it is heart warming

to know that so many long time friends continue to provide financial and moral support. We

thank each and every one. Without such support we would never be able to maintain our

publications and educational mission.

And finally, our board and staff are starting to plan for a milestone in 2011, when we recognize

and celebrate our 25th anniversary! Keep in touch and help us make it special.

Sincerely, Jim Escalante

Madison, Wisconsin

Dear HP,

Readers of Hand Papermaking were likely as surprised as I was by the announcement of my

MacArthur Fellowship award. My special thanks to so many of you who have sent congratulatory

messages. They have meant a great deal to me over the past weeks and months.

As I said in a short letter to those at the recent Friends of Dard Hunter meeting, while I am

deeply moved by the personal recognition, I am also very cognizant of the fact I’ve been singled

out of a community of many who have devoted their careers to paper art, papermaking history,

and the production of handmade papers. I hope very much that the MacArthur recognition

benefits all of us in a field that has been under-acknowledged for far too long. I will do my best

to use the honor as an opportunity to advocate for greater acknowledgement and support for

everyone in all of the various paper specialties.

Many have asked how I intend to use the funds. At first I had no idea. Now things are coming

to the surface. One of the initiatives is a game plan for making the money last much more

than five years. Another is increasing my annual contributions to HP, FDH, the UI Center

for the Book, and other charitable organizations. In the realm of creative output I have two

research experiments now in progress for which funding was running out. Both are related to

changes in historical papers that occur during aqueous conservation treatment and the degree

to which non-destructive instrumentation can monitor those changes. The funds will also help

with launching a planned website sharing the data gathered during our three year study of

1580 papers made between the 14th and the 19th centuries. I have two new experiments I’ve

always wanted to get to; one is a 3D imaging analysis of the actual location of gelatin within the

structure of a sized sheet of paper. The other is a papermaking experiment using a pair of small

moulds and three person team to try to replicate early daily production quotas and see how that

impacts the quality and aesthetic properties of the finished sheets. And if all goes well I will

finally get to a book on Western papermaking that I have wanted to write for many years. Last

but not least, I have some more wacky ideas: more one-of-a-kind artist’s books, design ideas for

more user friendly e-books, and native American

brain-tanned deerskin clothing and book

bindings. I plan to have updates on some of

the above at the upcoming annual meetings

of the American Institute for Conservation

and Friends of Dard Hunter organizations.

I look forward to seeing you then, if not

sooner, or later. And thanks again to all Hand

Papermaking readers for your support,

Tim Barrett

Iowa City, Iowa

ALONG THE PAPER ROAD

This regular feature offers paper musings from

Elaine Koretsky—renowned paper historian,

researcher, and traveler. In this column we hear

about her accident and her determination to

continue with her research.

Sadly, I reached the end of my paper road

abruptly in New York, when osteoporosis

caused my right hip to fracture, leaving me

on the floor, alone and in pain, for twelve

hours until an ambulance whisked me to a

New York hospital to receive an entirely new

hip made of titanium alloy. Eventually all will

heal and I should be able to walk normally

again. But no longer will I venture along

rough and rocky roads to reach the remote

villages where I have found papermakers still

engaged in their centuries-old traditions of

making paper by hand.

Although my exciting adventures are over,

the paper road does have little trails leading in

other directions, and I am already pursuing

new opportunities. I shall not be simply reading

other people’s writings in my new research.

I have never relied on the information of

others, as many errors can occur. The research

I have done has always been based upon my

own observations, bolstered by my forty years

or more of personally making paper by hand.

My most recent research in China involved

the bark beating done by the Dai farmers in

Xishuangbanna, which I have already described

in past issues of the Hand Papermaking

Newsletter. Last month, at the Friends of Dard

Hunter conference in Atlanta, Donna Koretsky

and I showed the outfit of beaten bark we

had acquired, made from the poisonous tree,

Antiaris Toxicaria. It was exciting that we

persuaded Dard Hunter III

to model the outfit.

We then demonstrated

the unusual beating

method, using a section of

Donna’s mulberry tree (it

is in the Moraceae family

of plants, like the Antiaris

tree, so it worked well, using

the same techniques of

beating).

My next article will

discuss further research on

this fascinating, poisonous

tree.

UNIQUE TECHNIQUE

Well-known author and teacher Helen Hiebert

offers helpful guidance and tips gleaned from

artists she has worked with over the years. In

this case she talks about her own experiments

with abaca, which she calls ‘the incredible

shrinking translucent sculptural material.’

Many of you have probably seen or

heard me talking about abaca as a

sculptural material. I’ve lectured, done

demonstrations, and taught classes about it,

but I haven’t gotten it down on paper yet. So

here goes…

I first learned about abaca at Dieu DonnО

Papermill, where I started my papermaking

career in 1991. We used abaca there primarily

as a translucent overlay in artwork, but

also as a material for dimensional work.

Abaca has three unique qualities that it

gains as the beating time increases: it is

incredibly strong, it becomes translucent,

and it shrinks up to 30% as it dries.

Elaine Koretsky of Carriage House Paper

is responsible for making abaca, a fiber

from the Philippines, available in the United

States. She taught numerous workshops

in the 1980s, exposing artists and papermakers

to abaca as a fiber for papermaking,

and their interest in using it led to her

importing it and selling it through her mailorder

business. There are currently three

grades available: unbleached, bleached, and

premium. As I type this column, I have just

learned that there is a new book out called

The Story of Abaca: Manila Hemp’s Transformation

from Textile to Marine Cordage and

Specialty Paper by Elizabeth Potter Sievert

(Philippines: The Ateneo de Manila University

Press, 2009).

Here is a brief description of the book:

“Often called manila hemp, abaca is

indigenous to the Philippines. It has

unique properties that have allowed

it to be used as clothing material of

pre-colonial communities, heavy-duty

ropes in galleon ships, paper products

like envelopes, fine stationery,

banknotes, and teabags, casings for

sausages, as well as in car components

to replace the costlier fiberglass.”1

Now back to my story. While taking a

course at the Penland School in the summer

of 1993, a quick demo on embedding

wire between sheets of paper kicked off an

endless array of experiments which culminated

in my films, The Secret Life of Paper

and Water Paper Time. One of my early

experiments involved sandwiching an overlapping

wire cross and “X” between two wet

sheets of overbeaten abaca, then pressing

and air drying the sheets. The paper shrank,

causing the wires to pull up and curl, creating

a dynamic sculptural form. Further

explorations led to embedding linen thread

between the sheets. The thread, while

having less tension than wire, produced remarkable

results as well. For example, when

I laid a two-inch grid of threads between the

wet sheets, as the piece dried, peaks formed

at each point where two threads crossed. I

found that these pieces, in addition to being

unique forms in and of themselves, also

created a new sculptural material. This was

especially true in the case of the sandwiched

wire, because

the wire would

hold a shape,

enabling me to

further manipulate

the sheet.

The how-to

part is quite

simple if you

have a Hollander

beater (if not, you can order prepared pulp

from a papermaking supplier). You need

overbeaten abaca, which can take 5-8 hours

to get, depending on the type of beater you

own. I’ve just tuned up my Davis Hodges

and I can get the pulp quite short and translucent

by beating it for 5 hours.

Forming the sheets: pull one sheet and

couch it. You’ll notice that overbeaten abaca

takes a long time to drain. I use that waiting

time to cut my string or wire. I have

found that 18-gauge wire is perfect—flexible

enough to bend, but not so firm that it

won’t react to the paper’s shrinkage. I use

brass or copper, which do not rust. Stainless

steel is another option, but it is stiffer, and I

would choose 20-gauge. When using linen

thread (25/3 is a good weight to start with),

I usually cut my lengths and either presoak

them in water or dip them in before laying

them on the sheet. This prevents them from

curling up when they touch the wet sheet of

paper, which would make it difficult to get

them to lie flat. By this time, the sheet has

drained, and I couch it and form the next

sheet. While the second

sheet drains, I lay my

threads or wires on top

of the first sheet. This

is where you get to be

creative. I started out laying

horizontal strings and

wires, moved on to grids,

and have experimented

from there.

Couching: there are

a couple of tricks when

couching on top of wire. If the ends of

the wires are sticking out over the edges

of the bottom layer, you should not rest

your mould on the wires when couching,

because the wires will be dislodged. If there

is a side that doesn’t have wires in the way,

couch from that side. Otherwise, I would

recommend holding the sheet just above the

bottom sheet and eyeballing it to lay it down

flat on top of the first sheet. Since the sheets

will be air dried, precision in lining up the

two sheets is not crucial.

Pressing: I will note here that if my

wire or thread starts to look bulky between

the felts, I sometimes add an extra felt in

between to provide more cushion. That said,

there does not seem to be any lasting impression

on adjacent sheets from the wires

below or above them in a post of sheets that

is air dried. After pressing, carefully peel

each sheet off the wet felt and place it on a

dry pellon or felt to air dry. I have a dehumidifier

in my studio, and I always turn

it on to speed up the drying process. The

sheets will dry in 12-24 hours, depending on

sheet thickness, humidity, etc.

There are other fibers that have similar

qualities to overbeaten abaca: flax and linen

are two that come to mind. And several notable

artists work with shrinkage in a variety

of ways: Douglass Howell, Peter Gentenaar,

Winifred Lutz, Bart Wasserman, Roberto

Mannino, Eve Ingalls, Nancy Cohen, and

Jocelyn Chateuvert are among them. I’d

love to hear from you if you have others to

add to this list.

TEACHING HAND PAPERMAKING

Based in Philadelphia, Winifred Radolan

operates an itinerant teaching papermill, and

has taught papermaking to thousands of adults

and children. In this column, Winnie describes

teaching three-dimensional methods to a class

of graduate students.

During the fall semester of 2009, I had

the good fortune to introduce hand

papermaking to the graduate students of

the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. For

a few of the primarily Book Arts students,

this was their first hands-on experience with

a material that is integral to their work. So

during the semester I gave them a broad

overview, working with both Western and

Eastern sheet forming methods, using a

variety of plant fibers as well as rag. We

worked with two-dimensional production

and also experimented with three-dimensional

methods. My co-instructor, Lynn Sures,

concentrated on watermarking methods,

pulp painting, and the investigation of artists

using papermaking as their medium.

On the day we endeavored to explore the

sculptural possibilities and mysteries of fibers

that had been beaten for an extensive period

of time, anticipation ran high. The group had

viewed Helen Heibert’s inspirational and

most artful video, Water Paper Time, during

a previous class. They were armed with

ideas as well as a variety of different weight

wires and threads to sandwich between

thin layers of long-beaten

abaca. I also planned to have

everyone work with the podlike

Perlite-stuffed stocking

armatures, using both flax

and abaca.

Prior to the class,

students had signed up

for time increments

to cook the raw flax in

soda ash, and to “babysit”

the beater for the

eight hours the cooked

fibers would spend

there, as well as for the

eight hours that were

required for beating the

unbleached abaca. We “cut”

the abaca fibers shorter than

the flax, running our studio

Reina Hollander at counter

setting #1 for the final hours.

Flax fibers were shortened

just enough for ease in sheet

formation, while maintaining

good wet strength. We

wanted to be able to handle the couched flax

like pie crust, to wrap around the stocking

armatures.

“Ease of sheet formation” needs to be

qualified—patience becomes essential when

draining fibers that have been subjected

to many hours of hydration! In addition to

the vats of flax and abaca, we set up several

draining stations for the moulds on our

vat table. Even with that precaution, we had

floods of water in our basement studio without

floor adrains. So we all just took turns

dancing with the mop!

With six students embarking on these

shrinking experiments, we had at least that

many approaches to armatures and inclusions.

The stockings, which were stuffed

with dampened Perlite to hold their shapes,

varied from long and thin to quite nicely

oval. As sheets of flax were carefully lifted

by hand and wrapped in layers around the

armatures, there was a degree of skepticism

about perhaps having created “the big ugly!”

And certainly, for a few days, they looked

odd at best, as they hung drying in a row on

our studio clothesline. As drying progressed,

they received curious and envious reviews

from the undergraduate class of papermakers

with whom we shared the studio.

Our Water Paper Time inspired experiments

were also extremely varied. Different

weights of wire and embedded threads,

positioned in a range of patterns, yielded a

variety of results from dramatic distortion

and movement to practically none. Totally

enticing, in both visual and auditory ways,

were the “musical hooves.” These were

fashioned of flax that shrank around heavier

wire to a hardness/dryness that, when

handled as a group, created a most compelling

clacking sound. Also

quite appealing were

the partially translucent

abaca-wrapped wire cubes

that enclosed hidden

suspended objects. And

most surprising were the

results of the accomplished

calligrapher

in our group, who

must have unknowingly

“channeled”

quite well behaved

paper! He attempted

to create tears in

shrinking paper by

pinning it onto foam

core with push pins as it

dried. The outer paper layer

of the foam core successfully

and surprisingly restricted

any shrinkage of this eighthour-

beaten abaca!

It is my hope that this

day of wild adventures

with high shrinkage fibers

might help to inspire the students’ further

work. The pieces pictured here are by

Daniel Corrigan (top) and Yuka Petz. Our

group sends heartfelt thanks to Helen for

sharing her most compelling work with us

in Water Paper Time!

PAPER HISTORY

Maureen and Simon Green, from the United

Kingdom, write a joint column on Paper History.

Maureen is a paper historian, and author

of Papermaking at Hayle Mill 1808-1987.

Simon was the last of the Green family to run

Hayle Mill, in the U.K. He provides consulting

services to papermakers worldwide. In this

column, Simon and Maureen describe how

handmade paper mills adapted to the market,

with techniques such as alkaline sizing.

Until about 1950, the Greens at Hayle

Mill continued to use essentially the

same underlying technology as was employed

when the Mill was built as “state of

the art” in 1808. What did change was their

approach to the market, which was continuously

evolving throughout this period;

and their agility to adapt ensured the Mill’s

survival.

They also adopted a succession of new

engineering approaches to improve the

efficiency and quality of handmade paper

production. These included replacing water

power progressively with steam and later

electricity. Hydraulic presses and pumps

were introduced, as well as more mechanised

storage chests, a sizing machine, cylinder

drying machines, vibrating knotters, and

other innovations. During the 1930s the

Mill also developed the world’s first seamless

loudspeaker cones, keeping it afloat

during the depression.

However, the basic process was to use cotton

and linen rags, boiled and often bleached,

Hollander beaten, hand formed, gelatine

sized, and air dried. There were variations at

other mills owned by the family: Otham Mill

(near Maidstone) experimented in alternative

fibres in the 1830s, and Soho Mill in Buckinghamshire

used straw extensively from the

late 1870s. Rosin size was used to a limited

extent at Hayle Mill in some notepapers but

not in the main product lines.

Sourcing rags became increasingly difficult

in the twentieth century, and gradually

Hayle Mill starting using cotton linters as a

substitute. The situation became dire in the

Second World War when supplies from Europe

were cut off. Soon after the war, a small

cylinder mould machine was installed and

many of the papers made on it were manufactured

from woodpulp. Bockingford® was

a budget priced mouldmade watercolour

paper produced from high quality woodpulp

with rosin sizing.

Mills involved in handmade paper production

were able to create papers that have

survived in good condition because of the

inherent permanence of the materials and

methods used. The same was not true in the

wider paper industry. Concerns about paper

deterioration had first been raised in the

early nineteenth century and, as the decades

passed, the problems were exacerbated.

Poor quality fibres such as mechanical

woodpulp, acidic rosin and alum sizing,

sulphur dioxide bleaching, a variety of hard

mechanical processes, and other factors

meant that some modern paper deteriorated

in weeks rather than years, especially

if exposed to polluted air and sunlight.

By the 1930s the blame game was in full

swing. The disintegration of paper archives

en masse was well known even if there was

argument over the main causes. However,

it was generally accepted that if paper could

be sized in neutral or, preferably, alkaline

conditions, then its life could be greatly

extended. But the trade generally considered

alkaline papermaking a “bad thing.”

Many nasty things would grow in the form

of slimes, etc., and these problems could,

allegedly, never be overcome. Furthermore,

surely it would cost more. It was not well

known that Gestetner Paper had for many

years made paper that was loaded with up

to 30% calcium carbonate and was thus on

the alkaline side of neutral. Gestetner had

followed this route because ground chalk

was cheaper than fibre and added opacity.

In 1965 Dr. Sydney (“Sandy”) Cockerell,

a long standing customer of ours—especially

for base papers for his famous marbled

range—asked us if we could use an alkaline

rather than an acidic size. The reasons are

not detailed in the archives but are believed

to relate to the way the marbling colours,

carrageen moss, and other materials (including

alum) that he used, interacted with

the paper. After some research RОmy Green

produced the world’s first handmade paper

sized with Aquapel®. The new version of

Cockerell paper was not a success, mainly

because we had added too much Aquapel,

causing it to become virtually repellent. We

reverted to gelatine sizing from the next

make.

Shortly after I started work at Hayle Mill,

I noticed that a stack of Bockingford rosin

sized paper had darkened in sunlight after a

few hours. This led to our making an initial

batch of Aquapel sized paper on the cylinder

mould machine a few weeks later. The new

paper was an instant success with artists

as it took paint much better than the rosin

sized version. Bockingford sales doubled

every six months for several years. (This

paper is still made by St. Cuthbert’s Mill in

Somerset, which has adapted the research

we had done to a much wider range of artists’

papers, such as Saunders Waterford®.)

Space does not permit a description of

how we applied alkaline sizing to all of the

papers that were handmade at Hayle Mill, or

the trials and tribulations of succeeding in

becoming the first handmade paper mill in

the Western world to adapt this technology.

In 1982 I commissioned and edited a

series of three articles for Paper magazine–a

trade journal. The first explained the causes

of paper impermanence. The second set out

the chemistry of alkaline papermaking, and

the third showed how it was actually more

economical than many acidic papermaking

processes, and could produce improved

paper characteristics.

A key feature in making alkaline papermaking

possible has been the introduction

of new sizing agents. In the 1950s Hercules

introduced the Aquapel and Hercon®

ranges using alkyl ketene dimers, initially

for making water-repellent boards for juice

cartons. Aquapel was used in about 1960 to

size Permalife paper, made by Wolvercote

Papermill near Oxford, for the Library of

Congress Catalogue.

The other new sizing agents are alkyl

succinic anhydrides. Although I have been

out of papermaking for twenty years I

understand that most publishing papers are

now alkaline sized, so hopefully twenty-first

century papers will have improved longevity.

®Aquapel and Hercon are registered trade

marks of Hercules Inc. Bockingford and Saunders

Waterford are registered trade marks of

Inveresk plc.

> PROFILES IN PAPER

Susan Gosin co-founded Dieu DonnО Press &

Paper in 1976. She regularly lectures and teaches

papermaking, and has compiled a significant

collection of interviews with noted personalities

in the hand papermaking community. This is a

continuation of her profile of Douglass Howell

in the last issue.

Two techniques that Howell included

in his “Papetries” series, which were

exhibited at Betty Parson’s Gallery in 1955

(e.g., Number Three pictured here), involved

the use of multiple pulps of different colors

to create two-dimensional imagery.

Howell favored using colored cloth to

create his colored pulp, rather

than coloring the pulp with

pigment or dyes, which is the

common practice today. He tested

the light fastness of the colored

cloth by first exposing it to direct

sunlight outdoors. Using multiple

vats containing different colored

pulps, Howell would float the

mould on the surface of the vat,

either painting with the colored

pulp as he did in one of his most

distinctive pieces, “The Clown,”

or segregating the color by using copper

stencils and/or wooden templates to block

or stop out sections of the composition.

Aspects of Howell’s approach to creating

imagery, by using stencils and by blocking

out, fall within the tradition of standard

printmaking techniques. It was a small

but original leap of insight to apply these

techniques to hand papermaking. Needless

to say, pulp painting is a universal technique

used in hand papermaking today. And,

though Douglass did not employ a deckle

box to float his imagery, his method of

floating the mould achieved a similar result.

Decades after Howell first devised high

walled copper stencils, Joe Wilfer turned to

the same “cookie cutter” technique to create

handmade paper versions of Chuck Close’s

imagery.

As a hand papermaker interested

in making art with pulp, I find

it curious that Howell did not use

multiple couching as a tool for

creating imagery. Nor did he explore

the technique most unique

to papermaking, watermarking.

Though Howell was very aware

and sensitive to working with pulp

in many layers, in two and three

dimensions, he seemed to have

unwritten rules about making

two-dimensional imagery as well

as sculpture. Whatever rules he may have

chosen, they did not keep him from taking

on a demanding array of technical and

artistic challenges. In the 1960s, for artist

Michael Ponce de Leon, he created a threedimensional

mould and formed spiral sheets

of paper, a technique later adapted by John

Koller and Ken Tyler for their early handmade

paper work with Frank Stella in the

1970s. In addition, he made vat-formed 60”

x 80” sheets by himself, using a children’s

swimming pool as the vat, with only the help

of a pulley system to suspend the freshly

made sheet—definitely a Herculean feat.

These sheets were then “marouflayed” or

adhered to painters’ canvas for artists such as

Rudi Schaefer and June Wayne. Though June

Wayne used Howell’s paper for her own art,

she did not order custom paper for her Tamarind

artists. However, Tatyana Grossman,

founder of Universal Limited Art Editions on

Long Island, encouraged her stable of artists

to work with Howell to design custom paper

for their print editions. For example, Howell

made sheets from recycled blue jeans for a

Larry Rivers/Frank O’Hara edition entitled

“Stones.” Though Howell did not collaborate

with artists directly to help them make their

imagery, he worked closely with many of the

important artists of the day such as Jackson

Pollack and Lee Krasner, developing custom

sheets of paper sensitive to their imagery and

specific methods of working.

After the intensely creative and relatively

stable period of the 1950s, the 1960s brought

recognition for his groundbreaking work as

well as heartbreaking developments at home.

In 1961, shortly after June Wayne received

a Ford Foundation grant to start Tamarind

School of Lithography, Howell received a

Ford Foundation grant to create a specialized

studio, “a clean room,” and equipment

to conduct his beater and pulp experiments

in controlled conditions. Although most

of his previous work had been devoted to

waterleaf or unsized paper, Howell took this

opportunity to research hand papermaking

for watercolor and ink painting. Though his

experiments in using traditional methods

of sizing, such as gelatin, gum arabic, and

starch, contributed to the field, it wasn’t until

three decades later that Kathryn Clark was

able to work closely with watercolor painters

to develop a standard contemporary handmade

watercolor paper.

In the 1960s, Howell began to lecture

extensively on his research, and though he

never taught hand papermaking as a formal

class on the college level, on occasion he

offered intensive tutorials. In 1962, Laurence

Barker came away with enough information

from a two-week seminar to introduce hand

papermaking as part of the curriculum in the

printmaking department at Cranbrook Academy

of Art. This fortuitous meeting sparked

the beginning of the hand papermaking

movement in the United States.

A year later, Howell was offered space

for a papermaking studio and a teaching

position in Tucson, Arizona. This situation

seemed to offer the Howells the financial

security and stability they needed. Once

again, they sold their worldly possessions except

for household necessities, equipment,

and Alice’s valuable book collection, packed

up the family and drove west in a rented

U-Haul. Upon arrival, they were given a

rundown adobe house full of holes, filled

with insects and scorpions, whose previous

owner was the notorious criminal, John

Dillinger. The studio awaiting Howell was as

discouraging as the house, with wood floors

that would not support heavy equipment.

Within a week they returned to their home

in Westbury, which, fortunately, had not

been sold. They began again, without jobs

and very little money to sustain them, to

rebuild their lives on Long Island. As Alice

remembers, that year the Christmas goose

that was given by the church to the family in

most need was thankfully delivered to their

door. Alice found a new teaching job enabling

Douglass to devote himself full time

to papermaking and art. However, by 1969,

Alice and Douglass separated, sold their

house in Westbury and Howell relocated to

Oyster Bay, Long Island.

From 1970 until he retired to Hackettstown,

New Jersey in 1984, Howell was an artistin-

residence at different locations on Long

Island where he continued his watercolor

and flax research, while making art and

handmade paper books. Over the years a few

apprentices came to his studios to learn and

to help. In particular, Helmut Becker, Alexandra

Soteriou, and Eugenie Barron, to name

a few, continue to contribute to the field

of hand papermaking. During this period,

Howell’s unique body of work was recognized

with major exhibitions and catalogues

at the American Craft Museum and the New

York Public Library.

In Kathleen P. Doherty’s PhD thesis

on Douglass Howell, she quotes Howell’s

daughter Beth King, when she and her

brother Timothy accepted the American

Craft Association’s gold medal on behalf

of their ailing father in 1993: “Prior to his

work, paper, ubiquitous and commonplace,

was appreciated at most and at best as a

medium for other art forms, but through

the genius of Douglass Howell, paper has

become an art form in itself.”

Though, Beth King beautifully sums up

her father’s critical contribution to hand

papermaking, I would like to end this

column with Douglass’s own dying words as

they were whispered to and repeated by Beth

King, “plain paper, plain paper.” Douglass

Howell lived and died for paper.

I apologize to the readers for repeating

any material that has been written

and for not including more analysis about

his technical and artistic contributions. I

recommend reading anything previously

published about this remarkable man and

his story. I would like to thank the great

generosity of Alice Howell, Beth King,

and Timothy Howell for their time and

eloquence. Thanks are also due to Eugenie

Barron for filling me in during our

conversations and lending me Kathleen P.

Doherty’s dissertation, as well as for the

essay she wrote for the exhibition at the

New York Public Library in 1987. Alexandra

Soteriou’s essay for the American Craft

Museum exhibition in 1982 and the essay

by Andrea S. Honore for the Paper Trail exhibition

catalogue at Rutgers University in

2000 are both excellent sources of information

and insight as well.

> DECORATED PAPER

Sidney Berger, a professor at Simmons College

in Boston and Director of the Phillips Library

at Peabody Essex Museum, has been collecting

and researching decorated paper for over

thirty years. This is Part 2 of Sid’s discussion of

paste papers, in which he explains the process

involved in making the papers.

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:

newseditor@handpapermaking.org

[I would like to begin the second part of

this essay on paste papers by pointing out

an error in the caption of the first illustration

in Part 1. The top image, looking like a

celestial painting, was not by Veronica Ruzicka,

but by Kenneth Desautels. In 1989, I

watched him spend more than half an hour

on this large sheet (19 ½” x 29 ¾”), working

with a brush, a sponge, cotton swabs, and

other tools. It is a tour de force, in haunting

blues, and it represents something between

a pictorial and an impressionistic sheet.]

In Part 1 of this column, I talked about the

history of paste papers, and a bit about

the various patterns that are abundant

on book bindings and in other uses. For

this part I wish to look at techniques and

materials, and discuss the kinds of images

one may expect to find in this marvelous

medium.

Preliminarily, let me point out that the

are

whole concept of paste paper is extremely

simple. All one does is mix a paste, put

some pigment in it, mix it up, and apply it

to a sheet of paper. While the paste is still

wet, it can be manipulated in a variety of

ways, which I shall discuss below.

There are no standard formulas for the

paste itself. I usually use wheat starch and

water, sometimes mixed with dish soap

and glycerin, but others have their own

formulas that work just as well. I have used

methylcellulose, but I prefer wheat-starch

or rice-starch paste since I can mix it up

immediately before I use it, while methylcellulose

needs to be prepared a day before

its use so that it “sets up.” That is, if you

prepare it immediately before you use it,

it is still too runny and won’t allow you to

comb out sharp patterns. The paste tends to

run and fill in the blank spaces created by

your combs and other tools, messing up the

patterns. With a day’s curing, it works fine.

Diane Maurer, in her lovely little accordion-

bound book (all copies bound in

her own beautiful paste papers) Making

Paste Papers (n.p. [Spring Mills, PA]: Diane

Maurer, 1992), and also in her excellent

book Decorative Paper (New York: BDD Illustrated

Books, 1993), gives this recipe: 4

tablespoons rice flour; 3 tablespoons wheat

flour; 3 cups water; ½ teaspoon glycerin; 1

teaspoon dish detergent. Jennifer Woods, in

her How to Make Paste Papers (Philadelphia:

The Library Company, 1988), gives a similar

recipe, with the quantities of rice and wheat

flour reversed and dish detergent changed

to tincture of green soap.

Diane Maurer-Matheson later wrote a

book on The Art of Making Paste Papers (New

York: Watson-Guptill, 2002) in which she

gives a recipe using cake flour and another

using cornstarch. Vivien Frank (Decorative

Paper Crafts [London: Charles Letts, 1991])

uses cornstarch or wallpaper paste. Kathy

Blake and Bill Milne (Making & Decorating

Your Own Paper [New York: Sterling, 1995])

give a flour recipe using 4 drops of oil of

cloves and a cornstarch recipe using half a

teaspoon of powdered alum.

Some writers mention only a powdered

base of any kind and water. This hodgepodge

of recipes shows that all one needs is a

pasty base that can be mixed with pigments.

The same hodge-podge goes into the

selection of pigments. In brief, any coloring

agent will work, from powders to liquids—

acrylics, watercolors, or anything else handy.

The point is to come up with a nice smooth

colored liquid to put onto the sheets.

In marbling, the papers must be prepared

with alum as a mordant to make the

pigments adhere to the sheets. But paste is

itself a mordant, so no sheet preparation is

necessary except that each sheet should be

moistened with water, with a sponge or other

device, before the colored paste is applied.

As I mentioned last time, MichПle V.

Cloonan, in Early Bindings in Paper (London:

Mansell, 1991), says that

the techniques of decoration

can be broken down

into “spattered, combed,

brushed, printed, pulled,

daubed, vinegar, and combination”

(pp. 70-71). These

methods delineate how

the paste is applied to the

sheet. With a sponge or

rag, or even with a brush,

the colored paste can be

daubed on. It can be brushed or dropped

on. Vinegar can then be sprinkled over to

disperse the paste in uneven droplets. The

idea is to get the sheet covered with the

colored paste.

Once the sheet is covered with paste,

it can be left as is to dry. The result can be

an attractive paper, depending on how the

paste was applied and on the color or colors

used. It can also be folded in half, paste

side inside, or two similarly covered sheets

can be put together face to face, and then

pulled apart. These are called “pulled paste

papers,” and the resulting pattern can be

lovely, with a patternless striation lining up

in the direction in which the sheets were

pulled apart.

When the two wet sheets are still together,

they can be stroked or stamped in many

ways to align the paste inside the sheets.

When they are pulled apart, the pattern of

the stroking or stamping will be evident.

The artist can create pictorial, geometric,

or randomly decorated papers. While

the paste is still wet, wherever it is touched

by anything, the paste will disperse. If I

touch the wet, newly brushed-on paste with

a fingertip, I will leave a small round spot

on the sheet. With a potato masher I will

leave the pattern made by the masher on

the sheet. And so on, ad infinitum. And I do

mean “infinitum,” since there is an infinity

of possibilities.

Pictorial sheets can be made using

rubber stamps, wood blocks, linocuts, or

any brushing or painting tool that can be

manipulated to make a picture. Geometrics

can be produced with combs or fingers or

wood-graining tools, or

thousands upon thousands

of other implements. I

took an old plastic charge

card, notched it, and used

it to draw parallel lines

onto the sheet. Cardboard

can be used the same way.

And rollers can be cut

with patterns that can be

rolled across the sheet. (See

Henry Morris’ Roller-Printed Paste Papers

[Newtown, PA: Bird & Bull Press, 1975]

Book cover pictured here.)

Once you have the pattern the way you

want it, you just lay it out or hang it up and

let it dry. If you don’t like

what you have done, while

the paste is still wet, you

can often just brush it all

over and start again on the

same sheet.

For the sake of brevity,

let me conclude by saying

that there is literally no

end to what you can do

to decorate paste papers.

You are limited only by

your imagination. It can be done in a small

kitchen since it takes little space.

For hundreds of years book and

paper artists have been exercising their

imaginations with this medium. Even people

like me (see photo above) who have no

artistic talent can make wonderful papers.

Try it. It’s more fun than you can imagine.

FOR BEGINNERS

Mary Tasillo is a papermaker, book artist, and

mixed media maven based in Philadelphia.

She teaches workshops nationally. In this

column Mary discusses affordable alternatives

to expensive studio equipment.

Hand papermakers have improvised all

manner of alternatives to traditional

studio equipment, repurposing materials

from the hardware store, the kitchen supply

store, and the five-and-dime to build a studio

to suit their liking and particular needs.

Here are some of those alternatives.

Vats

In its essence, a vat is quite simply a

receptacle for holding pulp, of sufficient

size for forming sheets. What is a sufficient

size? Allowing a three-inch margin on each

side of the largest mould and deckle you will

be using in the vat is a good rule of thumb

for small-to-medium sized sheets. Thus, if

you want your vat to accommodate an 11” x

14” mould, a vat of 17” x 20” will give you

the space that you need to maneuver the

mould within the vat. A five-to-six-inch vat

depth is a good minimum

at this size. As your mould

size increases, a deeper vat

and/or wider margin may

be needed.

Common alternatives

to the hand-built wooden

vat are black plastic cement-

mixing tubs from the

hardware store, available for

about $5.00 apiece, or commercial

dish busing tubs available from a

kitchen supply store for $7.00-$12.00 each.

Plastic tubs of these and other sorts are

easy to come by. They are lightweight, and

easy to tuck away for storage and pull out

when needed. However, you may want to

consider the environmental impact of this

piece of equipment. Can you use wood rather

than supporting the manufacture of plastics?

What are your wood alternatives, and is the

wood you would be using a more sustainable

resource, or not? Is the plastic you are using

recyclable? What if you spent a little more

money on a sturdier plastic vat that will last

longer than a cheaper one that is likely to

spring a leak in two years rather than six?

Felts

Traditionally, in Western papermaking,

freshly formed sheets of paper are couched

directly onto wool felts. However, wool felts

can be hard to come by, and take up a lot of

space. Many papermakers have purchased

used wool blankets from an Army Navy

store, and cut these down for couching.

Using a few of these felts as a base, you can

build a post of wet sheets by interleaving a

thinner, less absorbent material in between.

Non-fusible interfacing can be acquired

from a fabric or craft store for this purpose,

or cut up cotton sheets or kitchen towels

might be used instead.

A common alternative to wool felts is

synthetic chamois, marketed for automotive

body cleaning. These are small, lightweight,

and very absorbent, but they are made of

synthetic rather than natural materials. If

you decide to go this route, shop around for

the best price. Chamois can be quite affordable,

but prices can vary widely.

Drying Systems

Traditionally, Western papers were

assembled into groups of four, called a

spur, in a second pressing, and hung in

a loft to dry. Eastern papers were either

transferred to a board to restraint dry, or

dried directly on the mould. Contemporary

papermakers, of course, are always

experimenting and trying new methods.

A common system for drying papers flat

involves constructing a fan box, where

papers are layered between corrugated

board and blotters and left to dry under

weight with a stream of air from the fan

flowing through the corrugation. For

more information on the drying box, the

lower-tech version of exchange drying,

loft drying, and board drying, see Helen

Hiebert’s “Beginner Topics” column on

drying paper in the July 2006 issue of the

Hand Papermaking Newsletter (75:2), and

the column on “Wet Sheet Handling/Drying”

by Ted Snider in the October 2001

issue (56:3). For instructions on constructing

such a drying box, see “Drying Box

for Printers and Papermakers,” by Claire

van Vliet, Hand Papermaking, vol. 2, no. 1

(Summer 1987): 26-28.

The April 2003 issue of Hand Papermaking

Newsletter (62:2) has Marilyn Sward’s “Beginner

Topics” instructions for drying your papers

on pieces of fiberglass screening that are

hung to dry. The same method might be

used with wet sheets on interfacing. Another

alternative is to dry papers on screening that

is stretched over a frame. I have seen these

screens sliding into a frame forming a drying

rack with a couple of inches between each

screen for air circulation. Women’s Studio

Workshop uses tall baking racks on wheels

to hold the boards onto which wet paper

has been transferred to restraint dry. Other

papermakers have made use of furniture

designed to dry clothing, hanging their paper

couched onto pellon from pant racks, or putting

sheets on garment drying stations with

mesh shelves, sometimes including a built-in

fan. (Thanks to the Yahoo Papermaking List

for these last tips.)

In other words, keep your eyes peeled,

and keep your studio needs in the back of

your mind, and you are bound to discover

a new tool for your workspace, no matter

what its intended use may have been.

> more for beginners at:

> CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts,

Gatlinburg, TN, (865) 436-5860, www

.arrowmont.org. Classes and workshops

in a variety of disciplines, including

papermaking.

Asheville BookWorks, Asheville, NC, (828)

255-8444, www.bookworksasheville.com.

Hands-on workshops including bookbinding,

printmaking, decorative paper, and basic

papermaking.

Pulp to Paper, February 13-14, or April 17-18,

with Frank Brannon. Learn techniques for

forming sheets of handmade paper using

pulp prepared in a Reina beater.

Papermaking from Local Fibers, November 5- 7,

with Frank Brannon. Use pulp prepared from

tree, shrub, and flower fibers to form sheets.

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.

Paper Cutting: An Intricate Art, March 21-27,

with Barbara Stoop. Explore the tradition

of “papierklip,” making beautiful papercuttings

using small, curved scissors and many

different papers, also creating paste paper to

incorporate.

Make the Paper and Print It, April 25-30,

with Frank Brannon. Form beautiful sheets

of paper from cotton, flax, and abaca fibers,

exploring linoleum and wood block printing

on the newly-made sheets.

Paper Making for Books and Boxes, May 30-

June 5, with Claudia Lee. Pull varied sheets

of handmade papers to embellish and then

transform into a series of books, slipcases,

and boxes.

Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists

Guild, Toronto, ON, (416) 581-1071, cbbag@

ccbag.ca, www.cbbag.ca. Book and paper

workshops located on-site in Toronto and in

off-site studios.

Carriage House Paper, Brooklyn, NY, (800)

669-8781, www.carriagehousepaper.com.

Papermaking workshops offered in a new studio

space. Visit website for workshop schedule.

Columbia College Chicago Center for Book

and Paper Arts, Chicago, IL, (312) 344-6630,

www.bookandpaper.org. Papermaking

classes in spacious downtown studios.

Desert Paper, Book and Wax, Tucson, AZ,

(520) 740-1673, www.papermakingresources

.com. Papermaking, book, and mixed media

encaustic workshops, as well as consulting

and studio rental.

Dieu DonnО Papermill, New York, NY, (212)

226-0573, www.dieudonne.org. Beginning

and advanced papermaking classes for adults

and children. Call or visit the website for

winter dates.

Introduction to Contemporary Papermaking,

with staff instructor. Learn the basic papermaking

process, as well as various artistic

techniques.

Open Studio, with staff instructor. Experiment

on your own with studio pulps, making

sheets up to 11 x 14 inches.

Creative Techniques for Artists, with staff

instructor. Explore advanced techniques and

their application for two- and three-dimensional

projects, with a different focus at each session.

Esalen, Big Sur, CA, (831) 667-3000, www

.esalen.org. Workshops in a wide range of

topics relating to “our greater human capacity.”

From the Invisible to the Visible: A

Papermaking Workshop, May 14-16, with

Diana Marto. Create your own paper art,

inspired by tales of the paper road in Tibet,

Japan, the Yukon, Zimbabwe, and Big Sur,

making simple pieces of paper and then learning

how to interact with it in a profound way.

Helen Hiebert Studio, Portland, OR, www

.helenhiebertstudio.com, helen@enlight

enedpapers.com. One-day papermaking and

lamp making workshops in North Portland.

Winter Lights, January 23, with Helen

Hiebert. Create a traditional collapsible

Japanese paper lantern.

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.

Hook Pottery Paper, LaPorte, IN, (219)

362-9478, jonandrea@hookpotterypaper.

com, www.hookpotterypaper.com. Classes

in papermaking and pottery, and a residency

program in northern Indiana.

Magnolia Editions, Oakland, CA, (510) 839-

5268, www.magnoliapaper.com. Workshops

in papermaking, printmaking, and book arts.

Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory

and Educational Foundation, Cleveland,

OH, (216) 361-9255, http://morganconservatory.

org. Workshops in hand papermaking

and the arts of the book in an innovative

green environment.

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.

Paste Paper, January 9, with Susie Thompson.

Create colorful, hand painted, one-of-a-kind

decorative papers.

Plants to Paper Basics, February 13, with Susie

Thompson and Sara Gilfert. Make paper from

bananas, onions, carrots, broccoli, and more.

Sewing on Paper, April 17, with Lanna

Galloway. Use an array of techniques for

sewing both on and with paper.

Innovative Hand Papermaking, May 22, with

Margaret Rhein. Work spontaneously and

use colors, patterns, and textures to create

works of art in handmade paper.

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.

Robert C. Williams Paper Museum, Atlanta,

GA, (404) 894-5726, http://ipst.gatech .edu/amp/.

Teachers’ Japanese Papermaking Workshop,

June 21-25, with Berwyn Hung. Study

Japanese papermaking in-depth, from its

history through its practice, including construction

of a sugeta.

Southwest School of Art & Craft, San Antonio,

TX, (210) 224-1848, www.swschool.org.

Classes at the Picante Paper Studio.

Advanced Studio Rental, most Wednesdays,

with Beck Whitehead. Use of paper studio

and equipment for private instruction upon

request, for use by paper artists.

Papermaking Saturday, select Saturdays,

with Beck Whitehead. Work on independent

projects with instruction available in the

morning.

Tidewater Cottage and Studio, Del Haven, NJ.

Day workshops and weekend or week-long

retreats in a fully equipped paper studio, 10

minutes north of Cape May, New Jersey. For

a schedule of day workshops and weekend/

week retreats, or information about studio

rental, e-mail Winnie Radolan at

winnie.r@verizon.net.

Valley Ridge Art Studio, Muscoda, WI,

(608) 250-5028, www.valleyridgeartstudio

.com. Workshops in papermaking, bookmaking,

photography, writing, etc.

Papermaking with Plant Fiber, August 7-8,

with Nancee Wipperfurth. Create paper of

textural earth tones and feathery deckle edges,

from fiber preparation to pulling sheets.

West Dean College, Chichester, West Sussex,

U.K., (0)1243 811301, short.course@

westdean.org.uk, www.westdean.org.uk.

Informing Paper: Recycled Paper Pulp Vessels

and Vintage Paper Casting, March 21-24,

with Magie Hollingworth. Explore ways

of forming organic vessels with recycled

paper pulp and casting with handmade and

vintage papers.

Wisconsin Center for Book and Paper Arts,

Madison, WI, (608) 284-8394, wcpaperarts@

hotmail.com. Offering tutorial programs in

hand papermaking and decorative 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.

Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor, WI, (920)

868-2912, kcchristian@itol.com, www

.WoodwalkGallery.com. Classes in handmade

paper and natural materials.

DECKLE2-GOTM

Papermakers, make sheets of paper without

using a vat with our Patented designed deckle

box. Made of a nearly indestructible, clear

polycarbonate material, made in the USA, and

designed with you and the classroom teacher in

mind. Clean up is remarkably easy. Paper size is

9 x 12, allowing for shrinkage and fold-overs.

Our simple

dip mould

and deckle

sets of the

same quality

materials.

3 paper sizes; 9”x12”,

6”x9”, and 4”x6”.

msa@cinci.rr.com

(513) 315-3929

www.deckle2go.com

> EVENTS

An East Coast Gathering for papermakers will

be held on Prince Edward Island, June 12-18.

Participants will gather and process fibers

unique to coastal regions such as eel grass,

seaweeds, and dune grasses for making paper.

There will be a series of half day workshops.

The gathering will be held on the ocean’s edge

at Heron Cove on the Point Prim peninsula.

For more information, please contact Linda at

info@heroncovepei.com.

The International Association of Hand

Papermakers a Paper Artists will convene

again in 2010, September 9-13, at the Hanji

Theme Park in Wonju, Korea, about 1½

hours from Seoul. There will be a paper

festival, four exhibitions, presentations, and

workshops. Korean, Japanese, and Chinese

papermakers will be invited in addition

to IAPMA members to share their paper

processes. See more details as the congress

evolves at www.iapma.info.

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, visit

www.friendsofdardhunter.org. The 2010

meeting will be held in October in Gatlinburg,

Tennessee on the grounds of Arrowmont

School of Arts and Crafts.

The SLV Folk Arts and Fiber Festival takes

place July 9-11 in Monte Vista, Colorado,

featuring demonstrations, workshops, and a

vendor fair. For information on participating,

visit the Festival website at www.slvfest.com.

> EXHIBITS

HAND PAPERMAKING  publishes

a series of limited-edition portfolios,

each on a different theme,

showcasing distinctive handmade

papers. The papers are protected

in imprinted folders and described

in a handbound booklet; each set

of papers reside in a custom-made

clamshell box. Editions limited to

150 and sell for $495.

Innovative Printmaking

on Handmade Paper

The Art of Pulp Painting

Calligraphy and Handmade Paper

Handmade Paper in Motion

Insured postage is $15 in the US or

$35 elsewhere. Ask about standing

orders and our traveling exhibitions

program. To view images and complete

prospectus, visit:

www.handpapermaking.org

Mother Tree will be a life-size handmade

paper dress, a work in progress created by

Helen Hiebert in February and March as

part of the Portland Building’s Installation

Space program funded by the Regional Arts

& Culture Council. Single strands of crocheted

thread will extend from the chest; as

they cascade to the floor they will turn into

roots, symbolizing the mother as a provider

and nurturer throughout human development.

As the days progress, the strands

will grow and blossom from the bosom and

protrude into the space, filling it as a tree’s

roots would fill the ground beneath it. For

information on contributing a crocheted

strand to the project, visit http://mothertreeproject.

blogspot.com. The Portland Building

is located at 1120 SW 5th Avenue in downtown

Portland, Oregon.

Book Bombs, a collaborative project by Mary

Tasillo and Michelle Wilson, will be on

display January 8 through March 31 at various

locations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,

as part of the inaugural Philagrafika2010

Print Quadrennial. Book Bombs is a series

of prints and zines, some featuring paper

handmade from urban invasive fibers, examining

the many uses of public park spaces,

installed in just these public spaces. The

project is already underway, as documented

at http://bookbombing.blogspot.com,

and details will also be available through

Philagrafika2010, reachable at (215) 557-8433

or www.philagrafika2010.org.

Native Intelligence, a solo exhibition featuring

the paper work of Aimee Lee, is on view

at Diaspora Vibe Gallery in Miami, Florida

through December 17. For directions and gallery

hours, visit www.diasporavibe.net or call

(305) 573-4046.

Somatic, featuring works in paper by Loni

Diep alongside tactile fiber work by Lindsay

Obermeyer and Renee Prisble Una, continues

through January 10 at the Noyes Cultural

Art Center at 927 Noyes Street in Evanston,

Illinois. Gallery hours are Monday through

Saturday, 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM, and Sunday,

10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. For more information,

please call (847) 448-8260.

The Robert C. Williams Paper Museum of

Atlanta is presenting two current exhibitions.

“Sukey Hughes and the World of

Japanese Paper: A Return to the Source”

runs through January 28. “Make An Impression!

The Art of Combining Handmade

Paper and Print” is open through January 4.

For more information, call (404) 894-7840

or visit www.ipst.gatech.edu/amp.

War Work: Artists Engage Iraq and Other

Wars will be on view at the College of

Wooster Art Museum in Wooster, Ohio,

from January 12 to February 28. The

exhibition includes book, paper, and print

artists Sandow Birk, Daniel Heyman, John

Risseeuw, Ehren Till, Megan Vossler, the

Combat Paper Project, and more. For more

information, call (330) 263-2495, or visit

www.wooster.edu/Music-and-the-Arts/The-

College-of-Wooster-Art-Museum.

The Origin of Paper in China is on view

through June 6 at the International Paper

Museum, 31 Grand Street, Brooklyn, New

York. Regular hours are Thursdays, 2:00-

5:00 PM. For further details, call (718) 599-

7858. The exhibition, Before Paper, which

was shown in New York, is now on display

through August 23 at the Massachusetts location

of the International Paper Museum.

For further details, call (617) 232-1636 or

visit www.papermakinghistory.org.

Project Runway, organized by the Robert

C. Williams Paper Museum, is on view at

Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International

Airport. The juried exhibit showcases clothing

and accessories made entirely from paper,

including ball gowns, business suits, stilettos,

hats, vests, and much more, created by paper

artists from around the world. The exhibit

runs through January 12, 2010, after which it

travels to La Sala Galeria de Arte in Santiago,

Chile. For more information, call (404) 894-

7840 or visit www.ipst.gatech.edu/amp.

Columbia College Chicago seeks Tenure

Track Faculty in Book Arts/Artists’ Books,

Department of Interdisciplinary Arts.

Columbia College Chicago is an urban institution

of over 12,000 undergraduate and

graduate students emphasizing arts, media,

and communications in a liberal arts setting.

The Interdisciplinary Arts Department,

a graduate-only department that offers three

degrees: an MA in Interdisciplinary Arts, an

MFA in Book and Paper Arts, and an MFA

in Interdisciplinary Arts and Media, invites

applications for a tenure-track graduate

faculty appointment in Book Arts/Artists’

Books. The Interdisciplinary Master of Fine

Arts in Book and Paper enables students to

participate in the contemporary art world

by encouraging them to consider book

and paper as a site for interdisciplinary

practice. With access to some of the finest

bindery, papermaking, and printing equipment

and facilities in the country, students

pursue their course work in collaboration

with media, performance, and installation.

Responsibilities include teaching three

classes each semester including book arts

related subjects, studio classes such as artists’

books, bookbinding, or printing, as well

classes with a critical or historical focus,

contributing to curriculum development,

performing graduate student advising, overseeing

a book binding studio, and working

collaboratively and consultatively with the

staff of the Center for Book and Paper Arts.

Job Requirements: Qualifications include

a terminal degree and/or a distinguished

record of professional achievement, a strong

exhibition record with national exposure,

experience with curriculum development, a

demonstrated ability to work collaboratively,

experience teaching graduate students,

and a track record of thinking and working

broadly within the book arts. Columbia

College Chicago encourages qualified

female, LGBTQ, disabled, international, and

minority classified individuals to apply for

all positions. We offer a competitive salary

and excellent benefits package. The position

is contingent on funding. Application

deadline: January 15, 2010. No phone calls

or hard-copy materials please. For consideration,

please email a cover letter, CV, artist’s

statement, list of courses taught, a link to

up to 20 digital images of personal artwork,

and the names of three references to:

InterArts565@colum.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

to large fine

Japanese papermaking frames with bamboo

screens from the 1970s, in excellent

condition. Rabbet joinery, copper fittings.

For details: sukeyhughes@earthlink.net

> more opportunities at

handpapermaking.org/listings.htm

next summer. If interested contact aba@cul

turalcollaborative.org. For information on

Cultural Collaborative, visit www.cultur

alcollaborative.org.

The Creative Residency program in Visual

Arts at The Banff Centre, Alberta, Canada,

provides studio facilities and support for

artists working in a broad range of media,

including painting, drawing, performance,

ceramics, book arts, textile art, papermaking,

sculpture, installation, photography, and

more. Visit www.banffcentre.ca for information

about residencies and facilities, or

contact Wendy Tokaryk at wendy_tokaryk@

banffcentre.ca or (403) 762-6402.

Artists experienced in papermaking are

invited to apply for the opportunity to spend

up to three months working in the Paper

Studio at the Southwest School of Art &

Craft. Artists are expected to provide their

own transportation and materials. Housing

may be available, but is not guaranteed. Collaborations

will be considered. For further

information contact SSAC, 300 Augusta,

San Antonio, TX 78205, (210) 224-1848,

www.swschool.org.

Women’s Studio Workshop offers several

opportunities for artists working in

papermaking and book arts. A year-long

internship program gives young artists

creative support, culminating in an exhibition,

in return for their assistance with the

on-going operations of the facility, including

assisting WSW’s Artists-in-Residence with

their projects and participating in WSW’s

Summer Arts Institute classes as studio

assistants. Studio fellowships are designed

to provide concentrated work time for artists

to explore new ideas in a dynamic and supportive

community of women artists. For

details on these and other programs, visit

www.wsworkshop.org.

“Handmade Paper: A Review of its History,

Craft, and Science,” by Martin A. Hubbe

and Cindy Bowden, has been published by

BioResources. The free article can be found

by going to the website www.bioresources.

com and then scrolling down to the article’s

page number, 1736, of volume 4, issue 4.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific

and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

added several paper arts traditions from

China and Japan to its list of cultural treasures

in September. Amongst the 76 living

arts and traditions from 27 countries that

were added to the list to be safe-guarded

are the Ojiya-chijimi and Echigo-jofu art of

making hand-woven, tie-dyed fabrics from

the ramie plant; various Chinese paper

cutting techniques; and Western Japan’s Sekishu-

Banshi paper making techniques. Visit

www.unesco .org/culture/ich/RL/00267

for informative background, slideshows,

and videos depicting each process. Publications

on the organization’s cultural heritage

project can also be ordered.

Paper Art I - 173 International Paper Artists is

a new book featuring the work of members of

IAPMA (International Association of Hand

Papermakers and Artists). More information,

including images, can be found at www

.iapma.info, or by contacting president@

iapma.info.

The Legacy Press has recently published

Killing Green: An Account of Hand

Papermaking in China by Elaine Koretsky.

The book chronicles the author’s many

field expeditions over more than a quarter

century, including excursions to remote

villages that represent unbroken traditions

in papermaking by hand. From the Taklimakan

and Gobi Deserts to the Himalayas,

Elaine Koretsky interviewed papermakers,

recorded their histories, and documented

their processes. Visit www.thelegacypress

.com for more details and to place an order.

A series of eight short videos filmed at Pyramid

Atlantic show viewers how to make paper

by hand. Gretchen Schermerhorn covers

such topics as Preparing the Vat with Pulp,

Forming the Sheets, Pressing the Paper,

Loading the Drying Box, and Checking for

Flaws. Visit www.monkeysee.com and search

for Schermerhorn.

Maine Public Television recently broadcast

a half-hour segment of Incredible Maine that

featured the papermaking and pulp painting

of Georgeann Kuhl. The host visits the

artist’s studio, where techniques are demonstrated

and finished work is described,

and wraps up the episode on the shore of

Widgeon Cove where sheets are made using

a floating mould. To order the DVD, request

show #213 from www. incrediblemaine.com

or call (207) 798-6535.

Adina Levin is the co-founder of Collab,

a new project aimed at re-localizing the

economy by enabling artists, artisans, and

inventors to collaborate in the same space

with a variety of green tools. In the October

21 issue of The Daily Green, she describes

and demonstrates how to make paper from

the trash in a recycling bin. The instructions

and video are straightforward and aimed at

beginners. Visit www.thedailygreen.com/

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> SPECIAL THANKS

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. Call or

write for more information on giving levels

and premiums.

Patrons: Timothy Barrett, Susan Gosin,

Barbara Lippman, David Marshall & Alan

Wiesenthal, Gibby Waitzkin. Underwriters:

Cathleen A. Baker, Sid Berger & Michele

Cloonan, Peter Newland & Robyn Johnson,

John L. Risseeuw, Nancy & Mark Tomasko,

Beck Whitehead, Pamela S. Wood. Sponsors:

Greg Campbell, Gail Deery, Michael Durgin,

Jim Escalante, Jane Farmer, Helen Frederick,

Andrea Peterson, Margaret Prentice, Kimberly

Schenck. Donors: Eric Avery, Inge Bruggeman,

Tom & Lore Burger, William Dane, Georgia

Deal, Amanda Degener, Paul Denhoed,

Cynthia J. Fay, Dorothy Field, Gail Fishberg,

Kathryn Flannery, Lori B. Goodman, Robert

Hauser, Helen Hiebert, Peter Hopkins,

Barbara Hunter, Eve Ingalls Von Staden,

Ingrid Rose Company, Lois & Gordon

James, Rick Johnson, Ann Marie Kennedy,

David Kimball, Elaine Koretsky, Georgeann

Kuhl, Karen Kunc, Mary Lou Manor,

Gordon Marshall, Heather Leigh McGarvie,

Betsy Miraglia, Catherine Nash, Janet Oberla,

Nancy Pobanz, Dianne L. Reeves, Mary C.

Schlosser, Karen Stahlecker, Helmuth A.

Stahlecker Jr., R. H. Starr Jr., Stephen Sward,

Betty Ustun, Kathy Wosika. Supporters:

Annie Alexander, Marjorie & Harold Alexander,

Lynne Allen, Grimanesa Amoros, Martha

Anderson, Lois D. Augur, Shirah Miriam

(Mimi) Aumann, Eugenie Barron, Lora

Brueck, T. Patterson Clark, Nancy Cohen,

Rona Conti, Charles Cooper, Elizabeth Curren,

Jennifer Davies, Dianne Dolan, Jonathan

Fairbanks, Theresa Fairbanks Harris, Dorothy

Fall, Lynn Feldman, Kathy Fitzgerald, Sara

Gilfert, Lou Kaufman, Kristin Kavanagh,

Betty L. Kjelson, Allye Kranish, Gordon

Marshall, Edwin Martin, Joyce McDaniel,

Ann Montanaro, S.A. Scharf, Pam Scheinman,

Peter Sowiski, Jessica Spring, Marie

Sturken, Sheila Sturrock, Betty Sweren,

Anne Williams, Therese Zemlin.In-Kind:

Carol Barton, Zina Castanuela, Georgia Deal,

Janet DeBoer, Paul Denhoed, Jim Escalante,

Peter Ford, Helen Hiebert, Peter Hopkins,

Drew Matott, Rick McSorley, Pyramid Atlantic,

Britt Quinlan, Amy Richard, Beverly Sky,

Lynn Sures, Mary Tasillo, USDA Beltsville

Agricultural Research Center, Gibby

Waitzkin. Founding Contributors to the

Hand Papermaking Endowment: 49er

Books, Shirah Miriam (Mimi) Aumann,

Cathleen A. Baker, Tom Balbo, Timothy

Barrett, Sidney Berger & Michele Cloonan,

Tom & Lore Burger, Jeanne M. Drewes,

Jane M. Farmer, Fifth Floor Foundation,

Helen Frederick, Sara Gilfert, Susan

Gosin, Lois and Gordon James, Sally Wood

Johnson, David Kimball, Elaine Koretsky,

Karen Kunc, Barbara Lippman, Winifred Lutz,

Susan M. Mackin-Dolan, David Marshall &

Alan Wiesenthal, Peter Newland Fund of

the Greater Everett Community Foundation,

Margaret Prentice, Preservation Technologies,

L.P., Michelle Samour, Peter Sowiski,

Marilyn & Steve Sward, Gibby Waitzkin,

Tom Weideman, Beck Whitehead, Paul Wong

& John Colella, Pamela & Gary Wood.

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