These pristine papers almost belie their origins. In a setting more appropriate for a suspense movie, Degener and O'Malley have done little to alter their workspace's stone walls and floors of concrete, brick, wood, and dirt. With Cave Paper in the basement, Gregor Campbell's Inkunabula Arts Building also houses the Campbell/Logan Bindery, several artists' studios, and a few other small businesses, all above ground. The basement is cold, dark, and damp and Degener�layered in rubber, goose down, and fur�greets the December visitor at the freight elevator. Raw materials arrive and are cut down and stored in this first room, at the back of the building. Huge bales of cotton cloth and flax sit on pallets. A shallow box mounted on an eight foot long table overflows with denim scraps, ready to be cut with industrial sewing shears into small pieces for beating. A quick, enthusiastic demonstration shows how safely and easily this usually tedious job can be done. A first impression from these large amounts of material and the methods devised to deal with them is that Cave Paper is a serious operation. An about face from the cutting room table reveals the main tunnel of the cave, with sheets of dried pulp and more bales of materials winding back to the beater. The beater itself rests on a massive raised concrete floor, designed and built by Degener and her husband, Robert Hughes. They used eight wheel barrows of concrete and spent months of work creating this stable, level surface, which absorbs the vibrations of the operating machine. The raised floor also channels water to a floor drain behind the beater. In addition to the large amount of pulp it generates in one beating (enough for 150 sheets of 18" x 24" blue jean paper), this particular beater also saves production time with a washer attachment. The washer continuously rinses the pulp as it circulates, eliminating the laborious task of washing flax fibers after cooking them in calcium hydroxide. Made by Voith Inc. for the paper industry, this Valley beater was the first of its model produced. The recent history of the beater involves many prominent people in the field. Purchased on the advice of Timothy Barrett by a Kalamazoo doctor, the beater was put up for auction with the rest of the doctor's papermaking equipment after he suffered a stroke. Elaine Koretsky purchased the entire lot of equipment, including the beater. Knowing she did not have enough room in her own studio, she had Lee McDonald offer it for sale through his equipment supply business. The beater sat on a loading dock in Kalamazoo for some time without a buyer. Koretsky eventually donated the beater to the Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA) when Degener was overseeing the establishment of the Center's paper facility. Degener herself transported the beater from Kalamazoo to Minneapolis, only to watch it sit on the loading dock at MCBA for years, awaiting funds and labor to rebuild and install the machine. While Degener periodically offered to purchase the beater, it was not until Howard and Kathryn Clark of Twinrocker also made an offer that MCBA and Degener finally struck a deal. Cave Paper began to take shape. Although the paper industry identifies this as a "25 pound" beater, Degener and O'Malley usually only load it with twelve to fifteen pounds of dry fiber. The pulp, once beaten, makes its way through the rest of the cave's tunnels. Most of the pulp is made into sheets soon after beating, despite the cool climate, ideal for pulp storage. A large, old ice cream maker near the beater serves as a mixer to pigment pulp with iron oxide for red walnut flax paper and for some custom orders. Past the mixer in the main tunnel, several small, organized areas provide spaces for curating and storing inventory, shipping, and other work with the finished paper. The main tunnel opens up to the right of the beater, revealing an unexpected door, the only one in the mill. This door conceals the brightest spot in these windowless caverns: the sheet forming room. Degener and O'Malley extensively renovated this 20' x 20' space, installing an insulated ceiling and walls, fluorescent lighting, a hot water heater, space heaters, and a sink. Having impressively equipped and organized it with vats, moulds and deckles, felts, and a hydraulic press, the papermakers make their standard, 18" x 24", Western-style sheets here. Although other equipment enables them to make paper of practically any size, Eastern or Western, Degener and O'Malley have started out with a manageable, limited focus. Large custom orders are an exception. Two spacious areas, strung with a web of clothesline, extend into darkness beyond the sheet forming room. Most of the sheet drying, coloring, and sizing takes place here. The papermakers hang their sheets in the traditional Western method of loft drying for the first drying and for subsequent dippings into vats for coloring and sizing. Some sheets, such as the layered indigo flax, may be dipped and hung to dry up to ten times. After the final dipping and hanging, the sheets are lightly misted and pressed one final time between blotters in a drier upstairs, where the air is less humid. If the beater is the heart of the Cave, the paper must be its soul. These substantial sheets have a weight and texture magnificent to touch; their surfaces suggest worlds of sky, earth, and water, inviting the viewer into their depths. The sheets, expertly and professionally made, have a raw, unpolished feel, but are actually very refined, appropriate for use by a wide variety of artists and craftspeople. Degener and O'Malley carefully consider each step of the process: selecting quality materials, using filtered water and adding calcium carbonate to prevent acidity, coloring and sizing with proven techniques. A sample booklet concisely describes materials and procedures. The resulting paper has integrity, strength, and stability. Cave Paper's assortment of nine stock papers exhibits much breadth. Colors range from the bright white of cotton and the light earth tones of natural flax to a very rich black, achieved through layers of indigo and walnut dye. The cool tones of the layered indigo and blue jean papers offset the warm browns of the three unique walnut papers. The O'Malley Crackle, in particular, balances nicely a luscious, varied surface with decorative restraint. Surface textures differ in relation to the raw materials used, with the tow flax fairly rough and hard, the Russian hemp smooth and crisp, and the cotton somewhat soft. Cave Paper draws on expertise gained from many years of hard work and study. The partners have known each other since 1985, when they met at MCBA. Degener was just settling in as the Papermaker-in-Residence when O'Malley offered to volunteer her time in exchange for training and experience. Eventually serving as a papermaking intern at MCBA, O'Malley also assisted with work on early issues of this magazine, which Degener co-founded. O'Malley left Minneapolis in 1988 to pursue graduate study at the University of Iowa and stayed there to complete an apprenticeship as a production papermaker under Timothy Barrett at the University's Center for the Book paper facility. Meanwhile, Degener taught and established herself as an independent artist in Minneapolis, setting up her own paper studio by gradually moving her equipment out of MCBA. After securing affordable space for the Hollander beater in Campbell's building, Degener formed a business partnership with O'Malley, who had returned to Minneapolis to serve as MCBA's Papermaker-in-Residence. Degener had used the name Cave Paper unofficially since her years in graduate school at Yale University; the name seemed especially appropriate to keep, given the qualities of the new studio. Although the partners have preserved the cave-like qualities of the space, they have done much to get it and the beater fully functioning. Eight months alone were spent on the beater and its supporting floor. Setting up the sheet forming room also took a substantial amount of time. Degener and O'Malley held many discussions about the focus of the business during these early preparations. While the proprietors claim to be a mobile operation willing to move to a warmer climate at a moment's notice (certainly understandable with excessive snow and prolonged sub-zero temperatures in Minneapolis this past winter), it is hard to imagine them or the beater moving anywhere soon. The Twin Cities seem to be advantageous for a hand papermaking business. Along with MCBA, numerous schools in the area offer paper, print, and book arts classes, providing teaching opportunities for both Degener and O'Malley, and adding to an already established group of people knowledgeable about handmade paper. Many of these serve as potential clients, interns, and supportive peers to the Cave Paper staff. The region also has local outlets that sell their papers, including MCBA and Wet Paint, an art supply store in Saint Paul run and staffed by artists and known for its extensive selection of quality papers. Cave Paper has achieved much in its short life, especially since neither Degener nor O'Malley has been able to work full time for the business. Even without a marketing plan, they have been making and selling paper steadily for over a year; most of their business comes from word of mouth. This suggests that they have met a demand for large amounts of quality papers; about two-thirds of Cave Paper's business stems from sales of their stock sheets. Retailers who carry their papers, aside from local shops, include Dieu Donné, in New York City, and Kami No Ondo, in Nagoya, Japan. They also sell wholesale to other businesses, such as binderies. Custom orders for broadsides, wedding invitations, and special book papers make up the remainder of their sales. Degener and O'Malley have worked out a flexible partnership and both seem happy with the arrangement. Degener owns most of the equipment and O'Malley has copyrights for several of the papers she developed in Iowa. Otherwise, the partnership seems very equal. They make decisions easily, often over the phone, and each complements the other's technical skills. Both have years of experience with handmade paper: Degener's background, in setting up paper studios and dealing with different clients and collaborators, and O'Malley's, in production paper and research, combine to contribute to the success of the business. Their enthusiasm and willingness to listen to their customers as they develop business relationships also help. Cave Paper is a solid business and will undoubtedly be around for some time, but it is still in the process of defining itself. Both partners admit they should focus on growth. Many questions face them: How can they develop marketing and long range plans? Do they want to expand their product line? How big do they want to be? Where would they need help if they expand? If the business could support both of them full time, would they be willing to relinquish their teaching and other activities that keep them connected to the paper and book community? As Cave Paper surfaces from underground, it will be fascinating to see where Degener's and O'Malley's ambitions take them.
