As we pulled the sheets, we talked about what those inclusions were and what they meant. One person who made paper with Marilyn at Penland School tore up those same sheets and threw them into the vat. I sprinkled in dried petals of flowers that Marilyn had brought me for my thesis exhibition opening at Columbia College in May 2003. I kept them in my office, drying in the vase that she came toting that night. We were the last group of students whom she had helped to get accepted into the MFA program. Surely she saw many a graduating class, and certainly more students than she could have kept count of. The next inclusions in the vat were threads. Stacey Stern and I had been at the hospital during Marilyn's final days and saw a string of visitors come in and out of Marilyn's room. There were folks from her reading group, her walking group, her book & paper group, her gardening club, neighbors, friends, and colleagues. As we drove home after our visit, we talked about her life and how she connected with so many people from so many walks of life. Her life was like a fine fabric that wove everyone together in a most unique manner, a way that was hers alone. To watch her work her magic was an amazing sight to behold. The analogy of the threads of her life became the idea that brought us together one more time to make paper in Marilyn's memory for Hand Papermaking. The collaborations she pursued rang familiar as we started working on the paper samples that are included in this issue. We decided to make paper circles to echo Marilyn's Treewhispers project. One of her many artistic endeavors, Treewhispers is an international collaborative project involving paper, art, and summer 2009 - 39 stories relating to trees as a symbol and resource. Co-collaborator Pamela Paulsrud was not only a friend and colleague, but also one of many students who came through the Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts program under Marilyn's tutelage. The threads of Marilyn's life and the timeless symbol of the circle are reflected in this paper sample. We hope that the love that Marilyn shared with us comes through. We invite you to go to the project website, www.treewhispers.com, to learn more. If you wish, take this sample and contribute to the project in Marilyn's name. We are sure she would want her work to continue. Fifty-five sheets of paper were handmade using Marilyn's favorite fiber, unbleached abaca, with thread inclusions. The fiber was beaten for ninety minutes, then poured into a 24 x 32 inch deckle box. The hands that lovingly created the paper and cut the circles belong to: Melissa Jay Craig, Anita Garza, Myra Kalaw, Gina Ordaz, Melissa Potter, April Sheridan, Eden Stern, Stacey Stern, and Cecile Webster.
