The sample you see here was made specifically for Hand Papermaking to emulate the ground for my large-scale pulp paintings.
The base layer consists of one part kozo fiber and two parts abaca fiber. I cooked the kozo in a lye solution for about two hours, then rinsed it, and brush-beat it in a Hollander for about 45 minutes. The abaca was beaten separately for about 55 minutes. I mixed the two pulps in the vat, added a small amount of formation aid, and formed the base sheets Western-style on an antique laid mould that I constructed by taking the wire cloth off a dandy roll and using it to make the face of the mould 41 years ago. (How time flies.)
To make the pulp for the stripes, I beat cotton half-stuff for 120 minutes in the Hollander, resulting in a very finely beaten pulp, which I pigmented with dispersed ultramarine blue, as well as blue and red interference pigments, set with retention aid. Using my “deli container striping calligraphy tool,” I added the stripes to the top side of the sheet before couching the sheet. When I make the large-scale sheets, I apply the stripes using whole-body movements, leaning and stepping laterally to cover the territory. Here, the motion has been scaled down while retaining the intention of keeping the gestural sweep.
After couching, I pressed the sheets with a 20-ton hydraulic jack, separated the sheets, and dried them under restraint.

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