The Clarks have devoted a countless number of hours to lectures and demonstrations at art centers, museums, and universities around the world. On occasion, special seminars and classes have been held in the studios on the farm. They preach the gospel of artistic freedom through discipline and technical facility. Throughout this entire period they have made paper, thousands upon thousands of sheets. Ultimately it has been the exceptional quality of this paper, whether heavy and rough or thin and refined, that has earned them a world-wide reputation. The papermakers of Twinrocker take pride in the traditional skills. "Handmade paper is different from machine-made paper. It is made by human beings and threrefore it seems to be alive," says Kathryn, "and yet the anonymous sheet of paper is not a strong enough statement to interfere with an artist's image; its aliveness complements and enhances an artist's work." Howard adds, "this aliveness is of no value if the paper self-destructs; handmade does not necessarily imply archival. Long-lived paper is more a matter of knowledge and skill than ingredients. It's difficult to combine aesthetic interest and technical consistency, but it is absolutely necessary for archival papermaking." The Clarks specialize in supplying custom papers to artists, fine art publishers, and private presses. In addition, the mill produces a wide variety of papers for a few (very few) art supply stores. "The custom orders are a springboard for our on-hand papers," Kathryn explains. "If we have an order for, let's say, a pastel pink art paper, we will make the order and then make variations on the theme. We might darken the color to a rose and make some thick art sheets, then perhaps lighten the color to a dusty pink and change the fiber and beating to make a text paper. The result will be two or more on-hand papers we have never made before." Howard says, "Artists love the idea that we always have something different on-hand, but only a few of the best shops can deal with it. That is why we sell directly to artists by mail and telephone." Artists who make their own paper are also served by the Clarks. Papermaker's supplies are an important part of Twinrocker. They only sell what they use, so they can offer professional advice to their clients. Their specialty is pulp, beaten to order in Twinrocker's hollanders, but they also sell unbeaten fiber, pigments, and sizing. A strong interest of the Clarks will always be in collaborating with other artists on special projects. Claire van Vliet is one of many artists who have worked at Twinrocker on a joint project with the Clarks (see photo). In any given year, they might work with an internationally known artist, produce paper for one of the country's leading presses, or participate in the production of a fine, hand printed book. Recently, Twinrocker made the paper for a limited edition book published by the Arion Press of San Francisco, in honor of the 200th birthday of the Constitution. The book will include the text of the constitution, a preface by former Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, and an introduction by the former Librarian of Congress, Daniel J. Boorstin. Unlike any industrial mill or even the high production European hand mills, the small and flexible Twinrocker mill can create a special paper for every client. It seems the papers from Twinrocker have no limits. The Clarks will vary color, texture, size, and quantity. The mill uses sixteen different forms of fiber, including: cotton, linen, flax, corn husk, wheat straw, Russian hemp, coir (coconut husk), kapoc, and abaca. "Probably the quirkiest paper we have ever made was for the other Constitution, the famous ship U.S.S. Constitution," explains Howard. "We incorporated actual bits of wood from the ship into sheets of paper. The wood had been replaced in a restoration and we used it to make paper for a special portfolio for the ship's museum." Custom orders and collaborations usually involve a paper that is special for aesthetic or technical reasons, or for both. Twinrocker pioneered laminations of colored pulps, shaped paper, and the thin transparent laminations they call veils. Works done at Twinrocker have been imbedded with everything from photographs and glitter to bits of fencing and even glass eyes. They draw upon books and books of color samples that record every color they have made and its formula. Custom papers have been as small as business cards and as large as plywOOt sheets. "A good many of our innovations have been in response to the slightly crazy, 'what if' ideas that happen in a collaboration," Howard indicates. The new studio will allow Twinrocker to offer additional services to visiting artists. Rather than having to arrange their limited space to meet the demands and needs of either production papermaking or collaborative projects at a given time, the staff at Twinrocker will now be able to accomodate both types of activity simultaneously. This new opportunity will allow more flexibility for working with artists in the future. Technical requirements can be just as stimulating. "The reason we use hemp as a papermaking fiber is due to our desire to make paper as closely as possible to the way it was made in the 1600's," says Howard. "Conservators who are working with books created in the 1600's often need a contemporary handmade paper which can be used for rebinding. In Europe the two main fibers used back then were hemp and flax, flax from linen rags, and hemp from scraps of rope from the sailing ships. Flax iw$ctill grown, but hemp is not...except in Russia." The Clarks operate the mill with a staff of five. Kathryn, Chris Gipson, and Jim Good make the paper. Howard, an engineer by education, builds all the equipment and manages`4xe research and development efforts. Richard Bugyi-Sutter handles the office chores and the computer system while Jack Hale takes care of the packing and shipping. All are assisted by Brett Scruggs. People have always been a top priority at Twinrocker. The mill has been home to thirteen apprentices, several of whom were funded by a special grant from the National Endowment of the Arts and the Lilly Endowment. The apprenticeship program, while it existed, was designed as a two year educational exchange of ideas. The Clarks say the program was established to help foster the spread of making quality paper by hand. "When we started the apprenticeship program we asked ourselves: 'What can handmade paper be that machine-made paper can't be, both technically and aesthetically?'" Kathryn states. "The answer is that it can be many, many things. The more we learn, the more possibilities emerge,...more than we can investigate in a lifetime. We asked the apprentices who left here to go out and fill in the gap, to fill in the void. One thing that was so exciting about the people who left here was that they didn't jsut spread out around the United States, they wmnt all over the world. Colcequently, Twinrocker has had a strong international effect on handmade paper." As the Clarks reflect on the last fifteen years, a time that has offered several museum mxhibits and international recognition, they are both quick to point out that being in the middle of nowhere was more of a blessing than a curse. "Being in Brookston, Indiana, we were not local to any place in terms of the art market. We could have been easily forgotten," Kathryn mentions. "However, America became our market instead of our becoming New York or West coast or Chicago papermakers." Along with stories about great artists connected with Twinrocker (Kathryn included -- she exhibits internationally and is featured at the Van Straaten Gallery in Chicago) the Clarks speak of the days when Twinrocker was just starting and the years when bankruptcy always seemed imminent. Kathryn passionately tells the story of the time Howard injured his back in the mill and spent the night on a wet floor with temperatures far below zero outside. Endurance seems to be an ingredient of Twinrocker and its fifteen years. When Kathryn speaks about endurance and the driving force behind the mill, she says, "It didn't seem like a conscious effort, but for some reason we felt this incredible need to make a total commitment to the art of making handmade paper. We have always been long distance runners not looking for the big thrill which might happen tomorrow. Our entire effort with Twinrocker was sort of like making paper; you have to make one beautiful sheet at a time. And every little sheet of paper that is made is a commitment to that year, to art, to Twinrocker, and to paper itself."
