For the edition, Anderson Barbata wanted to create a work in the spirit of Mexican cut-paper decorations (known as papel picado). She sent a hand-drawn illustration of a cut-paper design memorializing Pastrana's repatriation. I worked with graduate student, Boo Gilder (class of 2013) to create a hand-cut stencil from thin pink Styrofoam that we purchased from our local hardware store. We traced and drew the image with a fine Sharpie marker, and cut the stencil with a sharp X-acto blade. We prepared the stenciling pulp by overbeating flax pulp sheets fine enough to push through a spray bottle. We pigmented the pulp jet black using aqueous-dispersed pigment and liquid retention agent. We left it overnight to maximize color retention and minimize bleeding. The base sheet is pigmented cotton linter pulp, formed with a deckle box built with a reed mat on the mould frame. We covered the mat with a Pellon, assembled the box, lined it with plastic, filled it with water and pulp, then pulled the plastic out to allow the pulp to settle on the Pellon. We moved the drained sheet with the Pellon to a couching stand. We blotted the sheet with dry Pellons to remove excess water before placing the Styrofoam stencil on top. Blotting helps to keep the stencil from sticking to the sheet and to minimize color bleeding. We mixed 1 part black-pigmented pulp to 3 parts water and applied this working solution through a spray bottle into the openings of the stencil. We blotted the stencil with a sponge to mop up any stray pulp on the stencil before lifting the stencil off the base sheet. We have learned to preserve the spray bottles by spraying clean water through them when we are finished for the day. This helps us work with CCC's green initiative to minimize our studio waste. Roman Catholic Funeral Mass for Julia Pastrana, officiated by Presbyter José Jesús Nieto Calderón, at Iglesia de los Ss. Apóstoles Felipe y Santiago, Sinaloa de Leyva, Sinaloa, Mexico, February 12, 2013. Over 500 people were in attendance including international press. Welcome ceremony by the Mayor, Governor, and the artist Laura Anderson Barbata. Note the pulp-stenciled paperwork on top of the casket. Photo: Paola Rodriguez

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