For Hand Papermaking's twentieth anniversary, we celebrate by looking back and UP, into the skies, tracing the use of handmade paper in humankind's attempt to leave the ground and soar above. The issue features a commissioned project with artist Lesley Dill who worked with master printer and papermaker Gail Deery and kite expert Scott Skinner of The Drachen Foundation to produce a giant ten-foot kite titled Divide Light (Healing Man).

In addition to the debut of Healing Man, this issue includes an intriguing array of articles on the topic of “Paper in Flight.” Marie-Hélène Reynaud informs us of the contribution to aviation by the Montgolfier brothers, eighteenth-century French papermakers. Tim Barrett gives us an account of World War II Japanese balloon bombs. Elaine Koretsky’s article reports on Burmese handmade paper fire balloons, accompanied by a sample of the paper used to make fire balloons. (Demonstrating the wonderful continuity of scholarship in our field, both Barrett and Koretsky contributed articles to the very first issue of Hand Papermaking in 1986.) To close this section, Brian Queen shows us how we can build and fly our own paper hot-air balloon. Anne McKeown contributes an eloquent essay on Byron Kim’s Sky Blue Kite. Scott Skinner follows with an article on the use of traditional Japanese paper in contemporary kite making, setting the stage for Divide Light (Healing Man). To complement Healing Man, Lesley Dill created Divide Light (DoubleGirls), a miniature kite that readers can assemble and fly. Also in this issue, Sue Gosin remembers artist Alan Shields and Mindy Dubansky and Karen Searle review recent exhibitions. We close the issue with an informative and personal conversation by Hand Papermaking founders, Amanda Degener and Michael Durgin.

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