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HAND PAPERMAKING N E W S L E T T E R
Number 107, July 2014
Newsletter Editor: Shireen Holman
Advertising & Listings: Mary Tasillo
Desktop Production: Amy Richard
Columnists: Eugenie Barron, Sidney Berger, Maureen and Simon Green, Elaine Koretsky, Margaret Mahan, Winifred Radolan, Mary Tasillo
Hand Papermaking Newsletter is published quarterly. Annual subscriptions are $55 in North America or $80 overseas, including two issues of the journal Hand Papermaking. For more subscription information, or a list of back issue contents and availability, contact:
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The deadline for the next newsletter (October 2014) is August 15. Please direct all correspondence to the address above. We encourage letters from our subscribers on any relevant topic. We also solicit comments on articles in Hand Papermaking magazine, questions or remarks for newsletter columnists, and news of special events or activities. Classified ads are $2.00 per word with a 10-word minimum. Rates for display ads are available upon request.
Hand Papermaking is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Staff: Tom Bannister, Executive Director; Mina Takahashi, Magazine Editor; Shireen Holman, Newsletter Editor and Office Manager; Mary Tasillo, Outreach; Suzanne Oberholtzer, Design Director. Board of Directors: Tom Balbo, Zina Castañuela, Jeffrey Cooper, Kerri Cushman, Susan Mackin Dolan, Susan Gosin, Mary Hark, Steve Kostell, Kate Martinson, Anne Q. McKeown, Julie McLaughlin, Amy Richard, Michelle Samour, Gibby Waitzkin, Eileen Wallace, Teri Williams, Erin Woodbrey. International Board of Advisors: Yousef Ahmad (Qatar), Timothy Barrett (US), Simon J. Blattner (US), Kathryn & Howard Clark (US), Mandy Coppes-Martin (South Africa), Jane Farmer (US), Peter Ford (UK), Helen Frederick (US), Peter & Pat Gentenaar (Netherlands), Simon Barcham Green (UK), Dard Hunter III (US), Kyoko Ibe (Japan), Winsome Jobling (Australia), Elaine Koretsky (US), Carolina Larrea (Chile), Roberto Mannino (Italy), Beatrix Mapalagama (Austria), Bob Matthysen (Belgium), Giorgio Pellegrini (Italy), Brian Queen (Canada), Victoria Rabal (Spain), Vicky Sigwald (Argentina), Lynn Sures (US). Co-founders: Amanda Degener and Michael Durgin.
Dear Hand Papermaking,
I have just returned from South Africa and thought readers might be interested in a report on the energetic papermaking activities there.
Kim Berman, on behalf of the Visual Art Department of the University of Johannesburg (UJ), invited me to be a visiting artist from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (SMFA) where I am on the faculty and teach hand papermaking. SMFA’s connection with APS goes back to the late 1980’s when Kim was a MFA student at school. Kim returned home to Johannesburg to found Artist Proof Studio, one of the largest and most vibrant community and professional printmaking facilities in Southern Africa. In addition to her work with APS, Kim is on the arts faculty at UJ. We have maintained a strong connection with Kim since her return to Johannesburg.
My first two weeks were spent at the new location of the Phumani Archive Paper Mill on the campus of UJ. I worked with the fourth-year students introducing them to various 3D approaches to working with handmade paper. Before going, I called Anne McKeown from the Brodsky Center at Rutgers who I knew had been to South Africa and had in fact, hosted and trained Phumani master papermaker Nathi Ndlandla. I spoke with Anne about my idea to make wire sculptures that could be embedded with various materials, dipped into fiber and hung as an installation. After describing the pieces to Anne, she suggested that they sounded like Weaver’s nests, ubiquitous to South Africa. This cemented the conceptual approach that I would take with the project. The nests became metaphors for home and ‘sense of place,’ a concept that we would also be exploring with Kim’s third-year students in the second half of my trip.
To form the ‘nests’ we created removable armatures with rice-filled stockings. We wrapped the forms with wire, removed the armatures then dipped the forms into pigmented kozo and abaca pulp. Various other materials were added (copper kitchen scrubbers, string, fabric) before and/or after the dipping process, with the emphasis being on using materials ubiquitous in our lives. As we worked the ‘nests’ began to resemble jelly fish so the students affectionately nicknamed them ‘Jellyweavers.’ We hung the Jellyweavers with colorful iridescent fabrics in the foyer of the art department creating a diaphanous 3D form that appeared to float in space. (See photos of installation and detail.)
The second two weeks of my stay were focused on an exchange with ten students from the SMFA with eleven others from UJ and APS. Emily Lombardo, print faculty from SMFA, brought our students over and along with Kim; we taught an Intensive Print and Paper course, similar to one that we offer at SMFA. The emphasis of the course was on cross-cultural collaboration. Students from all three programs were divided into three mixed groups. They worked intensely for two weeks; each group creating a collaborative piece whose focus was to be ‘sense of place.’ Working first at the Phumani Archive paper mill with me, Nathi, and his assistant Dumisani, students made their paper using various pulp painting and stenciling methods. They then printed on their papers at both UJ and APS using screen, litho, and linocut.
Our hosts could not have been more generous and our projects proved to be catalysts for shared dialogue about our cross-cultural histories and experiences. For all of the students involved in the projects, our emphasis on ‘sense of place’ seemed to morph into a ‘sense of community.’ For those who made the trip from the US it was a lifetime opportunity and one that will certainly continue to influence our lives and the ways in which we approach our work.
Michelle Samour Boston, Massachusetts
Dear Readers,
I enjoy reading all of Hand Papermaking and its newsletter. I was inspired by Mary Tasillo’s “For Beginners” column to write this note to the editor. Mary says about all of us who are educators about paper, “our role in educating others about the makeup of the world around us [and, of course, about paper] is an important one” (Hand Papermaking Newsletter 106 [April 2014], p. 7). For this reason I try to straighten people out when I see silly, inaccurate, and downright foolish things said about paper.
One phenomenon I have seen over many years is people who are experts in one field—a field in which paper plays a role— trying to say something intelligent about this wonderful material; but not having seen papermaking, they get it all wrong. Sometimes you can see that what they say is pure guesswork, maybe hoping that they guess right, or perhaps that no one will go to an authoritative source to verify that what they say is correct. And when the scholar is brilliant in his or her field, people are likely to assume that what is pontificated on must be right.
As you can predict, all of this is a preamble to a case in point, from a truly brilliant scholar. I am talking about Christopher de Hamel, one of the world’s foremost scholars on medieval manuscripts—their history, manufacture, materials, and use. De Hamel has decades of experience researching, examining, and writing about these manuscripts, but because most of them were on vellum, his expertise is in that realm, and when he gets beyond that comfort zone, he really falls down on the job. I would like our readers here to try to picture what de Hamel describes, pretending that you have never seen papermaking. I cannot imagine what he was thinking when he wrote this. His paragraph about paper is worth quoting in full:
Medieval paper was made from linen rags. [So far, so good, but it goes downhill from here.] It is much stronger and more durable than modern wood-pulp paper, and fifteenth-century scribes were wrong if they believed that it would not survive. Very briefly, rag paper is manufactured as follows. White rags are sorted and washed thoroughly in a tub pierced with drainage holes and they are then allowed to ferment for four or five days. Then the wet disintegrating pieces are cut into scraps and beaten for some hours in clean running water, left to fester for a week, beaten again, and so on, several times over, until the mixture disintegrates into a runny water-logged pulp. It is then tipped into a huge vat. A wire frame is scooped into the vat, picking up a film of wet fibers, and it is shaken free of drips and emptied onto a sheet of felt. Another layer of felt is laid over it on top. As the soggy sheets emerge and are tipped out, they are stacked in a pile of multiple sandwiches of interleaved felt and paper. Then the stack is squeezed in a press to remove excess water and the damp paper can be taken out and hung up to dry. When ready, the sheet is “sized” by lowering it into an animal glue made from boiling scraps of vellum or other offcuts. The size makes the paper less absorbent and allows it to take ink without running. The sheets may have to be pressed again to make them completely flat. Sometimes, especially in north-east Italy (doubtless under the influence of Islamic paper manufacture) the paper was polished with a smooth stone to give it a luxurious sheen. (de Hamel, Medieval Craftsmen: Scribes and Illuminators [Toronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1992], pp. 16-17)
Not everything here is wrong. Paper was, indeed, made from linen rags—though other fibers were used too. I needn’t examine all of this to point out the silly guesses, the inaccuracies, and the peculiar vocabulary. But a few things stand out as particularly problematical.
Modern wood-pulp paper can be quite sturdy. The rags that the papermakers started with were cast-off clothing and other bits of cloth that the guild of rag pickers could scrounge up. They were whatever color they were. The papermakers weren’t particular about requiring white rags. If the tub was pierced with holes, what kept the water in for the washing? The business of festering and fermenting comes close, but not the way de Hamel describes. How are the rags beaten in “running water”? The paper does not go through successive beatings (“several times over”); one was sufficient. The “mixture” does not really “disintegrate.” It could have been “tipped into” a vat, but since the Hollander beater was not invented until about 1680, it is more likely that the pulp for medieval books was prepared in a stamping mill, not a tool configured to be “tipped over” to transfer the beaten fibers into a vat.
He calls the paper mold a “wire frame” (try to picture that!). What does it mean that it is “shaken free of drips”? How is the sheet “emptied” onto the felt? He does not call the post “the post,” he seems to be unaware of the “white post,” he makes it seem as if the animal glue is all that is there in the sizing tub, he also does not mention that the hooves and bones were also rendered down for the sizing, and he says that the sheets “may have to be pressed again.” They definitely need to be pressed again. And so on.
This is a publication of a university press, under the auspices of the publisher of the earlier version, the British Museum. Such a fine pedigree for such a carelessly researched and poorly conceived text! As Mary Tasillo says, we owe it to the world to set the record straight.
Sid Berger
Waban, Massachusetts
> ALONG THE PAPER ROAD...
This regular feature offers paper musings from Elaine Koretsky—renowned paper historian, researcher, and traveler. In this column Elaine describes the work she has been doing to preserve her findings about handmade paper, researched and collected over the past four decades.
ven though I have finished the physical part of my 40-year journey ‘Along the Paper Road,’ there is still information I would like to share with my readers. I have in fact been asked numerous times how I organize the immense amount of material I have accumulated in the course of my field expeditions. I have observed the making of traditional handmade paper all over the world and have documented my findings in teachings, lectures, articles, books, and documentary films. I have collected much material related to papermaking, including large amounts of handmade paper, books, papermaking fiber in all stages of preparation, additives used for facilitating sheet formation, moulds of all sizes, mallets for beating pulp, devices for pressing, and drying brushes. I have also collected materials indirectly related to papermaking including heavy iron hammers for the beating of gold leaf. I have often been asked how I store the information and how I retrieve the material.
When I first became interested in paper in the early 1970s, I learned how to make handmade paper by reading books. I also read about historical papermaking, especially from the writings of Dard Hunter. After immersing myself in the discipline of making paper, I concluded that traditional hand papermaking had been disappearing steadily since the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century. Machines were replacing humans. I decided in the 1970s that my mission was to visit hand papermakers all over the world and make a record of an art and an activity which would eventually disappear totally in the not too distant future.
I was accompanied during my numerous field travels by my husband Sidney Koretsky, who documented our findings by means of silent movies and slide photos for the first twenty years. We recorded sound separately on an analog sound recorder. We then advanced to the analog camcorder, which allowed us to record sound and video simultaneously. In 1999 we entered the digital world and added digital video and sound. Our earliest videos were done directly in the field since we knew nothing about editing. Our subsequent videos were edited post-production by us, which improved the documentary film immensely. We also engaged in adding background music, usually characteristic of the countries involved. During our early filming of making paper we would allow two days for collecting video and audio. During the first day we would visit the papermaker, take notes with regards to chronology of the process, and return the next day when we would do the actual recording. On many occasions, when we reached a village, papermaking would be in progress with different steps done in various parts of the village. Frequently it would be impossible to do the recording in chronological order, but chronology was solved once we learned post-production editing. We are still producing new documentary films of papermaking originally photographed 30 years ago. In addition to the record of source material, both my husband and I recorded our observations in separate journals. This is extremely helpful because we occasionally looked at processes from different points of view or sometimes one of us would record a step that the other missed. These journals are an invaluable source of data.
The computer is a very valuable way of storing and retrieving data. The artifacts I have collected over the years are stored in a database in which the item is photographed, given a number, date of acquisition, place of acquisition, location of the stored item, and description. The source video and audio material is also stored in a database in the computer. The original slide movies have been transferred into a digital format. The slides used to make documentary films are also now in digital format. Our plan is to eventually transfer all the slides into digital form.
We still have a great deal of source material that has yet to be used to make documentary films.
> TEACHING HAND PAPERMAKING
Based in Philadelphia, Winifred Radolan operates an itinerant teaching papermill, and has taught papermaking to thousands of adults and children. In this column Winnie describes her Jurassic day of papermaking.
was recently asked to be a part of a school-wide extra enrichment fun day for the Sicomac Elementary School in Wykoff, New Jersey, about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from my home. The day was funded through Young Audiences of New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania, and arranged by a school parent extraordinaire!
Anne Marie Macejka, the super-mom mastermind of this adventurous day, explained to me that the annual school tradition had been a year in the works. The children would arrive at school in the morning and be totally surprised to receive safari hats before proceeding through the day’s schedule. She selected the overarching theme of Jurassic World around which to build activities, which were numerous. But I was aware only of the dinosaur jumping gym, a big sand pit for “archaeology,” and the production of “geodes.” She admitted that papermaking was a stretch but knew that the children would love it. I reflected that the Jurassic connection might be in the way that the papermaker was feeling after working with 104 third and fourth graders in three forty-five minute periods!
Upon arrival at the school I walked into a lushly adorned foyer that sported a floor to ceiling jungle theme that was quite impressive. There was a sign-in table for all the parent volunteers and a special reception and snack area for them to congregate and receive their assignments for helping. I proceeded directly to the art room, where tables had been arranged per my specifications. I had requested two six-foot tables across the front of the room to accommodate the papermaking production line. And the students would sit at art tables arranged in a U-shaped configuration, facing me, for a very brief introduction.
It had been requested that I address recycling as well as have the students make paper with viable seeds embedded, with the idea that the planted paper would grow seedlings. Because there would not be sufficient time to have each group make all of their own recycled pulp throughout the day, I had each class bring just a small dish of torn and water-soaked paper scraps to the activity when they arrived. As part of my introduction, I re-pulped their paper scrap offerings in a mini hydropulper, or blender, while they observed.
I prepared a blend of cotton and bamboo pulp, and pigmented half in a soft yellow and half in a spring green. I chose zinnia seeds as being easy germinators that would also provide an interesting visual impact within the hand sheets. Had I known far enough in advance, I would not have frozen all my own harvested marigold seed heads. Instead, I parboiled my seed heads, then ran them through the blender quickly in order to have them ready to add to the vats for their visual impact in the pulled sheets.
Timing was going to be crucial for this day, as classes cycled through a tight schedule of other activities as well. So in my brief introduction, I covered some very basic history and science. I introduced papermaking terminology for them to later identify in their papermaking Word Search activity, designed to occupy wait time until everyone’s turn at the vats.
My post-Jurassic but pre-industrial paper production line began with two vats plus moulds and deckles, with a draining station in between. Next to my couching post I had set up a water-blotting area and a pile of cardboards, onto which each blotted new sheet would be placed.
Then students would progress to the pressing area, and, first placing a synthetic chamois over their wet paper on cardboard, gently run a rolling pin over their paper to soak up more water and adhere the paper to the cardboard. The cardboard would provide support and a means of transport home, as well as adding restraint to aid in drying the paper flat. The final packaging for safe traveling was a zip-lock bag.
I explained that what students chose (or remembered) to do about the plastic bag upon arrival at home could alter what would happen with the sprouting of the zinnia seeds. To dry the paper with embedded seeds overnight would necessitate removal of the plastic bag. Or if students let their paper remain in the sealed plastic bags, they could encourage over-night zinnia germination in a terrarium environment. Either choice would yield interesting results.
As each two-classroom group arrived I had teachers seat their thirty-three to thirty-five students as quickly as possible while I explained to the parent volunteers what their role would be in our paper production line. I would keep the sheet forming, draining, and couching steps moving along and parents would step in for the blotting, pressing, and packaging operation. After my introduction, I had teachers provide me with a steady stream of two student vat-persons followed by two watchers. The production line flow was a little slow until parents became accustomed to their part, but then things picked up, and in each of the three time blocks we managed to have every student complete their paper, with moments to spare at the end.
At the conclusion of the program I looked and felt as though I fit in with the Jurassic theme, but I was exhausted in a very good way! The positive energy that had been generated throughout the entire schedule of the children’s day was evident as each group came to papermaking. And after the experience, Anne Marie told me that her daughter had rated papermaking as one of the highlights of the event. Hooray! It had been a day well spent!
> PAPER HISTORY
Maureen and Simon Barcham Green, from the United Kingdom, write a joint column on Paper History. Maureen is a paper historian, and author of Papermaking at Hayle Mill 1808-1987. Simon was the last of the Green family to run Hayle Mill. He provides consulting services to papermakers worldwide. “Tracking down that Critter!” is a column written by Simon together with Mark Lander about the contemporary history of Mark’s Little Critter Hollander Beater Project.
I probably first heard of the Critter about ten years ago. My reaction to its having a folding cloth tub and an aluminum and plastic roll was less than enthusiastic. However as the years rolled on I heard more and more good reports and my curiosity was tweaked. About three years ago we started corresponding in a desultory way. Aspects such as casting the roll discs out of old pots and pans made me realize that the whole approach was entirely off the wall, but clearly it worked, not only for Mark Lander, but also for hundreds of customers.
About a year ago, Maureen and I started to plan to visit New Zealand for my niece’s wedding. The journey takes thirty-six hours from England and is not cheap, so we decided to see as much of the country as we could. Must-sees included Mount Cook and the kiwi, as well as the Critter. We didn’t see the first two but late one evening we rolled up at Mark’s historic railway house and he and his son Matthew entertained us to dinner and a lot of good chat.
Mark’s priority when selecting a new home was a good space for his artist’s studio and a garage to use as a workshop. I crept around in the deepening gloom snatching pictures of components; of a live Critter beating New Zealand flax; of the bath and three washing machines for cooking and defibration; and, of course, of the inventor. We also saw a good few of his prints and relief painting, and handled a lot of lovely paper.
Travel and deadline restraints meant that I could not write the full article so I asked Mark to write the bulk of it relating to the modern history of his beater and his project.
New Zealand is an isolated place; the South Island is the last stop before Antarctica. The plants are fibrous and tough, thriving in harsh conditions—frost and snow in winter and sometimes blistering heat in summer. Phormium tenax (harakeke, or New Zealand flax) grows in abundance in the swamps, and the fibre from Cordyline australis (the cabbage tree) leaves are used for fishing nets and ropes. Tussocks and grasses suitable for papermaking grow in the mountain areas. If you want to learn anything you have to read all about it in books from the library and then have a go yourself, build your own machines, and see whether they work.
My first Hollander went through six prototype stages, looked ugly, but worked beautifully, cutting its teeth on those tough fibres. The tub was made of an old sink with rounded corners, timber from a Toyota car crate, two door hinges, some bed bolts, aluminum from an old truck bed, second hand bearings, a section of sewer pipe, screwed on bars, an odd bedplate with bars on a 45 degree angle, and a motor from a Hoover washing machine.
After I completed my Diploma of Fine Arts I got a job teaching night school—drawing, printmaking, painting, sculpture, design, and photography. Anyone who failed their exams during the day would come on down and repeat at the evening school. I set up a papermill in the back of the room, and we constructed all the equipment ourselves. We made paper for every purpose, and had great success. Now here comes the business model for the Hollander Project, proved in the classroom. The etchers needed zinc plate, lots of it, to learn. We collected enough money for the first big piece, cut it into bits and sold it back by the square inch, putting the money in a tin. When we needed more, we bought another piece, and another, all year long. The same dollar went round and round, and, yes, a free plate at the end at exam time. We all became experts, and had a lot of fun in the process. In the same way, the money made selling one Critter is used for making the next, and so on.
I had to travel to some Artist-in-Residence programs in the USA in 1999, and found I just couldn’t source enough equipment where I was going, a bit of a nightmare for a large-scale papermaker and installation artist. The best I could borrow was a tiny 1/4 pound capacity cast iron beater. I just couldn’t lift it down the stairs. That set me thinking. I began the design process for a ‘Hollander in a suitcase’ that could travel with me.
The main body, the working mechanical part, is really quite compact. The tub could be made of PVC and fold down, doming over an aluminum frame, like a kids’ paddling pool. I made the first version and it worked. Version two packs down into a DHL 25kg Express box, a true Houdini act. It can travel around the world in four days at a third of the usual freight prices. I went back for another residency in Minneapolis. “Hey Mark, what’s in that suitcase—a two-pound capacity Hollander Beater?” “No way, those things weigh a ton!” Someone remarked, “I am going to hunt me one of those Critters,” and the name stuck.
Over the last fourteen years there has never been even a single day when I have not been making one of these machines for someone somewhere in the world. There is something miraculous about the Critter Project—one or two orders at a time, enough for today but not enough for tomorrow. They have survived. My workshop has been a sheep shed with the winter wind howling through, flooding when it rains; a tiny cramped garage; even a tent when massive earthquakes devastated our city. I still have all my fingers and two eyes. The lathes spin out red hot metal shavings that go down your neck, the noise is terrible, with sheet metal screeching through bandsaws, hammering, fourteen drills, and routers, but I have tolerant neighbours who love me! Everything is handmade by me in my own little workshop.
Critters have gone up the Amazon in a canoe. A big ten-pound machine called ‘The Silver Beaut’ runs a program that supports 400 families in north South Africa and a school for the deaf in Tanzania, where they make paper from elephant dung and maize. Programs in an Indian orphanage, a Fijian village, and in many universities and schools use these machines, as do many individual papermakers. They are like the work donkeys of the papermaking world.
The Little Critter Hollander Beater project is a co-operative for papermakers to get our machines at cost. Its aims are to serve, educate, and facilitate, and to just plain have fun doing what we love to do, making paper!
Maureen and I were amazed by what we saw. Untrammeled by an engineering or papermaking background, Mark has developed a very clever design that works well for many people, is light and portable, and requires remarkably little time to manufacture at a low price.
We were also struck by the remarkable properties of New Zealand flax. We first saw beautiful paper made out of this fibre by Gillian Spires in Devon, England. Mark collects it from the roadside, as it grows prolifically everywhere. Gillian got hers from the annual cuttings by her municipal parks and gardens department. If you find it growing in your area, try it out.
Finally, thanks to Mark for his warm welcome and excellent dinner! HAND PAPERMAKING loves to hear from readers like you... newseditor@handpapermaking.org
> DECORATED PAPER
Sidney Berger, a professor at Simmons College in Boston and Director of the Phillips Library at Peabody Essex Museum, has been collecting and researching decorated paper for over forty years. In this column Sid shares his references for further reading about decorated paper.
I could go on writing about decorated paper as long as it is produced. In fact, there is a vast literature about it, and my own contributions are—in the big picture— only a tiny blip on the decorated-paper-bibliographic radar screen. The five books I have written (on Karli Frigge’s marbling, on the Handmade Papers of Japan, on Eric Carle’s methods of paper decoration and composition, on Edward Seymour and his Fancy Paper Company, and on chiyogami papers), along with my many columns and lectures, constitute a tiny percentage of what is out there on the subject.
If you are interested in my Hand Papermaking columns, you will probably enjoy reading beyond them to the wider world of published volumes on the subject. What I would like to do here is give you a few bibliographic citations that might be useful to you if you want to pursue the subject. This, in fact, can be the first of a series of such columns since there is a wide world of excellent books on the topic for you to peruse.
The first one that comes to mind for me is the truly landmark volume by Albert Haemmerle, Buntpapier (the German word for decorated paper; Munich: Georg D.W. Callwey, 1961; 2nd ed. n.p.: 1977). This often-cited reference was issued on the 150th anniversary of the D.W. Callwey company. Haemmerle gives a history of decorated and marbled paper. The book has 155 illustrations and 18 paper specimens tipped in (mostly reproductions of early decorated papers).
The fact that the volume itself has a thirteen-page bibliography of the subject, giving descriptions of 664 examples of decorated paper, shows what a vast topic this is. The book is particularly strong on earlier decorated papers, especially from the 18th century. Many a scholar or bookseller, describing the binding of an 18th-century volume with decorated paper covers, will cite the paper as “Haemmerle 207,” knowing that sophisticated readers will know to turn to Buntpapier and look at Haemmerle’s description of that numbered item. A Haemmerle number indicates 1) that the paper being described is authentic, important, historical, and valuable; 2) that the person quoting Haemmerle is one of the cognoscenti and a true scholar when it comes to paper.
The text, of course, is in German, but even if you cannot read this language, the images, with their descriptions, are easy to locate and quite informative, and the descriptions can be (sometimes laboriously) deciphered if you have a good German-English dictionary. If you have a book bound in an early German paper, it should not be too hard to locate it in Haemmerle (if it is there), and then to find Haemmerle’s description to give you an idea of the paper’s manufacturer, city of manufacture, and date of use.
In fact, if you are really interested in decorated paper, you should become somewhat familiar with the vocabulary of this field in German since in that country there was a flowering of Buntpapier for several centuries—beginning in the 17th and progressing to today. You should learn some of the really basic terms: Buntpapier (decorated paper), Brokatpapier (dutch gilt paper—the German term gives us an alternate English term: brocade paper), Kleisterpapier (paste paper), Wasserzeichen (watermark), Holzdruckpapier (woodblock-printed paper), and so forth. The Germans were some of the most prolific decorated-paper makers in history, and millions of lovely papers from that country adorn the covers of countless books.
A second book on decorated paper leaps to mind, perhaps the most important in English ever written: Richard Wolfe, Marbled Paper: Its History, Techniques, and Patterns (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990). Like Haemmerle, this volume contains a vast amount of information, accompanied by many color illustrations. Wolfe is thorough. He covers all kinds of decorated papers, not just marbled. And his images are wide-ranging. In some respects, there is so much information that it tumbles in on the reader in large quantities. Wolfe himself was inundated with information in a few places. At one point in the composition of the book, he mentioned the Fancy Paper Company and its proprietor, Edward Seymour. This reference winds up in the index at the back of the book, but there is hardly a trace of this company in the text. I guess one excuse for this is that there was too much information to include and something had to be cut out. But it should have been taken out of the index, too.
I did not mean this to be a critical review of Wolfe’s book. It is a treasure house of information on decorated paper, and though it is out of print, it is a must on the shelves (and before the eyes) of any serious scholar researching this wonderful field. Wolfe himself is a prolific writer and a search on the Web will reveal other volumes of his on the subject, all of which are worth looking at. I will mention a few here that are particularly important:
Richard J. Wolfe. Geheimen der Boekbinderij, Secrets of Bookbinding, An Anonymous 19th Century Dutch Bookbinding Manual, Reproduced in Facsimile with Translation, Introduction and Notes by Richard J. Wolfe. Boston: Oak Knoll, 1991.
The Role of the Mann Family of Dedham, Massachusetts, in the Marbling of Paper in Nineteenth Century America, and in the Printing of Music, the Making of Cards, and Other Booktrade Activities. Chestnut Hill, MA: Privately Printed, 1981.
Three Early French Essays on Paper Marbling 1645-1765. With an Introduction and Thirteen Original Marbled Samples by Richard J. Wolfe. Newtown, PA: Bird & Bull Press, 1987.
The Mysterious Marbler, with an Historical Introduction, Notes, and Eleven Original Marbled Samples by Richard J. Wolfe. North Hills, PA: Bird & Bull Press, 1976.
On Improvements in Marbling the Edges of Books and Paper: A Nineteenth Century Marbling Account Explained and Illustrated, with Fourteen Original Marbled Samples. Newtown, PA: Bird & Bull Press, 1983.
Franz Weisse. The Art of Marbling. Translated from the German with an Introduction and Fourteen Original Marbled Specimens by Richard J. Wolfe. North Hills, PA: Bird & Bull Press, 1980.
The list goes on, but this is a sampling of the work of one of our premiere paper historians, someone whose work on decorated paper must be in a serious library on the topic.
In the future I will add to this short list: many important books have been published on the subject. And, of course, I want them all.
> FOR BEGINNERS
Mary Tasillo is a papermaker, book artist, and mixed media maven based in Philadelphia. She teaches workshops nationally. Here Mary describes various methods of pressing wet sheets of paper.
This column has periodically turned to discussion of couching and drying sheets of handmade paper, but it has been quite some time since attention has been given to ways of pressing wet paper. I have experimented with methods from the rolling pin to the hydraulic press. As with every other step of the hand papermaking process, the method one chooses impacts the outcome of the paper.
Pressing a sheet or post of wet paper serves several purposes: to remove significant water to jumpstart the drying process, to remove enough water that the fibers interlock sufficiently for the wet paper to be handled and moved from the post to the drying set up, and to aid bonding between fibers by bringing them into more significant contact.
A hydraulic press is capable of removing more water than other methods, and is thus desirable for any stack drying set up, as the moisture that must be absorbed by the blotters that house the wet papers is reduced. This amount of moisture must be controlled, because if the paper takes too long to dry in this stack, mold may form. This pressing can also lead to a crisper, stronger paper, as the fibers are more compressed than in other drying methods. It is worth noting that board-drying methods require a somewhat lighter pressing than stack-drying systems for even drying. The two most common pressing methods I use when in a community setting or on the fly are pressing between two sturdy plywood boards or using a rolling pin. In the first method, I either lean my weight onto the post from above, being careful not to exert any sideways pressure that could lead to the boards sliding or shifting and thus distorting the paper, or I place the board-post sandwich on the floor and stand on it for a minute or so, again taking care to add my weight gently and centered over the post, rather than risking the dangers of hopping up.The rolling pin is a bit less precise and even, but easily transportable. I’ve had papermakers use a rolling pin to press a single wet sheet of paper between several layers of chamois for board-based restraint drying. The trick is always pressing firmly enough without pressing so hard that the paper distorts—lightly but firmly. Again, these papers are softer and not as strong as papers that receive a stronger pressing.
A happy in-between solution to constructing or purchasing a hydraulic press is using a book or flower press to remove water. Because these presses sit flat on a surface, rather than being raised up from the ground like many hydraulic presses, care must be taken to keep them from sitting for a period of time in the water that has just been pressed out so that the press does not rust or warp.
Many photographs of home-built bottle jack presses—some for relief printmaking but equally serviceable for papermaking—can be found via an internet search, many based on instructions by Charles G. Morgan, available at www.ribbonsandbluebirds. com/bottlejackpress.pdf. Similar instructions were also published in the December 2007 issue of ReadyMade magazine. The Summer 1988 issue of Hand Papermaking (vol. 3, no. 1) has an article called “Do-It- Yourself Press,” by Kathy Crump, complete with diagram and instructions. And of course, a papermaking press can always be purchased from your favorite papermaking equipment builder.
> FROM THE REGISTRY
Eugenie Barron is a papermaker from Durham, New York. Her mission for this column is to reveal and engage with the artistic vision expressed by diverse individuals in the Hand Papermaking Registry. Here Eugenie discusses Susan Warner Keene’s exploration of flax and its many properties.
The art of Susan Warner Keene caught my attention as I searched the Hand Papermaking Registry on a cold and snowy afternoon. Having started with a cup of tea and no particular artist in mind, I found that her work with linen and flax provided a warming respite. Within an hour or two I had traveled from Ontario, throughout Canada, and onto websites that I had never heard of, some in French. It was delightful to discover that there is an International Linen Biennial.
A visit to the David Kaye Gallery website provided examples of Keene’s ability to manipulate the textural potential of the drying sheet of paper for masterful dimensional effect while maintaining subtlety in tone and ethereal content. For an exhibition titled ‘Foliate’ in 2012, she stressed “the membrane of the page as an expressive form in its own right, not simply as support.”
While browsing her website, susanwarnerkeene.com, I read about a recent collaborative project at Papeterie Saint-Armand in Montreal. Keene had broadened her scope from traditional handmade to machine made paper. To create ‘Water Books, a Concert in F(lax)’ she used a rain gutter and a “score” which she followed to make her patterns with/on a Fourdrinier papermaking machine. She cavorted with the “workmanship of risk” by investigating the speed of the moving web of the machine and the water pressure in the jets of the machine to create pattern and rhythm in her she Keene received her BA in English literature in 1970. In 1979 she received AOCA Honors in Design (Textiles) at Ontario College of Art. She has taught on and off at Sheridan College, Oakville, Ontario, lectured, and been a guest artist in Canada and the U.S. She has shown her work and taught workshops extensively. Curious as to where she had studied paper, I eventually contacted Susan through her website, and she provided further information. In the early eighties she met Helmut Becker at a group exhibition that they were both in. She decided to write an article about him, so she visited his studio in London, Ontario. “Needless to say, this was total immersion in papermaking with flax, from the growing of it to the finished work. (I helped him build a crate until 3:00 a.m., by which time I was cross-eyed, but he was going strong!) Helmut was completely generous with his knowledge, his experiences meeting Douglass Morse Howell, his enthusiasm for flax and papermaking. It was clear to me that there was much more potential in linen-flax than I had yet explored.” An intensive workshop at Carriage House Paper and the acquisition of a Reina beater soon followed. Since then, she is primarily a self-taught papermaker, most likely through her engagement with others and lengthy time spent in her studio, practicing her craft.
I eventually found a great image timeline view of Susan’s work from 1981 into 2007 on the Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art website (http://ccca.concordia.ca/), a database which includes photos of much of her work through those years. It is recommended viewing, though her work in the site only goes to 2007. By this time she had become a pioneer in the use of high shrinkage sheet based work. “The presence of the material and the traces of what it has experienced is as important to the work as whatever conceptual framework I might have established. The challenge is always to try to bring those two elements together in an object that has its own energy. The strength of flax both wet and dry, its ability to become translucent or murky, silken or crusty, and its uncanny resemblance to human skin make it a powerful collaborator.”
Keene’s earliest wall sculptures from 1981 into the early nineties concentrated on shape and color for a surface suggesting landscape. Her interest has evolved from the lushness of landscape to the anatomy of the book, the page becoming an expressive form in itself. ‘Spine,’ 1994 flax sheet [2] embedded with thread and fiber, epitomizes this departure into folio format. Susan likes flax pulp not only for its shrinkage and translucency properties, but also because flax allows for a “surface texture that makes possible a language that can speak of the effects of time and change.” Her 1991 work ‘Sounding #1’ is reminiscent of a book having been excavated from a time long gone [3]. I was struck by one of her most dynamic works of this period, ‘Web’ (1996). The movement contained within this sheet expresses the emergence of her fascination with cursive form as she conceptually developed her craft [1].
Whereas in her folio work of the nineties she used more of a codex configuration to provide the structure for her narrative, in 2003 she progressed to emphasize text itself, writing with pulp to create a “fretwork of language which casts its shadow on the supporting wall.” During this period, rather than the page being support for the content, the paper script becomes the page, and sole content, while the wall becomes the substrate. ‘Painted Book’ from 2007 has layered meaning and depth, with just a suggestion of kinship with an open book [4]. Since then, it appears that she varies her effort between the embedded page framework and writing with pulp.
Those of you who traveled to the 2013 Friends of Dard Hunter annual conference may have seen Susan’s work at one of the concurrent exhibitions held in St. Louis to celebrate the event. Keene showed three works in a group show, Raw Potential, at the Craft Alliance Gallery, curated by Jo Stealey. ‘In Silence’ is a white monochrome series of fourteen pages aligned on the wall in two rows. Each sheet contains an embossed disc quietly suspended within, flat and empty. Surrounding each flat disk is the wild opposite, a curly cacophony of fibrous frenzy. The two other works, ‘Cursive 2’ and ‘Cursive 3’ are vivid examples of her use of embedded cord to articulate the dialogue of stresses that result within a sheet of paper as it dries. I contacted Helen Hiebert, who was also in the show, to ask for her impression of Keene’s work. Helen commented: “I could stare at Susan’s work for hours, mesmerized by the subtle nuances she creates, pondering her technique as well as zoning out in a meditative place. There are many ways to view the work: as a series or a whole; up close or from afar; and the experience varies depending on where you are with it. I find it interesting to see how different yet similar her work is to mine and other artists exploring fibers that shrink like abaca and flax.”
Me too.
All quotes are from correspondence with the artist or from web browsing and pulling her comments from within a particular website, exhibition revue, or from one of her artist statements. Helen Hiebert’s comment is via email correspondence.
> PAPER IN ACTION
Margaret Mahan, a member of the Peace Paper Project, brings papermaking to marginalized communities as a form of social action or art therapy. Here Margaret engages a community as collaborators in an exhibit of paper made from an invasive species threatening their environment.
By now it has probably been made clear that I find hand papermaking to be an effective vehicle for social action. I believe that mindfulness is at the root of this success. Regardless of one’s starting point as a papermaker, the process commands attention for the purpose of creating something new, and we as participants or facilitators are enveloped in this mess and mindful of the matter that we handle.
Hand papermaking is glorious because with each component of the process comes exponential possibilities for meanings to be made. I have facilitated workshops wherein individuals will choose to cut cloth for hours because there is something in that action of snipping rag that is needed and fulfilling. It may be a meditation; it may be empowering; it may be cathartic; it may be humorous; it may be destructive. One thing that is for certain is that the participant’s relationship to the experience of papermaking is going to change once he or she moves on to pulping; and again with sheet formation; with couching, pressing, drying; and with handling the dry paper.
The act of papermaking could be the most obvious form of art as social action ever. Ironically, exhibiting as social action can be a bit more challenging. How do socially significant fibers with their multivalent histories and state changes sometimes come across as two-dimensional on a gallery wall? I have sometimes wondered why I should show someone a piece of work when I could guide her in making one. Perhaps this is what keeps my hands wet.
This was the direction of my thoughts as I flew south to Austin, Texas, in April for a series of Peace Paper workshops in San Marcos, which is one of the oldest inhabited areas in North America. The historic draw to this place is the San Marcos River. A seven-mile stretch of the river is the only home to the endangered Texas Wild Rice. This beautiful shock of emerald plant sways in the crystal spring waters like tall grasses in the wind. The people of San Marcos swim in the water, which is 72 degrees Fahrenheit year-round. The upper part of the river is one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the southwestern United States. The river is precious, rich, rare, sacred, ancient, and home to its community. To an outsider, it is the life source of San Marcos. And we were asked to make an exhibit about it.
Creating and curating exhibits on site in short time frames is a frenetic and rewarding practice. After collaborating directly with a community over the course of a few days, it is exciting to showcase participants’ voices and pieces with a culminating exhibit. The show is socially engaging not only because the community has ownership over the work, but also because the action of exhibiting the work becomes another layer to the papermaking process. When we leave, the show remains, as do our collaborators, who share their creation with their locality. So I believe that one solution to the proposition of how to create an exhibit that is socially engaging is that the papermaker or curator engages the public to actually make the exhibit.
In the case of this recent San Marcos visit, we were to create an exhibit the week prior to our community engagement, so we had to develop a strategy to execute an exhibition that the people of San Marcos would not only appreciate but also feel they had an active role in influencing, without necessarily having made the paper. So the San Marcos River was the space to look to for the creative character, the fluid concept, the charge of beauty, and the source of fiber for our ideal exhibit.
We typically use rag for papermaking, but coming up with a textile that would embody the river was not nearly as interesting to us as using materials that had been cleaned out of the river. Hydrilla is an invasive aquatic plant that threatens Texas Wild Rice and the health and biodiversity of the San Marcos River. It seemed appropriate to make paper out of such a plant, that can grow up to six inches in one day, as a way of raising awareness about river health. The Summer 2010 issue of Hand Papermaking (vol. 25, no.1) explores various processes of making paper from invasive plant species. In the issue, Julie Johnson and Amy Richard highlight the risk of inadvertently propagating invasives in harvesting the plants. Fortunately for us, The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment removes hydrilla from the river daily, and they “donated” eight contractor bags full of the stuff to us.
We baked the hydrilla in the sun before pulping it in our Oracle Hollander beater. It took less than half an hour to pulp the fiber! Since this plant seemed to be lacking in structural integrity, we added some cotton beach towels to the pulp. At Zosima Gallery, we hung several 6’ x 3’ sheets, formed in the Nepalese tradition. We also pulled several hundred 9” x 12” sheets of the hydrilla paper.
Having dressed the space in paper created from the hydrilla, we established our canvas for the community to exhibit their commitment to their environments. During the opening, the gallery was transformed as attendees became collaborators and marked the large sheets with inky black handprints. In doing so, they set an intention to practice mindfulness towards their internal and external environment. Since so much of the mental health of the community is influenced by the health of the river, individuals could make a statement in the gallery that represented their commitment to maintaining and cultivating healthy spaces in San Marcos.
In addition to marking the sheets, our collaborators created paper boats from the hydrilla paper that they took with them as a reminder of their intention to positively impact the river. Since we were not making paper at the opening, establishing a space for people to create something with the hydrilla paper seemed to grant attendees a sense of ownership over the show. We hope that this gallery-based engagement helped to foster a creative sense of responsibility towards keeping San Marcos beautiful. At the very least, the community transformed the paper that we created into an exhibit through their action.
Listings for specific workshops and other events in the following categories are offered free of charge on a space-available basis. The deadline for the October 2014 newsletter is August 15. Contact each facility directly for additional information or a full schedule. Teachers: Tell your students about Hand Papermaking! Brochures and handouts can be mailed to you or your institution. Email newsletter@handpapermaking.org.
> CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN, (865) 436-5860, www.arrow mont.org. Classes and workshops in a variety of disciplines, including papermaking.
Playing with Paper: Creating, Transforming, and Illuminating Wet & Dry Paper, August 3-9, with Helen Hiebert.
Cutting Edge, October 4-11, with Béatrice Coron.
Art New England, Bennington, VT, (617) 879-7175, http://ane.massart.edu/work shops/, Nancy.McCarthy@massart.edu. Week-long summer workshops in a range of media.
The Knife’s Edge: The Contemporary Art of Paper Cutting, July 13-19, with Fred H.C. Liang.
John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC, (704) 837-2775, www.folkschool.org. Classes in papermaking and other crafts in the mountains of western North Carolina.
Papermaking - An Introductory Class, August 10-16, with Claudia Lee.
Dieu Donné Papermill, New York, NY, (212) 226-0573, www.dieudonne.org. Beginning and advanced papermaking classes for adults and children.
Introduction to Contemporary Papermaking, July 8 or August 5.
Creative Techniques for Artists with Open Studio, July 15 or August 12.
Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA, (215) 922-3456, www.fleisher.org. Offering workshops and community programs in a range of media.
Papermaking: Printing with Paper Pulp, July 11, 18, 25, and August 7, with Mary Tasillo.
Gail Harker Creative Studies Center, Oak Harbor, WA, (360) 279-2105, www
.gailcreativestudies.com. Offering courses in textile arts.
Handmade Paper Casting: Texture & Form, August 20-24, with Maria Patrizzi.
The Hall of Awa Japanese Handmade Paper, 141 Kawahigashi, Yamakawa-cho, Yoshinogawashi, Tokushima 779-3401, Japan, fax 81-883-42-6085, www.awagami.com.
The 32nd Handmade Papermaking Workshop, August 6-10.
Hook Pottery Paper, LaPorte, IN, (291) 362-9478, jonandrea@hookpotterypaper .com, www.hookpotterypaper.com. Classes in papermaking and pottery and a residency program in northern Indiana.
Suminagashi, July 18.
Paste Papers, July 19.
Stenciled Papermaking, July 26.
Papermaking with Plants, August 8-9.
Kalamazoo Book Arts Center, Kalamazoo, Michigan, (269) 373-4938, info@kalboo karts.org, www.kalbookarts.org. Classes in book printing and binding, printmaking, hand papermaking, and creative writing.
The Basics of Papermaking, July 8, 15, 22, & 29, with Kim Hosken Eberstein.
Paper Marbling, August 9, with Sandie Timmer.
The Mill Paper and Book Arts Center, Rhinelander, Wisconsin, (715) 360-3804, info@themillbookarts.org. Classes, studio access, and other resources in paper, book, and print arts in Northern Wisconsin.
Paper & Place: Indigenous Fiber Paper, June 24-27, with Robert Possehl.
Fall Harvest Papermaking, September 27, with Debra Ketchum Jircik.
Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, MN, (612) 215-2520, www.mnbookarts. org. Classes at the Open Book center for book and literary arts.
Beater Training, July 1 or August 5.
Open Studio: Paper Beater, Tuesdays.
Open Studio: Papermaking (B.Y.O. Fibers), July 5.
Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory and Educational Foundation, Cleveland, OH, (216) 361-9255, http://morganconser vatory.org. Workshops in hand papermaking and the arts of the book in an innovative green environment.
Endangered Studies: Joomchi, July 19-20, with Bill Lorton.
Hand Papermaking and Eco-Printing: Native Species and Amazing Results, July 26-27, with Velma Bolyard.
Fiber Paper Textile Book Spirit, July 31 - August 3, with Aimee Lee and Velma Bolyard.
Unusual 3D Techniques –Your Way!, August 6-10, with Melissa Jay Craig.
Pure Hanji: Korean Papermaking, August 16-17, with Aimee Lee.
Papermaking with Additives: Pigments, Retention, Formation, Mica and More!, August 23-24, with Andrea Peterson.
Garden Sampler: From Stems to Stitches, September 6-7, with Kerri Cushman.
PapierWespe (PaperWasp), Klimschgasse 2/1, Vienna Austria, (0676) 77-33-153, office@papierwespe.at, www .papierwespe.at. Workshops in English and German taught by paper specialists in downtown Vienna.
Playing With Paper, June 27, with Helen Hiebert.
Paper Balloons, Tubes, & Vessels, June 28-29, with Helen Hiebert.
Papyrus from Plants and Veggies, October 24-25, with studio instructor.
Penland School, Penland, NC, (828) 765-2359, www.penland.org. A full program of craft workshops, including papermaking.
Sculpting with Handmade Paper, July 20 - August 5, with Jo Stealey.
Peters Valley Craft Center, Layton, NJ, (973) 948-5200, www.petersvalley.org. Workshops in papermaking and a variety of crafts.
Eastern Paper Magic, June 27-July 1, with Aimee Lee.
Pyramid Atlantic, Silver Spring, MD, (301) 608-9101, www.pyramidatlanticartcenter .org. Workshops in papermaking, printmaking, and book arts.
Papermaking Society, Third Thursdays.
Intro to Western Papermaking, July 27 or August 24, with Marjorie Devereux.
Japanese Papermaking, July 13, with Saaraliisa Yliato.
Robert C. Williams Paper Museum, Atlanta, GA, (404) 894-5726, http://ipst.gatech.edu/ amp/. Papermaking Basics, June 25-26, with SuzanneSawyer. San Francisco Center for the Book, San Francisco, CA, (415) 565-0545, www.sfcb.org. Book arts classes and events year-round. Papermaking Basics:Local Plants & Exotic Fibers, July 26, with Rhiannon Alpers. Sarvisberry Studio and Gallery, Floyd, VA, (540) 745-6330, www.sarvisberry.com. Experience handmade paper in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Open Studio Days, call for schedule. Seastone Papers, West Tisbury, Martha’s Vineyard, MA, (508) 693-5786, www.seastonepapers.com. Scheduled classes, open studio, and private workshops with Sandy Bernat. Email sandy@seastonepapers.com. Seaweed in Paper, June 30,July 13, or July 28. Papermaking Sampler, July 7 or 21. Wet Bound, July 8 or22. Focus on Denim Paper, August 8. Papermaking Mornings Series, August 11-13. SpeakEasyPress, Dillsboro, NC, www.speak easypress.com, frank@speakeasypress.com, (205)310-4740. Working and teaching studio space for papermaking, letterpress printing, and bookbinding. Introduction to Papermaking, August 9-10, or September 20-21, with Frank Brannon. Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY 12472, (845)658-9133, info@wsworkshop.org, www.wsworkshop.org. Summer Arts Institute includes workshops in papermaking, printmaking, book arts, photography, and other media. Paper and Place, July 14-18, with Ann Marie Kennedy. CrossPollination: Handmade Paper and Encaustic, July 21-25, with Ann Marie Kennedy and Cynthia Winika. Sculptural Papermaking: Unusual 3D Techniques, July28-August 1, with Melissa Jay Craig. Mold Making Workshop for Casting Handmade Paperor Clay Objects, August 4-8, with Tatana Kellner & Ruth McKinney Burket. Paper+ Dye: Japanese Papermaking and Natural Colors, August 11-15, with Tatiana Ginsberg.
> EVENTS
Friends of Dard Hunter will hold its conference October 16-18 in San Francisco, California, a joint meeting with the American Printing History Association. The conference events and activities will include an array of workshops and demonstrations, lectures, exhibitions, and museum tours, and will address the theme “Paper on the Press.” Keynote speakers will be Kathryn and Howard Clark, founders of Twinrocker Handmade Paper. Visit www.friendsofdardhunter.org or http://printinghistory.org for more information. IAPMA, the International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists, convenes in July 2-6 in Fabriano, Italy. Home to a rich papermaking history for the past 750 years, Fabriano’s Museo della Carta e della Filigrana will be hosting this gathering. For more information visit www.iapma.info or contact Gail Stiffe at president@ iapma.info. The Handweavers’ Guild of America holds its 2014 conference July 14-19 in Providence, Rhode Island, featuring exhibits, classes, and textile tours. Aimee Lee will be conducting hanji-focused workshops during this event. For details, visit www.weavespin dye.org.
Art By The Irish Sea takes place August 11-19 at Seacourt Print Workshop in Bangor and Bishop’s Mill Paper and Textile studio in Newtownards. The trip will include workshops in hand papermaking, experimental textiles, leather bookbinding, and non-toxic printmaking. Registration and details are available at www.pyramidatlanticartcenter
.org. Questions may be directed to: ireland@pyramid-atlantic.org. Registration deadline: July 11th.
Helen Hiebert will be hosting the first annual Red Cliff Paper Retreat in her studio in Vail, Colorado, from September 5 to 7. To receive details about this event, email helen@helenhiebertstudio.com.
The Movable Book Society holds its conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from September 18 to 20. The conference features lectures, workshops, and a book sale, and awards for Best Pop-up or Movable Artist Book and Emerging Paper Engineer are announced. For more information, visit www.movablebooksociety.org.
Oak Knoll Fest XVIII takes place October 3-5 in New Castle, Delaware. This biannual celebration of fine printing and bookmaking includes book talks, a printers’ fair with 40 private presses, and bibliophile camaraderie. More details will be available at www .oakknoll.com as the festival approaches.
The 7th Annual Morgan Benefit & Silent Auction takes place on October 4, and will consist of a silent auction of donated artwork, demos in various studio spaces, cash bar, heavy hors d’oeuvres, live music, and more. The annual benefit attracts an estimated 400 visitors each year.
Pyramid Atlantic Art Center is pleased to present the 13th biennial Book Arts Fair and Conference, set for November 14-16. This year’s theme, Outside the Margin, explores the outer edges of the paper/print/book mediums. The new BAF venue, Photogroup Studio, is in a former WWII factory outfitted for large-scale photoshoots. This eclectic studio is next door to new brewery and a local gourmet ice-cream shop, and a short walk to Pyramid in Silver Spring, Maryland. More details at www.pyramidatlanticartcenter.org
> EXHIBITS
The gallery at Paper Circle in Nelsonville, Ohio, features the work of professional paper and book artists from around the country as well as local and regional artists. Upcoming exhibits featuring paper art include “Open and Shut” Juried Origami Exhibition in September. Visit www.paper circle.org or call (740) 753-3374 for more information.
Contemporary Fiber: Colorado Invitational 2014 includes the handmade paper art of Ray Tomasso, Jill Powers, and other artists. It takes place until July 19 at Helikon Gallery in Denver, Colorado. Exhibition details can be found at www.helikongallery.com.
Paper Variables 2014 will be on display at Dieu Donné in New York City from June 26 through August 16, featuring new variable editions in handmade paper by Katherine Bradford, Andy Mister, and Sara Greenberger Rafferty. Details can be found at www .dieudonne.org or by calling (212) 226-0573.
Paper Biennial Rijswijk 2014, the 10th Paper Biennial, is on view through October 26 in The Netherlands. Twenty-five international artists working in paper are featured in this exhibit. To accompany the Paper Biennial, a lavishly illustrated catalog is available. Additionally, a large-scale paper market will take place outside the museum on September 14. For more information, contact a.kloosterboer@museumrijswijk.nl or www .museumrijswijk.nl/papierbiennale2014
/home.html.
Transformation is a juried show of 2-D and 3-D work, including substantial work in paper fiber, of artists within a 75-mile radius of the Morgan Conservatory. On view through July 17, this show is juried by master printmaker Karen Beckwith and local curator and printmaker Denise Stewart. Visit http://morganconservatory .org for details.
The 8th Trienniale Internationale du Papier takes place until October 5 at Musée de Charmey, Charmey, Switzerland, featuring work by nearly 60 international artists. For details and images, visit www.musee -charmey.ch.
Revive & Renew: Contemporary Artists and Eastern Papers will be on view August 2 through September 20 at Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. This invitational exhibit is part of a celebration of The Morgan’s new Eastern Paper Studio. This will be followed by an exhibit of the work of Char Norman & Elena Osterwalder from October 17 to November 29. For details visit http://morganconser vatory.org or call (216) 361-9255.
Jane Ingram Allen’s handmade paper art installation “Healing the Earth” is now on view in Taiwan at Nan Hua University in Chiayi County until it biodegrades, leaving two banyan trees on either side of the installation. See images and learn about the process at http://janeingramallen.wordpress.com.
> CALLS FOR ENTRIES
From Lausanne to Beijing – International Fiber Art Exhibition is accepting entries through July 1 for this exhibit in Nantong, China, that will take place September 30 through December 16. For more information, visit http://tinyurl.com/mdz9t7w.
The Biennale Internationale Des Arts du Papier Edition 2015 is seeking entries of paper-based works on the theme of Transformation. This traveling exhibition will first be on view in the United Kingdom March through May of 2015. The deadline for submissions is July 30. For information, contact Jan Fairbairn-Edwards at chainede papier@wanadoo.fr.
The International Fibre Art Exhibition Fibremen 4 invites entries of textile art by male artists for an exhibition taking place October 22 to November 5 in Kherson, Ukraine. Work is due August 1. For entry details contact anschnei@public.kherson.ua or http://anschnei.public.kherson.ua.
Treewhispers is an ongoing installation of flat handmade paper rounds with tree stories, poetry, and art. The project continues to seek contributions. The project was started by Pamela Paulsrud and Marilyn Sward. For more information, visit http:// treewhispers.com/here/.
Negative Space in Handmade Paper: Picturing the Void is number 11 in Hand Papermaking's series of limited-edition portfolios. Pre-publication sales are now underway for this boxed set of 19 compelling artworks selected by a distinguished jury (Lesley Dill, Cynthia Thompson, Paul Wong). The work as a whole encourages viewers to ponder what is omitted. A handbound booklet, with letterpress printed cover, contains statements from the artists, details about each piece, and a commissioned essay by Buzz Spector. View more details at: http://portfo lios.handpapermaking.org.
Dieu Donné recently published two new editions by James Siena created during the artist’s Lab Grant artistic residency at Dieu Donné. Dis-connected Hooks has been produced in both blue and red, consisting of pigmented linen pulp on an abaca base sheet. Both versions are on view in the Dieu Donné gallery. Contact Kathleen Flynn for more information at kflynn@dieudonne.org or 212-226-0753 ext. 202.
WASHI: The Art of Japanese Paper is a new book written by Nancy Broadbent Casserley and produced by Kew Publishing in 2013, highlighting two collections of international importance: the Parkes Collection (1869-70) from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the 21st century washi lent by the Second Millennium Washi Committee in Kyoto. The book explores the rich history and striking diversity of washi.
Helen Hiebert has started a blog column called The Sunday Paper, viewable at http://helenhiebertstudio.com. The blog is dedicated to stories and examples of people doing exciting, innovative, and beautiful things with paper, as well as paper facts from around the globe.
The Fiber Wire is a blog all about paper, including its science, art, industry, and history. Read recent articles at http://
thefiberwire.com.
Maine papermaker Bernie Vinzani is interviewed on Bookbinding Now. Bernie directs the interdisciplinary undergraduate Book Arts Studio at the University of Maine, and is about to travel to China with a group of students. Listen at www.bookbindingnow .com or on iTunes.
The exhibition catalog for Dieu Donné’s recent show Imperfect Surface is available online at http://issuu.com/dieu_donne
/docs/imperfectsurface_catalogue_final, featuring essays alongside images from the exhibit.
Women’s Studio Workshop announces Susan Mills’s newest artist’s book, twentysix plants, comprised of 26 sheets of paper handmade from 26 different fibers and directly referencing Ed Ruscha’s Twentysix Gasoline Stations and its seriality. Mills’s project experiments with new plants and non-traditional fibers to create a book that is about staying in one place. More information about the publication can be found at www.wsworkshop.org.
Artist Sipho Mabona created a life-sized origami elephant from a single sheet of paper. See a time-lapse video of the process and read more on the GrindTV site at http://tinyurl.com/kmgtxcv.
> CLASSIFIEDS
Classifieds in Hand Papermaking Newsletter cost $2 per word, with a 10-word minimum. Payment is due in advance of publication.
Moulds, Blankets, Japanese Sha for sale: Two 22” x 30” Lee McDonald Moulds; One 16 1/2” x 22” mould; One 8 1/2” x 11” mould with letter and envelope deckles. Beautiful white 100% wool blankets: one 80” x 87”, six 22” x 30”, one 79” x 128”, two 26” x 79”, one 29” x 34”, seventeen 25” x 37”. Japanese Sha width 43” x 210” length. Please contact Margaret Prentice for more information and photos at: prentice@uoregon.edu or call (541) 343-1154.
Unbleached Philippine Abaca $6.00 lb. For samples, please send SASE to Ifugao Papercraft, 6477 E. Grayson, St., Inverness, FL 34452
Need affordable paper for workshops? We offer authentic hanji, lokta, washi & xuan. Mention this ad for 10% discount. paper woman@paperconnection.com
Cotton Linter Pulp. All quantities available. Call Gold’s Artworks, Inc. (910) 739-9605.
Beater Wanted. Contact Patti Harden in Colorado at patti.harden@gmail.com or call (443) 561-4440.
> SPECIAL THANKS
Hand Papermaking acknowledges these recent contributors to our non-profit programs. All donations are greatly appreciated and tax deductible. Our tax ID number is 52-1436849. See our profile on GuideStar. Call or write for information on annual giving levels, premiums, automatic monthly gifts, and in-kind contributions; or details on adding Hand Papermaking to your estate plans.
Benefactors: Anonymous, Timothy Barrett, Gibby Waitzkin. Patrons: Tom Balbo, Sid Berger & Michele Cloonan, Jeffrey Cooper, Susan Gosin. Underwriters: Denise Anderson & J.T. Feeney, Susan Mackin Dolan, Nancy & Mark Tomasko, Pamela & Gary Wood. Sponsors: Cathleen A. Baker, Simon Blattner, Tom & Lore Burger, Kathy Crump, Gail Deery, Michael Durgin, Jane Farmer, Helen Frederick, Helen Hiebert, Ingrid Rose Paper Conservation, Lois & Gordon James, Barbara Landes, Peter Newland & Robyn Johnson, Laura Merrick Roe, Michelle Samour, Richard H. Schimmelpfeng. Donors: James Barton, Marcia Blake, Carol J. Blinn, Colin Browne, Carolee Campbell, Bob & Annie Cicale, Kathryn & Howard Clark, Nancy Cohen, Rona Conti, Lee Cooper, Paula Cox, Elizabeth Curren, Kerri Cushman, Karen Davidson, Georgia Deal, Benjamin J. Dineen, Francis Dolan, Linda Draper, Karla & Jim Elling, Kathryn Flannery, George Freitag, David Lance Goines, Lori B. Goodman, Mabel Grummer, Robert Hauser, Suzanne Karr Schmidt, Lou Kaufman, Ellen Mears Kennedy, Joyce Kierejczyk, Nancee Killoran, David Kimball, Aimee Lee, Deborah Luginbuhl, Winifred Lutz, Mary Lou Manor, Anne Q. McKeown, Julie McLaughlin, Julie Mellby, Margaret Merritt, Betsy Miraglia, Nancy Pobanz, Brian Queen, Julie Reichert, Carolyn A. Riley, John L. Risseeuw, Kim Schiedermayer, Mary C. Schlosser, Andrea Siegel, Susan Spak, Betty Sweren, Carla J. Tenret, George Thagard III, Claire Van Vliet, Aviva Weiner, Beck Whitehead, Christy Wise. Supporters: Inge Bruggeman, Carla A. Castellani, Jennifer Davies, Amanda Degener, Iris L. Dozer, Jim Escalante, Caroline Garrett Hardy, Mervi Hjelmroos-Koski, Sara Gilfert, Hiromi Paper, Courtney Hudson, Eve Ingalls Von Staden, Sally Wood Johnson, Susan Kanowith-Klein, Kristin Kavanagh, Betty L. Kjelson, Jana Lee Pullman, Katie MacGregor, M. P. Marion, Edwin Martin, Margaret Miller, Catherine Nash, Suzanne Oberholtzer, Patricia L. O’Neal, Melissa Potter, Dianne L. Reeves, S.A. Scharf, Marie Sturken, Mina Takahashi, Gene Valentine, Kathy Wosika. Friends: Alison Wiklund. In-Kind: Adobe Systems Inc., Tom Balbo, Tom Bannister, Sid Berger, Deborah Bevenour, John Bordley, Nita Colgate, Janet DeBoer, Amanda Degener, Jane Farmer, Peter Ford, Helen Frederick, Peter Gentenaar, Helen Goldberg, Robert Hauser, Beth Heesacker, Ry Hook, Dard Hunter III, Kyoko Ibe, Mildred Monat Isaacs, Lois & Gordon James, Winsome Jobling, David Kimball, Lee McDonald, Rick McSorley, Microsoft Corporate Citizenship, Steve Miller, Katharine Nix, Giorgio Pellegrini, Britt Quinlan, Margaret Prentice, Victoria Rabal, Amy Richard, Michelle Samour, Maxine Seelenbinder-Apke, Mina Takahashi, Tom Weideman, Pamela Wood. Founding Contributors to the Hand Papermaking Endowment: 49er Books, Shirah Miriam (Mimi) Aumann, Cathleen A. Baker, Tom Balbo, Timothy Barrett, Sidney Berger & Michele Cloonan, Tom & Lore Burger, Jeffrey Cooper, Jeanne M. Drewes, Jane M. Farmer, Fifth Floor Foundation, Helen Frederick, Sara Gilfert, Tatiana Ginsberg, Susan Gosin, Joan Hall, Lois & Gordon James, Sally Wood Johnson, David Kimball, Elaine Koretsky, Karen Kunc, Barbara Lippman, Winifred Lutz, Susan M. Mackin- Dolan, David Marshall, Peter Newland Fund of the Greater Everett Community Foundation, Margaret Prentice, Preservation Technologies L.P., Michelle Samour, Peter Sowiski, Marilyn Sward, Betty Sweren, Gibby Waitzkin, Tom Weideman, Beck Whitehead, Paul Wong & John Colella, Pamela & Gary Wood.