HAND PAPERMAKING NEWSLETTER number 148 October 2024

‍Newsletter Editor: Sophia Hotzler
Contributors: Aimee Lee, Alexandre Bonton and Sidney Berger.

Sponsors: Arnold Grummer’s, the Papertrail Hand-made Paper & Book Arts, Penland School of Craft, The Robert C. Williams Papermaking Museum, Car-riage House Papers and Dieu Donné.

Hand Papermaking Newsletter is published quarterly.Annual subscriptions to Hand Papermaking magazine, which includes the quarterly newsletter, cost $70 peryear in the US; $80 in Canada and Mexico; $105 elsewhere. Two-year subscriptions are $130 in the US; $150 in Canada/Mexico; $200 elsewhere. Institutional subscriptions are $95 per year in the US, $125outside the US. To receive a printed copy of the newsletter, add $30 to your yearly subscription. A stand-alone electronic subscription to the newsletter, which excludes issues of the magazine, is now available for $10 per year. Payment in US dollars is required.Visa/Mastercard/Paypal is accepted. For more subscription information:

Hand Papermaking, Inc.
PO BOX 50336
Baltimore, MD 21211-9998 USA
E-mail: newsletter@handpapermaking.org Web: www.handpapermaking.org

For more information, contact info@handpapermaking.org

The deadline for the next newsletter (January 2025) is Nov 15, 2024. We encourage letters from our subscribers on any topic. We also solicit comments on articles inHand Papermaking magazine, questions or remarks for newsletter columnists, and news of special events or activities. The newsletter is supported by our spon-sors (listed above). If you would like to support Hand Papermaking through a sponsorship, contact us at rosa@handpapermaking.org.

Hand Papermaking is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organi-zation. Staff: Rosa Chang, Executive Director; Mina Takahashi, Magazine Editor; Sophia Hotzler, Newsletter Editor/News & Social Media Manager; Karen Kopacz, Designer. Board of Directors: Megan Singleton, Kazuko Hioki, Lisa Haque, Lynn Sures, Richard Baiano, Steph Rue, Emily Duong, Betsy Knabe Roe, Marie McInerney, Gretchen Schermerhorn, Sanaz Haghani.

Co-founders: Amanda Degener and Michael Durgin

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‍Hand Papermaking Statement on Equity

Hand Papermaking has issued a powerful statement reaffirming its commitment to equity and justice in light of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Palestine. Central to its mission, Hand Papermaking emphasizes the principle of equity, acknowledging its duty to challenge unjust systems that hinder growth and inclusivity in the field. This statement underscores our dedication to using our platform to amplify underrepresented voices, confront injustice, and uphold the values of equity within the global papermaking community. We recognize the profound impact on individuals and artists and pledge to make their voices heard.

We are committed to forming partnerships that align with our values. We refuse to collaborate with institutions involved in human rights violations and are dedicated to ensuring that published research adheres to the highest ethical standards. Our goal is to create an environment where all papermakers and artists feel welcomed and empowered, regardless of their background. Hand papermaking is most powerful when it embraces diverse voices, traditions, and experiences. We will continue our efforts to build a more inclusive and equitable future. To read the full statement, please visit our website at https://rb.gy/4ezxxw

a legacy

Honoring Serge Pirard

In this feature, we honor the legacy of Serge Pirard, 1974–2024. Having learned this trade from Mr Ron Macdonald, Serge dedicated himself to the craft of making of traditionnal handmade paper moulds by hand.‍

Last week I was in NYC for a whirlwind trip to see friends, family, and table at an art fair that went really well. Except when I got horrible news right before my last two days of tabling work. I learned from Claudine Latron that on July 16, we lost the inimitable Serge Pirard, a Belgian mould maker who worked directly in the English mould making tradition, trained by the late Ron Macdonald. Serge would have been 50 September 10th, and left us far too soon. I am far too bereft and heartbroken to adequately pay homage to Serge's memory, but all of us who had the joy of knowing him, working with his tools, and meeting him at various gatherings of papermakers, have lost a giant. Not only was he very tall, he was the last thoroughly trained mould maker in this tradition, making every bit of the tool by his own hand, and received Ron's blessing to continue his legacy.

Serge and his best friend transported Ron's enormous loom to weave mould facings from England to Belgium, which had been built in 1889 for Amies and was in continuous use until now. All of Ron's old tools, supplies, notes, and anything related to mould making were carefully cared for by Serge in his Brussels home and mountain studio. This latter studio was housed at his best friend's family home, in the detached workshop of his friend's late grandfather, who was a woodworker. In
the midst of old woodworking equipment not powered by electricity, work benches, and a climbing wall (Serge had been an avid rock climber earlier in his life) was the loom, giant spools of wire, bags of tacks, wood pieces, and god knows what else.

Once Serge realized that mould making would become his passion, or, as Tim Moore said, his "second act," he went full force into learning everything he could from Ron, and then reaching out to the papermaking world. He donated his moulds to a Hand Papermaking auction, devotedly attended Dard (NAHP) meetings before and after pandemic, and connected with all of the people and places that would need or want top-notch tools across the European-style papermaking world.

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In my visits with him, it seemed like after his adventures climbing, learning didgeridoo in Australia, and sailing around the world (where he eventually in South America fell alarmingly ill and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes)—after all that, he had finally found a community that loved and embraced him and his impeccable skills.

After working at Coke since the age of 19, he left his job on April 30, 2021 to make moulds full time and never looked back. He had previously made moulds on the weekends, and after negotiating a 4-day week with Coke, on the long weekends. But there was never enough time, always too many orders, and too many places and people to visit. He burned himself at all ends but somehow was full of energy all the time whenever it came to his work.

We talked a lot about how he wanted to start making su and bal, Japanese and Korean bamboo tools for papermaking, because he couldn't imagine it being that much harder than the moulds he made. He searched for European sources for adequate bamboo and traveled to London in the spring of 2023 to meet my Korean bamboo screen weaving teacher, the national treasure of that craft. He had planned for years to visit Japan to meet screen makers there but was stymied by the pandemic until June 2024, when he was finally able to meet bamboo specialists despite health challenges.

I wrote to him in Sept 2022 to confess I had made very little headway on my book about toolmakers for hand papermaking, and noted I had to hurry before more people died (this was after Ron passed away). I had no idea that Serge would be next, and have been blindsided by grief. As I dig further into our correspondence, I see how we shared our own worries about not getting enough done, yet being too worn out to do everything we wanted: he had to recover from a shoulder injury and reminded me last year, "take your time and put priorities on things that matter most. I learned it the hard way."

—Aimee Lee

from the organization

What's New!

Featuring some of the latest developments and happenings at our home organization, Hand Papermaking, Inc. In this feature we share more in-formation on upcoming fellowships and events we will be participating at.

The Black Writers Fellowship: Researcher application is currently open until October 15. Below you will find more information on what is involved with the Black Writers Fellowship: Researcher posi-tion and application submission requirements.

The Black Writers Fellowship: Researcher is offered annually to a Black writer who proposes a research topic relevant to hand papermaking and indicates an ongoing investment in research and inquiry in the field. The article will be long-form and eligible for publication in Hand Papermaking magazine, Summer 2026 issue. The Researcher will receive a $1,000 award and a fellowship stipend of up to $1,000 for expenses incurred, including but not limited to research travel, resources, transcription or translation services, site visits, workshop or conference attendance, and other professional development opportunities. In addition, the Researcher will be supported by regular meetings with a fellowship coordinator and a collaborative working relationship withHand Papermaking magazine editor Mina Takahashi. There is no fee to apply for this fellowship.

ELIGIBILITY

Eligibility is limited to self-identified Black writers.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Applicants must submit:

● A cover letter
● Curriculum vitae
● A research proposal and an outline for carrying out the study or project; 600-word maximum. Include a description of proposed research methods. Optional: a draft budget for the fellowship stipend.
● Two relevant writing samples (can be but not limited to essays, research papers, excerpts from dissertation); not to exceed 3,000 words in total.

Selection will be based on the demonstration of the applicant’s capacity to successfully address the criteria noted above. A final pool of candidates will be interviewed, and the 2025 Black Writers Fellowship: Researcher will be announced by mid-December 2024. Jurors’ names will be made public following the announcement of the selected Researcher.

Hand Papermaking Black Writers Fellowship: Researcher will receive:

● A $1,000 award
● Fellowship stipend of up to $1,000
● Opportunity for a published article in Hand Papermaking magazine, Summer 2026 issue

● Exposure of your research and writing to a global community of hand papermakers, artists, scholars, and professionals through our print and online publications

● Opportunities for career advancement through connections with Hand Papermaking’s network as well as professional development experiences

● Increased knowledge and skills in the editorial process and scholarly publication field through a collaborative working relationship with Hand Papermaking magazine editor Mina Takahashi.

For more information, download the full RFP here https://rb.gy/3sgy6k

a preview for our winter 2024 issue

Ash Tree Solution For Cooking Fiber

In this feature, Alexandre Bonton shares his recipe for his homemade ash tree solution. The illustrations are a collaboration with Scarlett Alzieu. Alexandre will be featured in our upcoming Winter 2024 issue, which comes out soon!

What drives me to transform a plant, to break it down into fiberand then into paper? Perhaps to reproduce the circle of aplant’s life, to reform within the sheet of paper a certain startingstructure, a certain other plant. I see connections, a slow move-ment of matter. I see the memories, the walks, the encounters, thecorrespondences, and the books that accompany me in the paper-making process. Each step has significance for me, a reason thatsometimes escapes me. Cooking the fibers with wood ash is one ofthese steps, evoking an imaginary Japan, a link between wood andthought, and my roots as a living being.

Although the recipe I propose here gives a mild solution, it is stillcorrosive (pH ≈ 13) and I recommend wearing gloves, safety glasses andan apron for its preparation.

Step 1. Wood and Ash: A challenging aspect of living in a big city is obtaining wood, or even better, ash! Traditionally, in the papermaking villages of Japan, the ashes from the wood used for cooking or heating were transformed into an alkaline solution for cooking the fiber. A good way to obtain ash is to know people who have a cottage or a sauna with a wood-burning stove. Since my friends in Ottawa built their own sauna, they regularly bring me bags of ash tree from their stove to Montreal. They always use ash wood to heat their sauna, ensuring that the quality of the ash solution remains more or less consistent each year. I store it until winter, to cook milkweed bark harvested in the fall. It was known in Japan that, like wine, a papermaker could tell by looking at the final sheet of paper which wood had been used to prepare the ash solution for cooking the fibers1.

Step 2. Straining: Strain the ashes to remove coarse particles and charcoal residues. Proceed in batches, adding a small quantity to a fine-mesh strainer and moving it back and forth. The fine ash falls to the bottom of the cauldron in small dunes, resulting in a gray, soft, and volatile powder. I store it in a closed bag, away from light, for use within a year. It can be added directly to the cauldron with the fibers to be cooked. However, as described in the following steps, I prefer to make an ash solution, as this makes it easier to wash the cooked fibers.

Step 3. Weighing: Weigh out 100 grams of ash per 50 grams of dried fiber to be cooked. This gives a percentage of 200%, which is much higher than the average amount of 15% used in Japan with soda ash2. I chose this value based on experiments I carried out on milkweed fiber, considering a relatively short cooking time of about 1.5 hours. This amount may vary for other fibers.

Step 4. Cooking: Pour a volume of 1 liter of water per 100 grams of ash into the cooking vessel. For example, if you have a total fiber weight of 400 grams, you need to add 800 grams of ash to 8 liters of water. Heat the pot of water, and when it is almost boiling, stir in the ash. Cover the pot and cook at a steady, gentle boil for 30 minutes, stirring every 5minutes. I do this outdoors on an electric cooktop.

Step 5. Filtering: Allow the solution to cool and the ash to settle. Gradually filter the solution through a strainer lined with a cloth. The filtered solution that falls into the lower collection bucket is nearly transparent. If the cloth becomes clogged with ash residues, twist the cloth by hand to allow the solution to pass through.

Step 6, the final step. Finished Wood Ash Solution: The wood ash solution is ready to be used! I use it the same day to cook the fiber. Comparing sheets of paper made from milkweed fibers cooked in wood ash to those cooked in soda ash, I didn’t notice any significant differences. The result is a creamy-white paper, soft and textured, dotted with sparkles.

—Alexandre Bonton

1. Paul Denhoed, "Observing Variations in Japanese Papermaking Traditions, Tools, and Techniques", Hand Papermaking vol. 22, no. 1 (summer 2007): 15-19

2. Timothy Barrett, Japanese Papermaking: Traditions, Tools, and Techniques (Warren, Connecticut: Floating World Editions, 2005), 317.

Alexandre Bonton was born in Auvergne, France. He teaches class-es related to water and the environment in the technical department at Cégep de Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Canada. For the past four years, he has been using various local materials to make Japanese-style paper, moulds, and flexible screens. He is the father to little boy, Marius, and husband to jeweler and horticulturist, Scarlett.

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paper recipe

A Spotted Yellow Paper

In this feature we share a paper recipe from the makers in our community. Have a paper recipe you want to share with the newsletter? Send the recipe on over to newsletter@handpapermaking.org!

‍Fiber: 4 hour abaca and 8 hour raw flax

‍Papermaker: Gabrielle McHugh

These sheets were made using a 5.5 inch x 8.5 inch decklebox places in a vat of water. Add 2 tablespoons of 4 hour premium abaca into the decklebox. Agitate the decklebox with pulp and remove from the vat of water to drain. While draining, randomly add drops of pigmented raw flax using a dropper. Drop from varying heights. Once water is mostly drained, add more drops of pigmented flax to the surface and flick water to create deliberate "papermaker's tears". These sheets were pressed in a hydraulic press and dried in a restraint drying system.

To see more of Gabrielle's work, you can visit her website at www.gabriellemchugh.com or follow her on Instagram at @inwitheswim

This paper was made and sent in as part of a Handmade Paper Exchange, a full-size sheet paper exchange run by Genevieve Lapp and Sophia Hotzler. Head over to @handmadepaperexchange on Instagram for more information for future exchanges.

decorated papers

Books That Deserve a Spotlight

Longtime newsletter contributor Sid Berger continues his documentation of decorated papers. In this feature Sid highlights some recently encountered books.

My “Decorated Paper” column has, for many years, looked at important artists in this broad and enticing field. I have known about the printing of Carol Blinn at her Warwick Press, but several recent visits to her home and studio have opened my eyes to one of the most innovative and artistic paper decorators around. I always thought of Carol as the proprietor of her press (which she founded in 1973), but seeing the range and quality of her papers has made me rethink her contributions to the world of book arts. She may be best known as the proprietor of Warwick Press who also makes lovely pa-pers, but I think of her as a supremely talented decorated-paper artist who also runs the Warwick Press.

As a printer, Carol needed decorated papers for her books’ bindings, and she wanted those papers to be sympathetic to the texts she was working on and to her own aesthetic. So by the early 1970s, she began making her own paste papers—the medium she felt most comfortable with, though she was also adept at decorating with folding-and-dyeing and the use of stencils, among other techniques she mastered.

Rosamond Loring, the well-known decorated-paper maker and collector, tried marbling and was decent at it but decided that she preferred making paste papers, which she said were far easier. Consequently, she made paste papers her preferred decorated-paper product. However, as Carol points out, making good paste papers is as challenging as marbling. To begin with, one needs to have a good sense of color, avoiding mixing incompatible colors on a sheet and not using such bright colors that they become garish. Second, the artist must truly be an artist. Going through the motions of making a sheet of paste paper is relatively easy, but creating something beautiful is not. [In the many workshops my wife and I conducted on paste paper decoration, I managed to create about one really nice sheet; the other hundreds were humdrum, despite my having mastered the techniques and materials of the craft.] Then there is the task of getting the right paste, mixing it to the ideal consistency, using the best pigments blended correctly, selecting and preparing the paper, using the right brushes and tools for the desired pattern, creating a beautiful pattern, avoiding overuse of bright colors that detract from the design or from the book or other application that the paper is made for, and—if there is an order for many sheets for an edition—producing enough (with the right design and consistency) to satisfy the client. In creating her beautiful sheets, Carol has mastered all these aspects, as well as the materials and techniques for all the other kinds of decorated papers she has produced over the decades.

As I have noted in this space, once one masters the mechanics and can produce attractive sheets of “standard” patterns, experimenting with original, innovative patterns that are “winners” is difficult. But Carol has achieved this, and the originality of some of her wonderful patterns allows us to identify her immediately as the maker. For instance, herlandscapes, which she has used on many bindings or that can be framedas works of art in themselves, are marvelous.

Carol’s enthusiasm for her work shows up in several ways. First, it is evident in the beautiful papers she has produced. Second, her sharing of methods with others led her to conduct numerous workshops from the1970s on. Third, she has given many talks about the papers she produced and the history of the craft. And fourth, she has published widely abouther work. Her papers are so beautiful that they have captured the attention of many others, including the prestigious Limited Editions Club, for whom she made the papers that covered their edition of Hart Crane’s The Bridge. It was a herculean task to make enough sheets to cover the 2000 copies of this book, but Carol pulled it off with aplomb. She has also supplied papers for several private presses and private parties for their special publications or projects.

In the world of printing, Carol is known for the images of ducks on books, greeting cards, posters and other applications. They have personality and pluck and have graced hundreds of items. One of her methods of decorating paper is through stencils, and the accompanying image shows a couple of her ducks done in about six colors.

Carol does the drawings, transfers them to stencil paper, performs color separation, cuts the stencils, selects the colors, and creates the pictures with small brushes. As with all her other decorated papers, no two images are the same. On her website, she says, “But the work of Warwick Press did not begin with ducks except for the use of a duck logo on my letterhead. There were thousands of serious, elegantly designed and printed letterheads, business cards, bookplates, envelopes, booklets, wedding invitations, and all sorts of other printed material produced for use by commercial clients” (https://www.warwickpress.com/inner/art.html; accessed 18 August, 2024).

One could go on and on showing her lovely papers. In fact, on myrecent visit, I saw some of Carol’s three-ring binders that record much of her work over the years. I saw only about 15 of these binders, filled with hundreds of samples and pictures of her decorated papers, stencils, cards, and bindings, not to mention the other binders containing her printing accomplishments. This is an amazing record of a prolific, accomplished, and truly gifted paper artist.

With the innumerable talks she has given, exhibits of her work that have been mounted, books and pamphlets she has published, volumes she has bound, commercial commissions she has taken on, papers she has made, workshops she has offered, and cards and other objects she has created, one would think we are looking at the life work of a studio of several people—all of them at the top of their game. I can only assume that she was able to work 19 hours a day for the last 50 years. We are fortunate to have had someone who brings such beauty to the world.

—Sid Berger

Sidney Berger is Director Emeritus of the Phillips Library of the PeabodyEssex Museum, and a professor on the faculty of the library schoolsat Simmons University and the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He and his wife Michèle Cloonan put together theBerger–Cloonan Collection of Decorated Paper (about 22,000pieces), now in the Cushing Library at Texas A&M University.‍

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listings

PUBLICATIONS

Japanese Paper Yarn: Using Washi and Kami-ito to Knit, Crochet, Weave,and More. Explore Japanese paper yarn to add new dimensions to yourfavorite fiber crafts like knitting, crocheting, macrame, weaving, ormixed media. Textile artist Andra F. Stanton focuses you on a freshperspective: crafting with paper yarn instead of expected yarns of woolor cotton. Beginning with its deep roots in Japan and Korea, learn aboutpaper yarn's rich versatility. With simple instructions, make your ownpaper yarn from a sheet of kozo paper. Try 12 inspiring projects, frombeginner-friendly pulped paper weaving to a more-experienced-levelknitted scarf. Then you're ready to use paper yarn to take your own favor-ite crafts in new directions. To be released Novemeber 2024.

Radical Paper: Art and Invention with Colored Pulp. This is a landmarkbook that profiles an artistic movement that has operated largely out-side the mainstream art world and serves as both an overdue historyand an up-close look at the range, versatility, and brilliance of art cre-ated with colored paper pulp. Although handmade papers have beenemployed by artists for centuries, the use of handmade paper and col-ored paper pulp as an integral element in creating art – as opposed toserving only as the surface on which art is created – has seen remark-able development over the last 70 years. As early practitioners likeDouglas Morse Howell, Laurence Barker, and Kenneth Tyler mappedout new directions in using colored paper pulp, their work inspiredthe careers of generations of artists who have taken this medium infresh and unexpected directions. This foundational book – the first ofits kind – features 73 artist innovators whose work, grounded in thecommon medium of paper and pulp, takes flight through an array

of applications, modalities, and techniques, from the pictorial to thestructural, representational to abstract, two- and three-dimensional,spanning the meditative to the mercurial. Expected Summer 2024

WORKSHOPS

An exciting workshop at The Japanese Paper Place is open forenrollment. Contemplative Mind Spontaneous Brush Workshop,November 24th, 10am - 4pm EST, hosted by Heather MidoriYamada willtilling the mind and calming the breath with shortguided meditations, artist Heather Midori Yamada, will lead youto a place of ease and clarity. Brush demonstrations using sumiink and colour will help you to uncover your own unique andspontaneous, naturalistic and abstract imagery. Explore subtletranslucency, pattern and texture using various washi supportsand additions in this all-level workshop. For more informationon this workshop, visit https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/contempla-tive-mind-spontaneous-brush-workshop-tickets-1015378142357

A few upcoming workshops at The Minnesota Center for Boo-karts are now open for enrollment. Suminagashi with Heather RJFletcher, will take place Saturday, October 26th, 10am–4pm CT.Suminagashi is a 12th-century Japanese art form and precursor

to modern marbling. In this in-person workshop, participantslearn the basics of this centuries-old monoprint technique, in-cluding the tools and materials it requires and the ideology shap-ing suminagashi. Develop a suite of patterns on paper and fabricusing the natural forces of wind and vibration, and learn how

to use a “frisk” (a type of resist used to prevent ink from goinginto certain areas). Paper is provided; however, participants maybring natural cotton or silk fabrics to experiment. All skill levelswelcome. A virtual workshop, DIY Papermaking at Home withSophia Hotzler will take place November 20th, 6pm – 8:30pmCT. In this virtual workshop, learn the process of making paperpulp with repurposed paper (newspapers, computer printouts,and artwork—old drawings or prints that you are ready to partwith). Make your own basic mould and deckle with supplies thatcan be found in your home or at a local store. Learn how to setup a basic at-home papermaking space and gain fun- damentalknowledge and skills necessary to confidently explore and experi-ment with pulp and paper. This workshop will be part lectureand part guided demon- stration. Participants are encouraged tofollow along with the demonstrations to make their own pulp,mould, and deckle, but it is not required. There may be time topull a few sheets of paper during the workshop before learninghow to properly empty the vat and store leftover pulp for futureuse. For more information on workshops at Minnesota Centerfor Book Arts, visit www.mnbookarts.org/category/papermaking-paper-marbling/

A Papermaking Spring Concentration course at Penland School ofCraft, Exploring Paper as Sculpture with Jo Stealey, March 2nd - April25th, 2025 (8 weeks) will open for regular enrollment October 15th.Create small-scale objects or large-scale installations using hand-made paper. The workshop will begin with fiber processing for paperpulp, including methods for beating fibers to create specific qualitiesin the paper: opaque/translucent, low or high shrinkage, thick/thin,delicate/strong, etc. Then we will cover sheet forming, pigmentingpulp, pulp painting, collage, stencils, casting into found molds andcloth molds, joining cast elements, armatures, draping, and otherapproaches to developing 3-D forms. After three weeks of experimen-tation, students will use their preferred techniques to create a newbody of work. The focus will be on artistic concepts and personalvision for the materials. All levels.

An exciting workshop at Atelier Retailles is open for enrollment.Making Paper with Milkweed: From Plant to Leaf, will take placeNovember 2nd - 3rd. Thematic class on the transformation of partsof the milkweed plant for papermaking. Participants will be invitedto discover the different steps required to make paper from plantfibers using the iconic local milkweed as an example. The techniquestaught in this workshop are applicable to most plants, so you cancontinue exploring with what grows in your garden! On Saturday

the 2nd, you will get an introduction to aspects of papermaking withplants, milkweed stem decortication and cellulose extraction, cookingthe fiber, transformation of the dough using various techniques (byhand, using the electric mixer and the Dutch oven, to compare theresults), sampling and leaf formation. On Sunday the 3rd, extrac-tion of the downy fiber from the milkweed pod, cooking the fiber,dough transformation using the dutch stack, period of explorationand paper formation with the various pastes prepared during the twodays. For more information on their workshops, visit https://www.atelierretailles.com/workshops

Upcoming workshop Jiseung Paper Rope, with Aimee Lee at theKalamazoo Book Arts will be happening Saturday, October 19th,12pm - 4pm. In its classical form in Korea, jiseung is a kind of paperbasketry where strips of hanji are twisted and then twined into 3Dshapes used traditionally as functional objects. In this class, students

Hand Papermaking Newsletter’s Listings now focus only on the mostcurrent, most relevent news, events, and opportunities. For a morecomplete list of organizations, studios, and institutions that makepaper, educate people about handmade paper, or present programmingor exhibitions related to handmade paper visit our website at www.handpapermaking.org/news-resources/listings.

10 • hand papermaking newsletter

will learn a newer version of the buildingblock of jiseung: the paper cord. They willreview the appropriate types of hanji and theknife used to tear it. After tearing hanji intoidentical strips, they will learn an updatedway of making two-ply rope as passed onfrom a third-generation jiseung master inKorea. At least one large sheet of hanji willbe transformed into a long length of continu-ous paper rope, ready for use in a variety ofbook, fiber, and practical arts. Visit https://kalbookarts.org/workshops/jiseung-paper-rope/to learn more.

EXHIBITIONS

The Morgan's AIR Exhibition: Pulp, Paperand Possibilities will be on display October25th - November 22nd.

The 36th Imadate Contemporary Paper ArtExhibition fall of this year is the second partof the Fukui ∞ (infinity) Iowa Art Project2024. It will be on view from October 5thuntil October 21st after a two-week long ArtCamp residency starting September 21stthat ends October 4th. The paper artworkscreated at the residency will be displayedaround homes and cultural centers ofEchizen washi village in the Goka district

of Echizen City, Japan. The Art Camp 2024residency and the following exhibitionorganized by the Imadate Art Field is wherepapermakers make art and artists make pa-per, a two-way exchange with some interac-tion from members of the community. Theparticipants use Japanese paper wholly or
in part on their contemporary paper works.(see: Cladis, Nicholas. “Maybe Permanenceis not Needed”. Hand Papermaking Summer2022, pp. 23-28). For an update, visit https://imadate-art-field.studio.site (Japanese) or @imadate_art_field (Instagram).

The Build It: create with cardboard! exhibitionat the Robert C. Williams Museum of Paper-making celebrates cardboard, the humblebackbone of economics, industry, anddesign. As a relatively inexpensive materialthat is durable, strong, customizable, andsustainable, cardboard has become indis-pensable to our daily lives. Though most ofus think of cardboard strictly as a shippingmaterial, this simple material is also perfectfor designing, exploring, and problem-solving ideas for mechanisms and building

structures. On view September 9th - Decem-ber 13th. The paper museum has fashionedBuild It: create with cardboard! as a hands-on experience for visitors to explore designthinking through the wonderful qualities ofcardboard. Visitors can try their hand at ar-ranging a marble run, using a cardboard de-coder to discover hidden information in thegallery, take selfies using cardboard props,build hand-cranked movable cardboardautomatons, as well as making personalcardboard creations of their own design. Weinvite visitors to learn firsthand about designthinking through the material exploration ofvarious cardboard prototypes in this hands-on exhibition. Come create with cardboard!

An artist, Virginia Jaramillo, who is featuredin our upcoming Winter 2024 issue haswork currently on exhibition at the Museumof Contemporary Art Chicago. Virginia Jara-millo: Principle of Equivalence. This exhibitionwill be on view until January 5th, 2025. Formore information, vitis https://visit.mcachi-cago.org/exhibitions/virginia-jaramillo-prin-ciple-of-equivalence/

EVENTS

The North American Hand Papermakersconference, New Altitues, will take place inDenver October 17 - 19, a city that floats atthe intersection of earth and sky, the gatewaybetween the mountains and plains. Throughexhibitions, hands-on demonstrations, pre-sentations, and discussions, New Altitudeswill chase Denver’s spirit of adventure andconnection to the natural world. And in BarkRhythms, a very special exhibition featur-ing indigenous papermaking techniques,

we will be immersed in both ancient historyand contemporary practice of bark paper andbark cloth production. New Altitudes is asmuch about where we have always been aswhere we are headed. Our hosts are the Uni-versity of Denver, and they have offered us abeautiful location for both our meeting ses-sions and the Member’s Showcase. We aredelighted to announce our keynote speakers.The 2024 Anita Lynn Forgach Keynote Lec-ture will be delivered by the distinguishedpapermaking artist Helen Hiebert. TheElaine Koretsky Memorial Presentation willbe delivered by Mimi Leveque, a conservatorof objects and textiles at the Peabody EssexMuseum. Mimi has a special interest in ar-chaeological materials, in particular ancientEgyptian artifacts. For more information,visit https://www.northamericanhandpaper-makers.org/new-altitudes

The Morgan will be hosting their AnnualCommunity Kozo Harvest November 9th& 10th. Keep an eye on their Instagram formore information on this upcoming event!

Several events are happening at Iowa Centerfor the Book. Curator Talk with Tim Barrett:Japanese Pocket Lanterns, Friday, October11th, 3:30pm to 5:00pm. In 19th centuryJapan, people navigated dark paths and roadsduring the night using small collapsible pa-per “pocket lanterns.”. Join emeritus Centerfor the Book director and paper specialistTim Barrett as he describes his late careerobsession with collecting and restoring thesepopular, utilitarian, personal flashlights. Bar-rett’s talk will officially open his exhibition“Japanese Pocket Lanterns” installed in theSpecial Collections and Archives ReadingRoom at the UI's Main Library, which willrun from late August - December, 2024.This event is free and open to the public. Itwill be held in the Special Collections andArchives reading room, located on the thirdfloor of the Main Library. Visit https://uicb.uiowa.edu/event/146526/0 for more infor-mation. Iowa Center for the Book will hosttheir annual Kozo harvest Friday, November8th, 9:30am to 4:30pm, at UI Oakdale Cam-pus 2280 Crosspark Rd., Coralville, Iowa.We have a field of kozo to harvest, steam,and peel. You'll learn a lot about processingbark fibers in traditional ways. They will beharvesting in the morning, from 9:30 a.m.,and will then move to the studio to steam thebark and peel the bark before hanging themin bundles on rope. They will finish up at4:30 p.m. You can come and go. There willbe a lunch break from around noon to 1-ish.For more information, visit https://uicb.uiowa.edu/event/149586/0

Kalamazoo Book Arts will be hosting AimeeLee: This bast is a lattice a matrix a dialectNovember 1st – January 17th. In her secondsolo exhibition at KBAC, Aimee Lee contin-ues to explore the branch of American hanjithat she has cultivated for 17 years. Knownfor her hanji ducks and dresses, on displayin the gallery, she has returned to the verymaterial that makes Korean paper. Bast fiberfrom the paper mulberry tree is usually har-vested and processed into fine, long-fiberedpaper. Here, she forgoes the steps of beatingthe fiber to a pulp to instead spread, lace,and grid the bark into pieces that serve as aprinting matrix, book page, or paper inclu-sion. The results remake her earlier forms ofsculpture, garment, and book, and link herlabor to people across the world who fash-ioned bark substrates for thousands of years.Aimee will also be teaching a Jiseung PaperRope workshop on Saturday, October 19,2024. Visit https://kalbookarts.org/events/aimeelee2024/ for more information.

We want to promote your projects!If you have any news, upcomingevents, or open opportunities letus know at newsletter@hand-papermaking.org

July 2024 • 11

special thanks to our donors

benefactors: Mark Tomasko, Beck White-head

patrons: Tom Balbo, Lisa Cirando, Sid Berger &Michèle Cloonan, Sue Gosin, Darin Murphy,Erik Saarmaa, Michelle Samour, Kenneth Tyler

underwriters: Yousef Ahmed, John Cirando,Vijay Dhawan, Lois & Gordon James, IngridRose

sponsors: Eric Avery, Tom & Lore Burger, KerriCushman, Susan Mackin Dolan, Devie Dragone,Michael Durgin, Michael Fallon, Jane Farmer,Kim Grummer, Helen Hiebert, Robyn Johnson &Peter Newland, Debora Mayer, Marcia Morse,Robert Specker, H. Paul Sullivan, Mina Takahashi,Aviva Weiner, Kathy Wosika

donors: May Babcock, Alisa Banks,
Tom Bannister, Sarah Louise Brayer, AnnCicale, Amanda Degener, John Dietel, Karla& Jim Elling, David Engle, Jerry Exline,Helen Frederick, Lori Goodman, RichardHaynes, Margaret Heineman, Shireen Holman,Kyoko Ibe, Jamie Kamph, Enid Keyser, JuneLinowitz, Julie McLaughlin, Sharon Morris,Jeannine Mulan, Anela Oh, Elaine Nishizu,Nancy Pike, Alta Price, Joy Purcell, ReneeRogers, Annabelle Shrieve, Thomas Siciliano,Kathleen Stevenson, Bernie Vinzani, AprilVollmer, Paul Wong

supporters: Marlene Adler, John Babcock,Timothy Barrett, Kathryn Clark, Nancy Cohen,Marian Dirda, Iris Dozer, Tatiana Ginsberg,Mabel Grummer, Guild of Papermakers, LisaHaque, Robert Hauser, Viviane Ivanova,Kristin Kavanagh, Susan Kanowith-Klein, DavidKimball, Steve Kostell, Lea Basile-Lazarus,Aimee Lee, Winifred Lutz, MP Marion, EdwinMartin, Lynne Mattot, Ann McKeown, TimMoore & Pati Scobey, Catherine Nash, NancyPobanz, Melissa Potter, Brian Queen, DianneReeves, Carolyn Riley, Michele Rothenberger,Pamela Wood

friends: Jack Becker, Anne Beckett, Lee Cooper,Elizabeth Curren, Dorothy Field, Lucia Harrison,Margaret Miller, Deborah Sternberg-Service,Don Widmer

in-kind donations: Janet De Boer, John Gerard,Dard Hunter III, Microsoft Corporate Citizen-ship, Steve Miller

contributors to our 2024 auction fundrais-ing event: Stephanie Damoff, May Babcock,Rona Conti, Amy Richard, Amanda Degener,Tim Barrett, Jamie DeAngelis, David Engle,Lois James, Roberto Mannino, Charlotte
Kwon, Loreto Apilado, Claire Van Vliet, SerenaTrizzino, ArtOrg Studios, Inc., Lesa Hepburn,Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Michelle Wil-son, Mary Milelzcik, Timothy Moore, DonnaKoretsky, Michael Durgin, Jamie Capps, DonnaKoretsky, Zoë Goehring, James Ojascastro,Jame M. Farmer, Tatiana Ginsberg, and Cath-leen Baker.

AND THANKS TOO TO OUR SPONSORS

Arnold Grummer’s, the Papertrail Hand-made Paper & Book Arts, Penland School ofCraft, The Robert C. Williams PapermakingMuseum, Carriage House Papers and DieuDonné.

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