INFORMATION: process
More information on papermaking, and my working process |
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PAPERMAKING: working with nature
With my interests in environmental conservation and a sustainable art practice I began using handmade paper as my primary medium. Trained as a printmaker I collect discarded hand pulled prints and proofs from fellow printmakers, friends and students and recycle them to form new sheets of paper and sculptural paper works. |
Many papermakers use a mechanical beater like a Hollander Beater to beat fibers for paper. I wish I had access to one, but in the meantime a blender works just fine. I tear the discarded proofs into small pieces and soak them in water. Once blended the paper pulp goes into a large plastic container. |
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| Here is some dyed wet pulp on a mold. |
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| Once I've got paper pulp on the mold I couch it onto a stretched piece of silk. This insures that the paper will dry nice and flat and it also speeds up the drying time. Thanks to Chris Rolik for this "shmo-tech-nique" it's the best and I use it everytime. |
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For sculptural works I will make a mold or a cast of the object with the paper pulp or the sheets that I make. Then the fur, feathers, and anything else are all created from the paper and watercolor and added to the form. |
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Papers shown include from left: recycled cotton and abaca paper with dye, recycled mixed paper with grass, recycled mixed paper with dryer lint, recycled mixed paper with no inks, grass paper, recycled mixed paper with inks, recycled mixed paper with dye, and kozo paper. |
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