The Sunday Paper #232

November 4, 2018

Paper of the Week: Elephant Hide + A Free Pop-Up Lantern Video Tutorial

Elephant hide is one of my favorite papers for folding. It is a German paper produced by Zanders and is only carried by a few suppliers in the states (I get it from Talas). It comes in two weights and a handful of muted, rich colors.
As we approach the shortest (and darkest) day of the year (in the Western Hemisphere at least) how about adding a little light? This video shows you how to fold and accordion, cut pop-ups into it, and an attachment with decorative brads (although you could do many things to connect the ends). Here’s a template that you might find handy when making the lantern. Enjoy the video and the project, and if you try it out, please send me a picture!
On Paper Talk:

I had the honor and pleasure of interviewing Hedi Kyle and Ulla Warchol (mother and daughter) on my podcast, Paper Talk! We talked about their lives (with paper, of course) and their new book, The Art of the Fold. I’ve known Hedi for many years, and I’m pretty sure she taught me how to properly fold an accordion (you’ll see this in the video). She recommends elephant hide paper in her book, and one of the projects in her book in the new book is a pop-up accordion book, which I may have learned from her years ago. I turned the structure into this lantern, which I featured in my own book Paper Illuminated. The circles our lives make are pretty incredible when you get old enough to reflect on them! It’s so wonderful how Hedi has shared her inventions through teaching with the book arts community for so many years, and this book is an extension of that. I’m so glad it is here!
Papery Tidbits:

• I sent a check to Paper For Water this week in the amount of $600. Thanks to all of you who have purchased a Twelve Months of Paper Calendar. I will continue to donate $5 from each sale to Paper for Water through December.
• Speaking of the Twelve Months of Paper. I’m hosting a free webinar on November 15th at 11am so that you can learn more about the calendar, the paper pack, Paper for Water, the guest artists and more! I’ll also be teaching you how to make one of the projects in the calendar. You can sign up here. If you’re interested, but that time and date isn’t good for you, sign up anyways and I’ll send you the replay.
• And finally, I’ll be doing a Twelve Months of Paper Make-Along November 9 – 20th. If you have a calendar and want to get a head-start on the projects (or if you just want to follow along as I make and share a bit about each project) follow me on instagram and/or facebook. There’s still time to purchase a calendar too!

Speaking of The Art of the Fold, Abecedarian Gallery in Denver is curating an exhibition of the same title (featuring structures from the book) that will be on view at multiple venues in the Denver metro area from February 1 through Fall 2019. Learn more about entering the exhibition.

This looks like an interesting show at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center in the DC area, and it is up through Thanksgiving week. Hard and Soft explores work that pushes the tactile quality of materials. Combined, the work of Thea Gregorius, Allen Linder, Michael Enn Sirvet, and Tim Tate questions notions of soft (ornamental, safe, feminine) and hard (resolute, unwavering, masculine) while it explores the relationships between sculpture and paper.

There are many companies that have made and are still making plantable seed paper. A startup called Sheedo is run by a group of young Spaniards, and they’ve managed to persuade the likes of Telefónica and Coca-Cola to get on board with their product in order to put an end to single-use paper. Perhaps the time is right, and I’m curious about how (and where) they are producing their paper.

On a similar topic (sustainability) but in a university setting, Fresh Press — a hand papermaking studio at the School of Art + Design at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana — and the U of I Library’s Conservation Unit are working together. Using Fresh Press’ trademark agriculturally sourced materials, the organizations will collaborate to craft a new kind of paper that meets conservation standards and can be used to rebind and repair the Library’s at-risk relics. How cool is that?!

Photo by Jordan Goebig/iSEE

I stumbled across this amazing paper guide for origami this week (notice that elephant hide is on it, it’s a favorite for many origami artists).

 
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