The Sunday Paper #317
June 14, 2020

Paper of the Week: Mulberry Paper & More

I love discovering new papers and paper combinations, and it is fun to pare papers (kind of like paring wine) for paper weavings. I’m using these two papers for a Woven Window Hanging lesson in my upcoming online class, Paper + Light. It features a smooth mulberry and a batik vein paper from Mulberry Paper + More. It isn’t too late to register for the class, which begins July 6th.

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In the Studio: The Ceiling Lamp!

I’m so excited to have installed my new ceiling lamp above our dining room table. It was a process: 1. Create 10 sheets of abaca with embedded copper wire 2. Stitch all 10 sheets together into the round 3. Use the wires sticking out of the ends of the sheets of paper to attach to top and bottom rings 4. Connect top ring to existing light fixture with a series of strings.

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Papery Tidbits

• I just stumbled across these lovely and poignant Data Visualizations of Black Life for the World’s Fair of 1900 that were spearheaded by W.E.B. Dubois in a trailblazing effort “to give, in as systematic and compact a form as possible, the history and present condition of a large group of human beings.” As seen on Brainpickings.
• Maria Popova is the mastermind behind Brainpickings. This is not paper-related, but she has just released some really cool face masks. “Because of the mask’s particular folding pattern, some of the artwork came alive in a wholly new and unexpected way.”

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Steph Rue is contributing a bojagi paper curtain project for my upcoming book. Bojagi is a Korean patchwork technique. I can’t wait to share the actual project with you, but in the meantime, Steph is donating this piece to a fundraiser in support of the black lives matter movement. The fundraiser starts June 27 9am pst and ends June 28 9pm pst and will be a random drawing. Enter your name in the hat by going to the Japanese Americans for Justice instagram page on June 27th.

© Steph Rue, Untitled No. 5. A patchwork collage of hanji (Korean mulberry paper) dyed with persimmon juice and mounted onto hanji. Paper made and dyed by Steph at her home studio in Sacramento, California, during spring of 2020. 10×14″

I had a lovely conversation with Pam Thorne from Burnie, Tasmania on Paper Talk. Pam has been actively painting, sculpting, exhibiting and co-ordinating exhibitions, conducting workshops, teaching art in schools, and participating in community arts projects in Tasmania for the past 35 years. She is best known for creating, with her artistic partner Ruth Rees, a series of life size papier-mache sculptures which are displayed in numerous locations around Tasmania. Enjoy our conversation!
Doug Beube is one of the first book artists I ever met, way back in the early 1990’s, when I lived in Brooklyn and a friend of mine was his housemate. Doug makes amazing, thought provoking artist’s books, sculpture and installation work. Here’s a video tour he created featuring some of the pieces that are part of the Seager/Gray Gallery virtual Art of the Book Exhibition this month.
Kids + paper makes my heart swell! Look at this cutie, and he’s already teaching at age 5. Shahan Naderpour has developed a big passion for making origami, especially paper airplanes, and he recently hosted a virtual party for his fifth birthday to show people how to make them.

Speaking of kids + paper, Paper For Water is a favorite non-profit of mine, and I’ve written about them before. I read in their May newsletter how they are helping to provide 275 gallon water tanks to families impacted by Covid-19 on the Navajo Nation. These families do not have water in their homes – can you imagine not having water during this time? A $250 donation will provide a tank to a family. You can join me in helping (I’ve made a donation) by making a one-time donation here or by joining the well-of-the-month club).

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On a totally unrelated note, one of these 11 pups will be ours in about 8 weeks. Ruh roh! Don’t tell Halo (our 8-year old pup).

Featured this week in my Studio shop: Paper + Light Online Class, The Papermaker’s Package, Interluceo, an artist’s book, Playing With Pop-UPs.

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