The Sunday Paper #360

April 25, 2021

Do black walnuts grow in your area? I’ve been intrigued by their dyeing potential since I first saw Cave Paper’s O’Malley Crackle many moons ago. I finally got my hands on some black walnuts at the North American Hand Papermaker’s silent auction last fall. Look at that rich brown achieved after boiling – ooh, la la! – and scroll down to see what I did with the liquid.

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Check out these amazing sculptural cyanotypes by Wu Chi-Tsung, whose landscapes are are made by the laborious layering of strips of Cyanotype. He uses xuan paper – traditionally used for Chinese ink paintings – which he scrunches up before applying the chemicals so the sun will leave uneven patterns when the paper is exposed.

I love this: Kamishibai, or “paper theater,” is a form of storytelling that originated in Japan in the late 1920s. Storytellers would ride into villages on bikes, bang wooden sticks together, and gather an audience around the kamishibai box, a small stage containing a sequence of cards that illustrate traditional folktales. The form has become popular in libraries for its flexibility and accessibility.

Oh no! and LOL! This artwork (paper furniture) by Sara Farrington of Creedmoor, North Carolina, is made of heavyweight drawing paper and cardboard. It looks so real that someone sat in it. Workers are putting the pieces back together. You can see this and much more at ArtFields in Lake City, South Carolina.

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Paper Tidbits:

• The Lucca Biennale in Italy features monumental sculptures create from cardboard during an artist residency in July that will later be exhibited in plazas around the town. Click here to apply for 2022.
• Want to own a chain of paper stores? Here’s what is happening with Paper Source.

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In the Studio:

Here’s a selection of my black walnut stained papers – from left to right: watermarked cotton, cotton, jute/abaca, abaca, ogawara kozo. I need to perfect my technique (or not) but got lots of interesting feedback about how to apply the stain and dry the sheets without clip marks over on instagram. I am more fascinated with the forms you can create with paper than the surface treatments you can apply on paper. And although I do make flat sheets of handmade paper, the elements I’m exploring are translucency (using translucent fibers, watermarks) and structure (embedding strings and wires). Maybe it is time to start exploring the surface!

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Featured this week in my Studio shop: Check out the welcome video on the home page of my website, The Papermaker’s Companion, Digital download: Package of Three Films, and Playing With Paper.

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