The Sunday Paper #539

January 12, 2025

What a week! From the fires in LA (thinking of everyone there) to a health scare for a family member (doing better), it sometimes feels difficult to keep going. I am so grateful to love what I do and to feel motivated, obligated, and committed to showing up here every week. Thank you for being here.

I admire the work of Matt Shlian, and the words in his recent newsletter, The Fold, grabbed me. First: “This past month I’ve somehow stumbled into making vessel forms in paper.” My take on his comment is that he made a new discovery – how cool! Second, Matt is struggling with ongoing health issues and has a surgery scheduled, which should provide much relief, but his insurance company is currently refusing to cover it. I’m spreading the word about his art sale – Matt didn’t ask me to do this, and I think that some of you might want to collect his work. Let’s help Matt and get more of his work out in the world! You can read the entire issue of his newsletter here and listen to my interview with him on Paper Talk.

——————————————————————————————–––––––

Each year the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center (KBAC) sponsors a non-juried exhibition, The Illustrated Accordion. This show is open to all emerging and established artists and focuses on books created in the accordion form. The deadline to enter is January 27th, but many works (available for purchase) are already featured on the website. The exhibition runs February 27 – March 21.

Laurie Moorhead, “A Day in the Jeweled City,” Star Tunnel book; paper, rubber stamps, watercolor, 2024, 3.5″ x 4″ x 1″ closed, Instagram: @lauriemoorhead

——————————————————————————————–––––––

Click through to watch this reel about how washi (traditional Japanese paper)—a material that had a presence in Japanese people’s everyday living for centuries—has breathed new vigor into ISSEY MIYAKE’s clothing design. This washi has led to an investigation of the material, as well as other paper variants, in the Spring Summer 2025 collection titled The Beauty of Paper.

——————————————————————————————–––––––

Treewhispers, an evolving international papermaking initiative celebrating the deep connections and shared stories between people and trees, is holding a 25th Anniversary Exhibition at the Artists Book House in Chicago. The exhibition runs from January 18 to March 22, with an opening reception on January 18 from 2–6 PM and a closing reception on March 22. The traveling exhibit and workshop series invites everyone to share their stories, poems, drawing, and artwork on handmade paper,  reflecting meaningful relationships with trees. Learn more about Treewhispers here, and listen to my interview with the co-founder of the project and current director, Pam Paulsrud, on Paper Talk.

——————————————————————————————–––––––

I shared this mesmerizing shortlisted animated short film by Kei Kanamori last week, and a reader sent me this video about the young director, which is equally interesting. He talks about how he uses his knowledge of origami (he’s been folding since he was six) to accurately create his animations.

—–—————————————————————————————–––––––

My popular online class, Weave Through Winter, begins in a few weeks, and I always look forward to creating a weaving-a-day along with participants. We create a daily practice as we explore a variety of paper weaving techniques, both historical and contemporary. Read more, watch the video, and sign up!

This course, which I’ve run for the past seven years, is the basis for my upcoming book, Weaving with Paper. I am currently reviewing the first round of text with images. This is exciting and terrifying at the same time – it overwhelming to see everything on the page and realize how many things need to be fixed. I am so thankful to be working with Storey Publishing (again) because they have many hands and eyes to work on catching every little mistake. The book is due out late fall 2025.

—–—————————————————————————————–––––––

Paper Tidbits

• Here’s a video highlighting what Paper Year members created in December. And here’s a secret: if you wanted to sign up for The Paper Year, I haven’t quite closed registration. You can still join us here (but I will be closing it early this week).
• Have you had a chance to listen to my conversation with Michelle Samour on Paper Talk.
• We’ll be exploring folded forms at the annual Red Cliff Paper Retreat, August 18 – 22, 2025. In person!
• I have one spot left in my Papermaking Master Class, Sept 29 – Oct 3. Also in person.

———————————————————————————————––––––