The Sunday Paper #429

September 11, 2022, A Day of Remembrance

I invite a guest artist to teach a surface design workshop every quarter in The Paper Year. We explore working ‘on’ paper instead of ‘with’ paper for a change (and then, of course, we have more paper to create with). Last weekend, Radha Pandey taught a natural dyeing workshop, which was so much fun! Here are the papers I dyed with onion skin and logwood dyes (and a mix of the two). I used alum as a mordant. Check the Paper Tidbits section below for info about a new book that Radha edited.

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It is with great sadness that I share the news with you about the passing of Betty Kjelson at the age of 94 in North Carolina. My first memory of Betty is from about 1995, when I attended a Friends of Dard Hunter (now the North American Hand Papermakers) conference in Austin, TX. Betty was a great supporter of my work over the years. She took a course with me at The Penland School and shared a small sample she’d made in a class with Peter Gentenaar, who I went on to interview for an article in Hand Papermaking as well as on my podcast. I’m not sure when she got into papermaking, but she kept making art and even showing it until recently. She had a 40 year retrospective of her work in Winston Salem, NC in 2018 (the photo below is one she sent to me at that time). Betty called me just this spring to order a copy of my new book, and all seemed well. She passed away peacefully on August 26th, after battling pancreatic cancer for 2 months. I know that Betty will be missed by her large family and many papermaking pals.

I asked Betty’s daughter-in-law if she knew how Betty got into papermaking (please reach out if you happen to know). Margee sent me this lovely artist’s statement (which I’ve shortened and condensed for brevity): “My parents encouraged me to express myself and had the good sense to know that mine was a visual expression. … When I discovered hand papermaking, it was like all the threads had pulled together and that I had come home. There have been many rich experiences along the way… – many happy, some tragic – but always, I have been able to react to them and act upon them in this physical, visual way. I have been very lucky.”

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A group of artists in Santa Fe, spearheaded by Sally Blakemore, created a fantastic interactive pop-up book about this beloved place.

Santa Fe Origins & Ancient Travelers, 2022

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Check out the illuminated cut paper landscapes by Ayumi Shibata, who encapsulates enchanting worlds in glass vessels.

© Ayumi Shibata, as seen on My Modern Met

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This a lovely video that captures the transition from traditional to contemporary paper in Japan: New Directions for Washi: The Sustainable, Elegant Use of Paper. 

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Paper Tidbits:

• Radha Pandey recently edited the book, Paper and Colour, Dyes and Dyeing Around the World, which was just published by The Legacy Press.
• Have you had a chance to listen to my interview with Sara Garden Armstrong on Paper Talk?
• The Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland, OH is seeking a full-time Executive Director.
• Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts in TN is looking for an annual giving manager.
• Join me for a virtual workshop on how to create a collapsible Japanese lantern November 4-6.

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In the Studio:

Kelli Anderson is a designer and paper engineer whose work operates in the space between conceptual art, graphic design, and tech. Earlier this summer, I made a watermarked paper for her brilliant invitation idea for an upcoming exhibition at The Center for Book Arts in NYC. Watch it in action.

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