The Sunday Paper #443

January 15, 2023

I’m venturing into Youtube, ya’ll. I see a surging interest in hand papermaking and my two how-to books about papermaking (see images at the bottom of this post) are still in print after all of these years. And since I’ve been filming videos for my online courses, I thought I might as well take a stab at sharing how I make paper. I always like to say that making paper is one third set up, one third making, and one third clean up, so there will be videos in all three areas. What struck me when I first started making paper by hand was how many different approaches there are to each step in the process. These videos show my techniques, but I hope to hear about your methods as well (in the Youtube comments). People watching the videos now and into the future can learn from you and from me! Here are the first two in the series: The Deckle Box and Pulp Stenciling.

In case you haven’t seen this, I was on Sesame Street way back in the day (1995 or so).

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This is a sponsored post: The Kalamazoo Book Arts Center (KBAC) is a nonprofit organization in Kalamazoo, MI, that practices, teaches, and promotes the collaborative arts of the book including hand papermaking, printmaking, letterpress printing, bookbinding, and creative writing. KBAC Executive Director Jeff Abshear was a Fulbright Scholar to Italy in 2007 to study book arts in Venice. He has returned each year to teach workshops and lead university study abroad groups to work in professional printing studios throughout Italy and Northern Europe. He is fluent in Italian and has extensive experience traveling in Italy, with in-depth knowledge of Venice where he has lived and worked many times. Jeff will be an experienced guide and the principal instructor for the program.

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I’m a member of the Movable Book Society, and every so often they make an issue of their newsletter free to anyone. That’s the case with the current issue, and it has two articles about the trip I took to Italy last summer: one by a participant, Ron Shaull, and one by an instructor, Carol Barton. Click through to enjoy the issue! There some other great features. If you like what you see, consider joining!

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Friend and colleague, Mindell Dubansky, wrote the newly released book Pattern and Flow, which documents the centuries-old practice of decorating paper that was revived by American artists in the 1960’s. I just received my copy and the reproductions are amazing, not to mention the history and stories that Dubansky shares. Dubansky (Museum Librarian for Preservation at the Thomas J. Watson Library at The Metropolitan Museum of Art), has also curated “Pattern and Flow”, which opens at The Grolier Club in NYC this week and features a decade-by-decade look at the field through 150 objects from the Watson Library collection. Congrats, Mindy!

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Check out these unusual book works by Connie Goelz Schmitt, created from vintage book parts. Ooh la la!

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Paper Tidbits

• Have you had a chance to listen to my interview with Simon Arizpe on Paper Talk?
• I’ve started a daily practice on Instagram. I’m posting a photo, along with a few thoughts, about a sheet of paper in my archive. And while I’m at it, I’m organizing the my physical paper collection.
• Some of you contributed roots to my sculpture Mother Tree, and many of you have seen her on view, first in Portland and then as she traveled around the country. She is now at the Museum of Motherhood (yes, a museum about motherhood exists) in St. Petersburg, FL. I met the founder of the museum, Joy Rose, all the way back in 2010, right after I finished Mother Tree, and we’ve been talking ever since. They intend to purchase her to remain on site, and you can help!

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In the Studio

Today’s the last day to join The Paper Year until April. Here’s a round up of the projects we created in 2022 by members: Barb Musial, Claudia Waruch, Suzi Banks Baum, Elaine Chu, Terry Englehart, Carol Sakaji-Lee, Sarah Morgan, Whitney Wolf, Marguerite Katchen, Clara DeMott, June Tyler and Liz Teviotdale.

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Featured in my Studio Shop this week: The Papermaker’s Companion + Papermaking with Garden Plants.

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