The Sunday Paper #471

July 30, 2023

Do you have threads that follow you through your life (hindsights, reflections, memories)? I seem to be thinking about the past lately, and pondering where my ideas come from, like how did I become obsessed with the ways in which a flat piece of paper can be transformed into a three-dimensional form? Was it the standardized tests I took in school with puzzles like this on them? I loved trying to solve those puzzles, and I’m guessing that some of you hated them. Click here to ‘see’ the answer to this puzzle.

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I am so amazed when I see a paper show and hardly know any of the artists featured. It is so fun to ‘meet’ new paper artists! I mentioned the Possibilities of Paper show in a previous blog post, and then the show was featured on Colossal.

Jaq Belcher, “All in Good Time” (2023), hand-cut paper, dimensions variable. Courtesy of Jayne H. Baum/JHB Gallery

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I have so many questions this week – why are we drawn to the famous faces – do you recognize this one? Click through to see if you’re right, and view more of these unique paper cut portraits by John Ed De Vera.

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And now back to thinking about the past. HiiH Lights has been making gorgeous lighting fixtures in Oregon for a long time. I met Lam Quang when I moved to Portland in 1998, and his wife, Kestrel Gates, joined his team a few years later. For awhile, we were neighbors, and he’d wheel a toddler over in a wagon to pick up pulp that I beat for them. When I left Portland, he acquired my old Davis Hodges beater.

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This is a fascinating video about chiyogami paper, the wide variety of patterned papers that have been made in Japan since the mid 19th century.

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Paper Tidbits

• Need a sugeta? Carriage House has you covered!
• Where do you purchase papers? I have a list of favorite shops in The Paper Advisor and would love to add to it. If that link doesn’t take you there, please sign up for this free resource here. Tell me about your favorite shops that aren’t on this list!