The Sunday Paper #373

July 25, 2021

I had a lovely conversation with Amy Richard on Paper Talk. Richard is a native of Miami, Florida, and after working for many years as an artist/illustrator, science writer and educator, a fascination with hand papermaking processes led her to complete an MFA in Book Arts at the University of Iowa. Her focus was on Japanese-style papermaking, along with the history, traditions, and the spiritual/ healing aspects of the practice. Enjoy our conversation!

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I recently discovered the work of Tamlin Blake (special thanks to one of my dear readers). Blake is a South African mixed media artist whose work explores the making of memories and identity through inherited heirlooms, treasured objects as well as the spaces once revered by lost friends or family. Her recent work consists of tapestries, woven from re-cycled hand-spun newspaper.

© 2020, Tamlin Blake, Joe’s Sirens – newspaper tapestry.

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Jerushia Graham’s exhibition, Freedom Isn’t Free, is now on view through September 2nd at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center in Atlanta. Graham’s work stems from an exhibition she saw with an embroidered story on a sack … the story begins 170 years ago when a young, enslaved Black mother named Rose raced through her quarters gathering a survival kit for her nine-year-old daughter, who was about to be sold. Graham’s works include exquisite paper-cut compositions that reflect Black life in vibrant, knowing and tender ways, and three mammoth quilts riffing on the United States flag — featuring pennies or cowrie shells for stars and blue, brown, or gray stripes replacing the official red and white.

© Jerushia Graham

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Flooding in Italy has done damage to old books over the centuries. This is a fascinating video about Italy’s Book Doctor, who has spent his career creating a Renaissance workshop, where he has collaborated with professionals from a variety of disciplines to come up with a machine that can combat not only mold and bacteria in books and paper, but also viruses such as Covid.

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Paper Tidbits:

• Paper olympics anyone? Fold your own origami rings in celebration of the Olympic Games.
• Paper as a packaging material is starting to catch on as eco-friendly options become more popular.

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In the Studio:

I’ve been asking members of The Paper Studio, my free facebook group, to Flaunt it Friday by sharing what they’ve done each week with paper. It is amazing to see our favorite material is transformed! Every month we have a theme, and last month’s was Botanical (I feature the work of three members on the header, as you see below). This month we are exploring Vintage, and I invite you to join us. You’ll have to answer three simple questions to be admitted into the group.

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Featured this week in my Studio shop: Woven Paper Lantern Online Workshop, Papermaking with Garden Plants & Common Weeds, LandEscape, an artist’s book, Playing With Paper

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