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October 2009

H A N D P A P E R M A K I N GN E W S L E T T E RNumber 88, October 2009

Newsletter Editor: Shireen Holman Advertising & Listings: Mary Tasillo Desktop Production: Amy Richard

Columnists: Sidney Berger, Susan Gosin, Maureen and Simon Green, Helen Hiebert, Elaine Koretsky, Winifred Radolan, Mary Tasillo.

Hand Papermaking Newsletter is published  four times per year. In summer and winter it is sent with the journal Hand Papermaking,and in spring and autumn it is distributed separately. Annual subscriptions include both

 publications: $55 in North America or $80overseas. Two year rates are discounted: $105 inNorth America or $155 overseas. To subscribe,send a check to the address below, call or fax usto use Visa or MasterCard, or visit our website.Foreign subscribers may use a credit card, or 

 pay in U.S. dollars via money order or checkmarked payable through a U.S. bank. For more subscription information, or a list of backissue contents and availability, contact:

Hand Papermaking, Inc.PO Box 1070, Beltsville, MD 20704-1070Phone: (800) 821-6604 or (301) 220-2393Fax: (301) 220-2394E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.handpapermaking.org 

The deadline for the next newsletter (January2010) is November 7. Please direct all corre-spondence to the address above. We encourage

letters from our subscribers on any relevant topic.We also solicit comments on articles in HandPapermaking magazine, questions or remarks

 for newsletter columnists, and news of special events or activities. Classified ads are $2.00

 per word with a 10-word minimum. Rates for display ads are available upon request.

Hand Papermaking is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Staff: Tom Bannister, ExecutiveDirector; Mina Takahashi, Magazine Editor;Shireen Holman, Newsletter Editor; MaryTasillo, Advertising and Listings. Board of Directors: Sidney Berger, FrankBrannon, Shannon Brock, Inge Bruggeman,Georgia Deal, Gail Deery, Jim Escalante,Susan Gosin, Helen Hiebert, Ann MarieKennedy, Barbara Lippman, Andrea Peter-son, Margaret Prentice, Gibby Waitzkin,Beck Whitehead. Board of Advisors: TimothyBarrett, Simon Blattner, Gregor R. Campbell,Mindell Dubansky, Jane M. Farmer, Helen C.Frederick, Elaine Koretsky, James Sitter, ClaireVan Vliet. Co-founders: Amanda Degener and Michael Durgin.

Dear Fellow Lovers of Handmade Paper,

Five years from now a new kind of environmental paper project will be established in myhome province in the northern Philippines. It is a combination of earth-friendly and self-sus-taining farm, and creative studio papermill. It has its own source of paper fibers, mainly fourvarieties of paper mulberry in combination with indigenous fibers growing in and around thefarm. It is located on 2½ acres of agricultural land with a year-round supply of spring water. Itwill produce green paper art and handmade paper. The farm will not only grow natural fibersbut also organic food for the facility. It will evolve slowly, from the drawing board, to devel-oping the farm, to fabricating equipment and building the studio papermill. We will sendoccasional updates, and in five years time you are all most WELCOME.

Loreto D. ApiladoMulberry Art Papermill and Ecofarm, [email protected]

Dear Hand Papermaking Readers,

In 2003, our 100% recycled hand papermaking studioset a world’s record by making the world’s largest sheetof handmade paper. With fifty volunteers ranging fromfour to seventy years old, we constructed a piece of paper that was 22½ x 30 feet in size. After showing thepaper off at the local farmer’s market, the paper wascut and the pieces sold to raise funds for the local landtrust. You can read more about how we did it at: www.twistedlimbpaper.com/worlds_largest/ , butI challenge and encourage others to break our record and to use the novelty of this creativeproject to raise money for a good cause in your community. Please contact me through ourwebsite if you have questions!

Sheryl Woodhouse-KeeseFounding Artist, Twisted Limb Paperworks,Bloomington, Indiana

Dear Papermakers,

Last summer when I gallery sat for Margaret Lockwoodand Allin Walker at Woodwalk Gallery in Door County, Wis-consin, visitors would walk into the big historical barn thatis situated on the edge of old farm fields skirted with woodsbeyond. Some would say, “this is the way Door County usedto be,” as they looked up into the rough hewn rafters andlistened to the low murmur of breezes passing through theopen slats. The barn was built in 1890.

This is the atmosphere in which I teach. Classes at thenew Woodwalk Handmade Paper Center are about “love of 

place” of Door County and its natural beauty. Students learnthe craft of handmade paper. In some of the classes we work with natural materials partlygathered from the area. I show how to work them into an art project and combine them withhandmade paper. Other classes focus on studying the local plants, flowers, and trees, andtransforming their beauty into designs made with handmade paper. Branches, bark, grasses,leaves, and other wild fiber are worked into sculptural projects. Care in gathering is also partof the teaching. The classes are structured differently but they all use handmade paper, whichis so versatile, malleable, and accessible to everyone as a craft and art form. These projectsare designed to accommodate different ages—adults, children, grandchildren, and families,too. What fun to see a family enjoy themselves over handmade paper! The Handmade PaperCenter is listed on the Woodwalk website: www.WoodwalkGallery.com/news/page/2

Kirsten ChristiansonAlgoma, Wisconsin

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hand papermaking newsletter

> ALONG THE PAPER ROAD...

This regular feature offers paper musings from Elaine Koretsky—renowned paper historian,researcher, and traveler. Here Elaine explainsthe process used to make the bark clothing shedescribed in her last column.

> TEACHING HAND PAPERMAKING

Based in Philadelphia, Winifred Radolan opeates an itinerant teaching papermill, and hastaught papermaking to thousands of adults achildren. In this column, Winnie talks aboutone of her workshops this past summer at theTidewater Cottage and Studio.

At the 2008 Friends of Dard Huntermeeting I mentioned an extraordinary

form of beaten bark made by farmers in theXishuangbanna area of Southwest China.The bark comes from the Upas tree, Anti-aris toxicaria, which contains a deadly poi-son, used by hunters to coat arrow tips. Thefarmers believed that clothing made fromthe bark of this tree would ward off insects,forming a protection as they worked intheir fields. I had seen this tree bark outfitdisplayed at a museum in Kunming, China.The subject intrigued me. After the DardHunter conference, my husband and I setoff for China again, on a new expedition.

In advance, I wrote to my Chinese con-tacts in Kunming, Yunnan Province, stating

that I wanted to spend about ten days inthat part of China, particularly in Xishuang-banna, to locate people who were familiarwith this type of beaten bark. This provedto be a difficult matter, but I persisted andfinally, we located a farmer, Boyihan, whostill remembered the now defunct processof beating bark. He agreed to make for mea jacket, trousers, and hat from this poison-ous tree. I had hoped to watch the processhe used, but he explained it would take himat least twelve days, and we had alreadyused up our allotted time.

A few months later my Chinese guidewrote that the outfit was ready, and I made

plans to return to China in March 2009.We drove down to Xishuangbanna, andmet with Boyihan again. I was thrilled withthe bark clothing he had made for me,but I still hoped to find out how he did it.Boyihan brought out the beating tool heused, and showed me the whole process inpantomime.

To start, Boyihan related that he wentinto the forest and cut down the Antiaristoxicaria tree. Out of this enormous tree,which is about 300 feet high, with a 30-inchdiameter, he cut a six-foot section of thetrunk. Then he began beating that entire

trunk section head-on, using a two-poundiron hammer. After hours of beating, whenhe determined that the bark was loosened,he began beating down at the top of thebark layer, all the way around the circum-ference of the trunk section. Finally, he hadloosened the bark sufficiently, and he wasable to pull down the entire bark layer, anoperation similar to skinning a snake. NowBoyihan had a huge tube of bark, whichhe brought to a river. He suspended thetube of bark on a heavy rod in the river and

began beating the bark again. This was thefinal beating, and accomplished two things.The poisonous sap of the tree was washedaway, and the black outer bark was removed.The entire beating procedure took many days.Now Boyihan brought the bark tube backto his house and hung it again on a rod in ahorizontal position to dry.

He placed several rocks inside the bottomof the tube to keep the piece from shrivelingor shrinking while drying.

The final steps were cutting the tube tomake the clothing. He used half the tube for

the trousers and half for the jacket. To formthe trousers, Boyihan simply made a slit upthe length of one tube corresponding to thelength of a man’s leg. Then he stitched to -gether the two inside lengths. For the jacket,he made one cut the entire length of thesecond tube and cut two openings for thesleeves, which had been formed by beatingtwo branches of the tree the same way as hehad worked on the tree trunk. He stitchedthe tubular sleeves onto the jacket and alsostitched on a leftover piece to make a collar.

The extraordinary part is that his methodof making bark cloth was entirely differentfrom the methods used by the natives of the

Polynesian islands who make tapa; also dif-ferent from the amatl making of Mexico; andthe making of bark cloth in Uganda, Africa.In all these places, the fiber used comes fromtrees of the Moraceae family (Ficus species).Antiaris toxicaria is also a Moraceae.

When I spent a week working witha family at Fasi village in Nuku’Alofa in1990, it was wonderful to be part of theirwork that is so important in Tongan life. Iselected a branch of mulberry, bit the endof it, and pulled off the bark. It was easy todo, because the mulberry is fresh, green,and full of moisture. I scraped off the outer

bark, and then continuously beat the innerbark to make a piece of bark cloth. Thefiber is not cooked. In Mexico the processis different, as the inner bark of mulberryis cooked before it is beaten. In Uganda,the Mutuba tree, Ficus natalensis, is used tomake bark cloth. The worker makes a lateralslit at the top and bottom of the tree trunk,and one vertical cut. Then the entire pieceof bark can be stripped from the tree. Thetree has the unusual capacity to renew itsbark if proper care is taken, by protecting

For quite a few years it has been my “lamewith levity” that when the hottest and

most humid summer day manifests itself in the Delaware Valley, it must indicatethat I am trying to run a washi workshop

during this inappropriate season. But whiletraditional winter’scold weather and watermake the process lesschallenging, who canresist a good outdoorhose-down after a dayimmersed in kozothickened with stickyneri! This year Ischeduled my classes atBucks County Commu-nity College in Pennsyl-vania, my annual washidays at Philadelphia’s

Fairmount Park Japanese House, and a daylong Japanese paper workshop at TidewaterStudio in New Jersey, all within a fortnight,so as not to risk spreading my heat wavethroughout the whole summer.

With a very busy week of teaching aheaof me in Philadelphia, I needed to soak ancook my two pounds of Thai kozo and onepound of Philippine gampi in New Jerseythe weekend before the Tidewater work-shop. I planned to do chiri (bark) pickingand hand beating of a pound of each of thefibers with the six people who had signedup for the class. But I “cheated” on thebeating of the remaining pound of kozothat I wanted to pigment by throwing it inthe Hollander beater for a light half hourof separating and brushing the fibers. Thiswould allow me to introduce retention aidand pigment to the kozo a few days ahead time in order to optimize color attachmen

Fortunately my week of Japanesepapermaking in Philadelphia went prettysmoothly. My studio assistant at Buckshad spent the same weekend cooking twopounds each of kozo and gampi. With thir

the naked stem of the tree. The procedureis to wrap the trunk in green banana leaveimmediately after stripping. This coveringis replaced in a few days by a plaster of wecow dung that is left on the tree until itflakes off naturally.

At the upcoming FDH meeting in AtlanGeorgia, Donna Koretsky and I will bringwith us this unusual bark outfit and demostrate how it was beaten.

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October 2009

teen students, we had no trouble beating theinner bark by hand swiftly, but not sound-lessly! Fibers and neri remained fresh overthe course of the week due to the class-room’s goose-bump efficient air condition-ing. However, during the very steamy hotmorning spent making washi with youngcampers in Fairmount Park, the kids gaveout only moments before the formation aiddid, but happily not before everyone hadformed at least one good sheet.

So, by Friday I was headed south to Tide-water to complete the last minute prepara-tions for Saturday’s adventures in washi.Tidewater Cottage and Studio, located a fewminutes north of Historic Cape May, NewJersey, is a full service papermaking studiowhich allows me to offer workshops andprovide studio access, as well as a comfort-ably furnished home which invites week-end or week-long artist retreats. I had justfinished pigmenting kozo with three colorsand pre-mixing the necessary batches of formation aid and coagulant, when my firstvisitor arrived. Friend and paper artist Jill

Powers, from Colorado, had been vacation-ing with family at a neighboring seashoreresort and stopped by to say a quick “hello.”While we were talking, Margaret Rhein andher husband arrived. Peg (Margaret) hadgenerously bid on this workshop, helping tosupport Hand Papermaking’s Annual Auc-tion. Taking time to sit down and visit with

Jill, Peg, and Stu proved a great way to “kickoff” the workshop. Later Friday eveningwe were joined by paper artist and friend,Marlene Adler.

After Saturday morning’s walk on thebeach with my dogs, Marlene, Peg, and I de-cided to start picking the chiri from the kozoand gampi while we awaited the arrival of theremaining four papermakers. Bobbie Adams,Barbara Bradley, and Erin Robin, all Guild of Papermakers members, had previous Japa-

nese papermaking experience. It was to beLisa Hamilton’s first attempt at washi. Theyall missed the opportunity to pick chiri dueto the extremely highvolume of shore trafficthat morning. But noone was exempt fromthe ceremonial hand-pounding with malletsto beat the fibers to apulp.

After showingeveryone Tidewater’sbaby kozo tree and

torroro aoi seedlings,we were all treated toviewing some specialtreasures that Peg brought along to share,which she had inherited from MildredFischer, an early papermaker and educatorwith a special interest in Japanese paper.There were some beautiful examples of 

spun paper thread and shifu, the cloththat was woven from the thread. Therewere examples of orizomigami, foldedand dyed kozo paper. Peg also brought anauthentic and beautiful su-keta, pound-ing mallet, and brush, all from Mildred.It was great to be able to show the “realthing,” because the su-ketas that I use aremy makeshift art stretch frames sand-wiching a bamboo brush mat with no-see-um mosquito netting affixed to one side.

Due to our late start, it was early after-noon before we were all dancing the kozoacross our sus. There were six vats of fiber toalternate between—clean kozo and gampi, amixed chiri vat with a little rose-of-sharon fi-ber added, and straight kozo pigmented gold,turquoise, and purple. We made both tradi-tional plain sheets as well as watermarked,stenciled, and layered sheets with inclusions.Before we realized how quickly the afternoonhad passed, it was suppertime—fatigue andhunger had descended upon us. There hadbeen a mid-afternoon pressing, so we hadthe opportunity to brush our first round of 

washi onto boards, which rapidly dried in thesun. The later afternoon papers were lightlypressed to be sent home with folks on theircouching pellons. And thanks to everyonepitching in with clean-up, we were able towrap up a great day of washi and camarade-rie just in time to view a dramatic DelawareBay sunset.

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hand papermaking newsletter

> PAPER HISTORY

Maureen and Simon Green, from the United Kingdom, write a joint column on Paper History.Maureen is a paper historian, and author of Papermaking at Hayle Mill 1808-1987.Simon was the last of the Green family to runHayle Mill, in the U.K. He provides consulting services to papermakers worldwide. This is the

 first part of an article, entitled Oxfeet andTrotters, about gelatin sizing at Hayle Mill.

When the first European paper millswere established in Spain in the

eleventh century, the paper made was sizedusing rice or wheat starch. Richard Hillsdescribed sizing techniques in Kashmir assimilar to ‘applying butter to bread.’1 Afterthe size had dried on sheets, they would behand burnished using a polished stone.

By 1280, Italian papermakers introducedthe practice of sizing paper with gelatinemade from the hooves, horns, and hides of animals. Gelatine remained the dominantsizing agent through nearly six centuries.

Until the introduction of gelatine in pre-pared, powder form, a familiar sight at millswas the delivery of large quantities of whatthe trade referred to as fleshings. These werepurchased either direct from abattoirs andtanneries or via rag or other similar mer-chants. Upon delivery, the fleshings were

placed in sacks and left in the mill pond tosoak before rinsing them thoroughly in coldwater to remove any residual lime—a formof crude preservative.

Making and applying gelatine size was acomplex business and a knowledgeable andcompetent sizer was a valued employee forany mill. The Hayle Mill archives con-tain many ledgers filled with informationconcerning the day-to-day running of thebusiness. A number of these ledgers are de-

voted to the exacting task of gelatine sizingpaper. One ledger dating from 1852 to 1857contains a typical recipe employed by theMill throughout the nineteenth century.

The Way Longley Made Size.10 cwt. Oxfeet and Trotters in equal 

 proportions from 11 to 12lbs Alum per cwt. After the Feet are well washed and in the copper light the fire and soon after the grease begins to rise, begin to skim it off and continue to do so until there is nomore grease. When it has boiled about 3½hours, put in 1/  3 of the soap you intend toadd, boil 3 or 4 minutes and then add 6 

or 7 lbs Alum, well pounded, and stir it at the top for 3 or 4 minutes. Then beginto draw off first time—put the Alum inlumps in a shoot so that the size shall dissolve it as it runs off. Draw off as long as it runs clear. Then fill the copper againand let it boil gently till the Feet are quite

brought to a pulp. Keep running as long as there is any grease or refuse on the topand then add remainder of the soap and the same quantity of Alum as in first boiling—the second boiling takes about 12hours—slow boiling.2

A valuable by-product was the left overfleshings which were sold to farmers as afertiliser. This was traditionally the Sizer’sperk until Jack Barcham Green found outthat the Sizer made more than his wagesin selling spent fleshings. After that thecompany sold the used fleshings!

The alum referred to in Longley’s recipewould have been aluminium potassiumsulphate [AIK (SO4)2 12 (H2O)] later often rplaced by a cheaper alternative, aluminiumsulphate [Al2 (SO4)3 or Al2 O12 S3]3. The role the alum was threefold: to stabilise the solution; act as a preservative, and to render thgelatine resistant to ink penetration. Whiledeveloping a watercolour paper for the RoySociety of Painters in Water Colour [RWS]in 1895, Herbert Green maintained thatalum ‘rendered the size more viscous.’ He

considered the addition of alum ‘necessaryin these days when such hard sized paperswere asked for.’ Artists in particular wereinterested in obtaining papers resilient to considerable amount of erasure and abuse

Damp paper saturated with gelatineproved an excellent breeding ground for

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October 2009

mould—a term covering a variety of fungaland bacterial infections. Many mills addedsome form of antiseptic or fungicide to thesize in order to combat this—often to noavail. In 1895, Herbert Green informed theartist John William North, founder of theO.W. Paper & Arts Company, that papersized in the month of August was particu-larly vulnerable to mould. In the case of Antiquarian, the size and weight of thepaper meant it could only be made during

certain months of the year. In the twentiethcentury formaldehyde (CH2O) was consid-ered the most reliable preservative until itwas discontinued for health reasons.

Once the size had been prepared, it couldbe diluted to any desired strength dependingon the type of paper to be treated. One thingmissing from Longley’s recipe are the tem-peratures necessary to treat each stage. Thesewere adjusted accordingly throughout themake and critical to the success of each mix.

Once the paper had been dried, thesheets were delivered to the Size House.Until the process was mechanised in the

mid-nineteenth century, the paper wasdivided into ‘spurs’—the number of sheetsin each determined by the thickness of thepaper being treated. However, even withthe invention and installation of sizingmachines in mills, many clients preferredtheir papers hand-sized whereby each spur

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was clamped between wooden planks andmanually dipped into the size bath, as canbe seen in the accompanying photographfrom the Simon Barcham Green Collection.

After dipping, the newly sized sheetswere taken back to the loft to be dried. Notonly were the temperatures arrived at foreach cooking stage critical, the drying of thepaper was temperature sensitive as well.According to Jack Green:

The temperatures in the loft in whichthe paper is being laid out to dry should not be over 600F. (150C.). It should rise

 gradually, starting from about 600F.

(150C.) to 700F. (210F.) after 24 hours,then to 800F. (270C.) after 48 hours and to 900F. (320C.) after 72 hours.

He also warned that:

Sized paper must neither be spread out nor hung up in too thick spurs or handfuls

of it will stain, nor too thin or it will becockly and dry too rapidly.4

In order to achieve a hard-sized finish,dried sheets were put through the processtwice or, in the case of security makes andfor some artists such as Sir William RussellFlint, three times.

During the twentieth century, most paper-mills (including Hayle Mill) stopped makingtheir own size and bought processed size

from specialist manufacturers. In the 1960s,problems arose in procuring good qualitysize, which led to Simon Green researchingwhat was available and how it was processed.He visited Croda Gelatine Ltd in Beverley,East York—one of the largest manufactur-ers of a wide range of gelatine products.Skin and bones remained the main sourcesof gelatine and there was a high degree of selection of particular materials accordingto the end use. The extraction method wasalso similar in principle to the old methodsbut far more sophisticated, with close controlover a number of parameters. Products couldcome from differing stages of extraction and

were then refined to varying extents.The coarse varieties became a range of 

glues whereas the purest products were usedin the food and photographic industries.Tests included chemical and biological purityand gel strength, which could be measuredin a number of ways. He selected a type of 

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October 2009

Susan Gosin co-founded Dieu Donné Press& Paper in 1976. She regularly lectures and teaches papermaking, and has compiled asignificant collection of interviews with noted 

 personalities in the hand papermaking com-munity. This column is part one of her profileof Douglass Howell.

In all of the columns I have written thus

far profiling pioneers in the revival of hand papermaking, the influence of onepapermaker, whether noted or not, hasalways been in the background. Most of uspracticing some form of papermaking todayare direct descendants in the family treeof hand papermakers started by DouglassHowell. Though Dard Hunter, before him,and Laurence Barker, after him, were criti-cal links in the revival of the craft throughresearch, writing, and teaching, it wasDouglass Howell who brought a new vision

to the process, reinventing it as an artisticmedium. Howell invented new applica-tions of hand papermaking and in doingso created a unique language of expressionfor artists. Simply put, Howell pioneeredthe majority of techniques we use today tocreate two- and three-dimensional art inpaper pulp.

Born in New York City in 1906, Howell’sdistinctive approach to making paper andart began with his upbringing and educa-

tion in Florence, Italy, under the encour-agement of his American mother and thementorship of Guido Biaggi, Director of theMedici Library, the Laurentiana. It was Bi-aggi who introduced Howell to the world of original drawings and printed books by theRenaissance masters, teaching him that thequality of the art is dependent on the artist’schoice of materials. While Biaggi exposedthe young Howell to great art and intro-duced him to the Italian tradition of finecraftsmanship, his mother included himin her circle of contemporary artists andwriters such as Ezra Pound, and producer,

Gordon Craig. Though Howell receiveda business degree from the University of Turin and worked in the banking industryfor several years in Italy and New York dur-ing the 1920s, by the Depression he had leftthe world of banking to pursue a career inthe arts.

It was during this period that Howellput together a living as an artist, a writer,and even the literary agent for friends EzraPound and Gordon Craig. His interest inwoodcut printing led him to track downfine paper from Harrison Elliot of the JapanPaper Company. Elliot’s avid appreciation of handmade paper and his Hollander beaterinspired Howell to do research about DardHunter at the New York Public Library.However, in 1941, Howell was draftedinto the army and until the end of WorldWar II served in intelligence and combatin Europe. But before leaving France toreturn to the United States, he followed uphis growing interest in fine paper, visitingMaurice Peraudeau at Richard de Bas Millin Ambert, France.

Upon returning to New York City in1946, he found a studio at 29 Grand Streetin what is popularly known today as Soho(only a block away from Dieu Donné’s first

home, thirty years later). Not long after mov-ing in, he ran into a new neighbor, AliceOrcutt, a descendant of a long line of Ameri-can publishers and printers who, coinciden-tally, was also friends with Guido Biaggi.Three weeks later they married and within ayear began a family and a business in handpapermaking and fine printing. Douglassbought a Washington press, and, after doingsome research, had a beater fabricated ac-cording to his designs. Using the bathtub asa vat, Alice remembers hanging both diapers

> PROFILES IN PAPER

and papermaking felts on the line as theyoung family and fledgling business grew intandem in downtown New York.

Howell was able to make limited quanti-ties of handmade paper that he used toprint poetry, selling his work at bookstoressuch as Scribner’s and Brentano’s. He alsobrought his paper to printmaker WilliamStanley Hayter and other artists at Atelier17, such as Joan Miró, encouraging them totry his handmade paper. Artist Anne Ryan,known for her abstract paper compositions,found Howell’s paper ideal for her collages.However, the Howells struggled to make

ends meet in New York City and decidedto take up an offer to set up their papermillin an art community in Pepperell, Massa-chusetts. Packing up their worldly posses-sions and traveling north in a blizzard, theHowells discovered that the “Art Colony”was in fact a home for displaced souls fromthe war and that there was little feasibility of success for any kind of endeavor. DouglassHowell, his pregnant wife, Alice, and theirone-year-old son stayed just long enough,eating their meals in the unheated barn, torealize they needed to think of a new plan.Alice temporarily moved in with her parentsin Rhode Island while Douglass returned to

New York to find new work.Though Douglass was committed to hand

papermaking, the reality of supporting hisyoung family came first. He secured a dayjob as an engraver at Cartier. With the helpof family friends, the Howells moved toa small house in Westbury, Long Island.Here, Douglass was able to set up a studioand papermill in the basement, workinginto the wee hours conducting experiments,making paper, and designing his stainlesssteel beater, #2. Howell’s handmade paperbegan to receive recognition.

In 1947, the Brooklyn Public Library

exhibited his paper and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston purchased a collectionof Howell’s paper. Howell put together a“Green Box” of sample papers and handpapermaking illustrations that he exhib-ited at schools and libraries. Howell’s son,Timothy, remembers accompanying hisfather often to lectures and workshops; onewas for a live television broadcast from theEmpire State Building.

The 1950s were fertile; they brought twomore children to the household and proved

food grade gelatine. After the solution (orsol) of gelatine in water was purified andconcentrated to a suitable strength it wasthen gelled by running it on to a con-tinuously moving, polished, chilled metalcylinder. The gel was then scraped off thecylinder and pulverised before being driedby spraying into a heated air chamber.

At the Mill, the gelatine powder wasdissolved in warm water at a controlledtemperature and potash alum was added in

set proportions before being passed to thesize bath. The strength of the solution wasmeasured with a hydrometer5 in, believe itor not, degrees Twaddle. The temperatureof the gelatine and the speed of the sizemachine were closely controlled.

For many purposes, gelatine was theideal size since, if properly undertaken, itmade the paper fully resistant to water (andto some extent oil) without being repellent,greatly increased the strength and durabilityof the paper, and allowed erasure withoutdamage. However it was very time consumingand expensive, and a high proportion of 

paper had to be resized if it failed to meetrigorous testing after drying and monthsof maturing. It is not, therefore, surprisingthat papermakers sought a cheaper andmore reliable sizing method. Sadly through-out the nineteenth and most of the twentiethcentury, the favoured size was rosin andalum—often with disastrous effects onpermanence.

1. R. L. Hills, Papermaking in Britain 1488-1988, p. 27.

2. 1 cwt (hundredweight) = 112 lb = 50.8 kg.

 3. However potash alum was still added to gelatine size at HayleMill until 1974 when tub sizing was ended. Papermakers’ Alum (Aluminium sSulphate) was however used as a beater additive to help

 retain pigments.

4. J. B. Green, Paper Making by Hand in 1967, pp.20-21.

5. Simon Green replaced this with sugar refractometer in about 1970.This was easier to use and less prone to breakage.

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hand papermaking newsletter

I

n looking over the columns I have writtenfor Hand Papermaking over the last few

years, I notice that I have neglected a paperdecoration technique that is widely practicedand has centuries of history: paste paperdecoration.

When Rosamond Loring was experiment-ing with marbling and paste decoration, shedecided that she would abandon marblingin favor of paste because she found the lat-ter easier to produce and it allowed for thegreater expression of one’s imagination. Andit’s true: making paste papers is so easy thatone can become fairly expert at it in a shorttime, and there is no limit to the decorationsone can come up with in this medium. I

give workshops in this technique, and mystudents—new to the art—often make pastepapers that outstrip in beauty anything I haveever produced, and they create designs thatI have never seen before. This is part of themagic of paste papers.

According to Richard Wolfe, in his exten-

sively researched Marbled Paper: Its History,Techniques, and Patterns (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990), the earliespaste papers probably come from Augsburand other south Germany workshops, andwere in use by around 1600 (p. 24). Inmy article for the January 2008 issue of the Hand Papermaking Newsletter (81:6) onDutch gilt papers, I mention that the Dutchgilts were used as substitutes for leather. Th

same goes for paste papers, since they re-placed leather as an attractive, manipulableeasy-to-make material, perfectly suitable forbindings, a use to which they were put fromthe 1730s onward (see Wolfe, p. 24).

Perhaps the most famous of the histori-cal paste papers were those made “in theSaxon town of Herrnhut in about 1765, anit was there, during the next fifty years ormore, that this form of paper decoration atained its highest level of perfection” (Wolpp. 24 f.). He adds, “‘Herrnhut papers,’ asthey came to be popularly known, achievetheir superior quality through the bright ytasteful colors employed in their making,and the symmetrical yet charming repeatpatterns they contained” (p. 25).

As is typical in the production of earlydecorated paper (“early” meaning frombefore the nineteenth century), the makerwere anonymous. One can imagine a bookbinder trying to save money, looking at ex-

Sidney Berger, a professor at Simmons Collegein Boston and Director of the Phillips Libraryat Peabody Essex Museum, has been collecting and researching decorated paper for over thirtyyears. Here Sid discusses the variety and beautyof paste papers.

> DECORATED PAPER

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to be a steady period of artistic explorationin the studio. With some flax seeds thatAlice gave to Douglass, he was able to growand harvest plant fiber. Previously, mostof his research and production had beenfocused on using recycled linen rag forhis handmade paper. During this period,Douglass began experimenting extensivelywith flax pulp, its preparation in the beater,and its expressive qualities in art. He dipped

wooden armatures that were draped withstring into vats of long fiber flax pulp thatclung to the string, creating unique piecesof sculpture. He developed an extensiveseries of what he called self-illuminatedsculptures using this technique.

Those familiar with Alan Shield’s bodyof art beginning two decades later willrecognize the similar method utilized byboth artists. In 1953, this work of Howell’swas exhibited as paper lamps at the AmericaHouse. He also began to experiment draw-ing with thread, dropping designs onto thesurface of wet sheets, a form of what hecalled “synchronic drawing.” These “con-trolled/planned accidents” have a quality of freshness that invokes another master of chance, John Cage. It is interesting to notethat while Howell employed synchronicity inhis art, his wife, Alice, was studying the workof Carl Jung and eventually became a world-renowned scholar and author in the field.

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October 2009

pensive pelts and thinking,“There must be a cheaperway to cover books, and insuch a way that the booksdon’t give up much inattractiveness.” Paper wasthe perfect material, andpaste decoration was onesolution.

(Parenthetically, one

of our goals as collectorsof decorated papers is to givecredit where it is due. That is,we wish to bring recognition tothose whose artistic efforts areused by others. Too often wewill find on a book the name of the author and publisher, theprinter and binder, and even thepapermaker and the designer of the typeface. But the marbler orpaste paper artist whose workadorns the covers or endsheetsof a book is seldom mentioned. By havingrepresentative papers from many artists inour collection, and by showing who theseartists are for the sheets, we hope futurescholars will be able to identify these other-wise unnamed people. Since binders wereprobably the first users of these papers,they were probably also the original makersof them. The fact that most book bindings

themselves are unsignedexplains why they did notidentify themselves as themakers of the decoratedpapers on the books.)

Loring discussesthe many early typesof paste papers in herclassic volume Decorated Book Papers (the most

recent edition of whichis Cambridge, MA: Hough-ton Library, Harvard CollegeLibrary, 2007). She says thattwo kinds of paste paperswere made: those in whichthe paste is manipulated afterit has been spread over thesheet, and those which shecalls “printed paste papers” onwhich the patterns are printedin paste from woodblocks (onwhich the paste was substi-

tuted for ink) (see Loring, p. 65).As I have said, the variations in paste

decoration are endless. Michèle V. Cloonanexplains that there are three basic methodsof making paste papers: “printed, directdesign, and combination” (Early Bindingsin Paper (London: Mansell, 1991), p. 70).She adds, “These can be broken down intoseveral techniques or designs: spattered,

combed, brushed, printed, pulled, daubed,vinegar and combination” (pp. 70-71). In part2 of this column I shall talk more about theactual techniques and the materials onemust use.

Let me conclude part 1 of this piece bysaying that in the world of decorated papers,paste papers take a leading role, chrono-logically and artistically. True, papers weredecorated in the fifteenth century with

wood-block design, but in sheer numbers,paste papers outstrip block-printed ones inabundance. And for variety and beauty, onecan hardly find a medium with more varia-tions. (One might say the same for marbledpapers, and I admit that these two decorativetechniques are at the top of all censusesof paper adornment.) The two examplespictured here are by Veronica Ruzicka (top)and Elisabeth Hyder.

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HAND PAPERMAKING loves

to hear from readers. What’s your 

opinion? What’s happening? What’s on your mind? Send your 

letters to the editor by email:

[email protected] 

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hand papermaking newsletter0

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> FOR BEGINNERS

Mary Tasillo is a papermaker, book artist, and mixed media maven based in Philadelphia. Sheteaches workshops nationally. In this columnMary explains different ways of assessing pulpand paper during the papermaking process.

When you are starting out as a paper-maker, it can be a challenge to judge

when you’ve completed certain steps of thepapermaking process, such as when your pulpis done, or when your paper is completely dry.Other aspects require some testing no matterhow familiar you are with the process. For ex-ample, in order to make sure that your paperis archival, you need to be able to measure thepH of your pulp. Here, we will address severaltests for assessing your pulp and paper.

1) Pulp “Doneness”How can you tell if your pulp is ready for

sheet forming? After some practice, I amable to tell through a combination of timingthe beating, eyeballing the pulp, and stick-ing my hand in it to assess its fluffiness. But

when I’m unsure, I might use the jar test.Take a small clear jar—a baby food jar is of sufficient size. Fill two-thirds to three-quar-ters of the jar with water; then add a pinchof processed pulp (without actually pinchingit and compressing the fibers!). Shake thejar to disperse the fibers through the water.

Do they disperse evenly? You are lookingfor a fine cloud of suspended fibers, withoutclumping or knots. If you notice clumping,beat your fiber longer until it disperses.

2) pHIf you are aiming to make an archivally

sound paper, assessing the pH of your pulpwith a basic paper strip test, known as alitmus test, can be useful. Even if you areworking with fibers that have been cooked

with a caustic (such as soda ash) to achievea neutral pH, if the water you add to hydrateand beat the fibers is not pH neutral, theoverall acidity or alkalinity of your papermay be affected. It should also be notedthat fibers cooked in caustic that have notbeen adequately rinsed may still be stronglyalkaline. The pH test strips assess your pulpon the standard scale of 0 to 14, where 7 is pHneutral. Simply dip the paper strip into thepulp and allow it to sit for a minute; the paperchanges color to indicate the pH. Compare thecolor of your strip to the color chart providedwith the strips. A slightly alkaline pH readingof 8-9 is ideal to buffer the paper’s pH against

acidity in the environment.What can you do if your paper is too

acidic? Calcium carbonate is an alkalinebuffer that can be added to help neutralizeyour pulp. Note that this substance is also afiller that makes for a more opaque paper.If you determine that your water source is

adversely affecting the neutrality of yourpulp, it may be time to research some sortof water filtration.

3) Paper DrynessHowever you are drying your paper, it c

be easy to confuse dry-to-the-touch with drpaper, particularly when you are impatientand enthusiastic about your new paper. Ontouch test to use when testing paper fordryness is a temperature test. If the paper

feels cool to the touch, it is not yet fully dryGive it some fresh blotting material and puit back under weight (if it is drying under straint) for another day. You might also takone sheet out and expose it to the air to seewhether it curls. If it warps quickly, leave threst of the paper to dry longer.

Keeping these three tests in mind, you wbe able to prevent some of the common prolems faced by the beginning papermaker.

> more for beginners handpapermaking.org/beginn

Keep up with the latest news from HAND PAPERMAKING by visiting 

http://blog.handpapermaking.org Now we’re on Facebook too.

See you there! 

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October 2009

Listings for specific workshops and other events in the following categories are of-

 fered free of charge on a space-availablebasis. The deadline for the January News-letter is November 7. Contact each facilitydirectly for additional information or a

 full schedule. Teachers: Tell your studentsabout Hand Papermaking! Brochures and handouts can be mailed to you or your institution. Email:

[email protected] 

> CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts,Gatlinburg, TN, (865) 436-5860, www.arrowmont.org. Classes and workshopsin a variety of disciplines, includingpapermaking.

Marbling Papers: From Basics to Beyond ,October 16-18, with Pat Thomas.

Asheville BookWorks, Asheville, NC,

(828) 255-8444, www.bookworksasheville.com. Hands-on workshops includingbookbinding, printmaking, decorative paper,and basic papermaking.

Introduction to Papermaking , October 9-11,with Amy Jacobs. Learn the basics of papermaking with a focus on sheet forming.

John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown,NC, (704) 837-2775, www.folkschool.org. Classes in papermaking and other crafts inthe mountains of western North Carolina.

Marbling and Paste Paper , October 18-24, withAnnie Cicale. Produce stacks of beautifulpaper using these two paper decoratingtechniques that are popular with book artists.

Make the Paper and Print It , November 8-14,with Frank Brannon. Form beautiful sheets

of paper from cotton, flax, and abaca fibers,exploring linoleum and wood block printingon the newly-made sheets.

Carriage House Paper , Brooklyn, NY, (800)669-8781, www.carriagehousepaper.com. Visit website for workshop schedule.

Center for Contemporary Printmaking,Norwalk, CT, (203) 899-7999,www.contemprints.org.

Paper in Dimension: Introduction toSculptural Handmade Paper , October 3-4,with Jeanine Esposito. Experiment withdimensional paper sculpture, includingdraping, layering, casting, armature,embedding, and sewing techniques.

Columbia College Chicago Center for Bookand Paper Arts, Chicago, IL, (312) 344-6630,www.bookandpaper.org. Papermakingclasses in spacious downtown studios.

Cheap Papermaking Days, October 24 or25, with Zina Castenuela or Sara Andrews.Learn the basics of sheet forming, couching,pressing, and drying.

Dieu Donné Papermill, New York, NY, (212)226-0573, www.dieudonne.org. Beginningand advanced papermaking classes foradults and children.

Introduction to Contemporary Papermaking ,

November 3, or December 1, with staff instructor. Learn the basic papermakingprocess, as well as various artistictechniques.

Open Studio, October 14, November 11,or December 16, with staff instructor.Experiment on your own with studio pulps,making sheets up to 11 x 14 inches.

Creative Techniques for Artists, October 21,November 18, or December 9, with staff instructor. Explore advanced techniquesand their application for two- and three-dimensional projects, with a different focusat each session.

Gail Harker Creative Studies Center,Oak Harbor, WA, (360) 279-2105, www.gailcreativestudies.com. Offering courses intextile arts.

Adventures in Papermaking , November13-15, with Lisa Harkins. Develop skills in

PAPERMAKING SUPPLIESP.O. Box 413, Brookston, Indiana 47923 USA

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and papercraft enthusiasts worldwide with books, tools, and mate-rials since 1981.Browse & order online, or request our free catalog:www.johnnealbooks.com [email protected]

Internationally recognized as the preeminent magazine for calligra-phers & lettering artists. Featuring informative articles, consideredcommentary & outstanding color reproductions,the magazineconsistently reflects the highest caliber of work from every corner of the world.Subscribe online at www.johnnealbooks.com.USA: $45 4 issues (1 year) $81 8 issues (2 yrs) $113 12 issues (3 yrs)

Provides practical information on bookbinding, calligraphy,artists’books, and papercraft.Includes how-to articles with step-by-stepinstructions and illustrations, artist galleries,useful articles on tools& materials, and book & exhibit reviews. Subscribe today! Go onlineor call toll-free 800-369-9598. Published by John Neal, Bookseller.USA: $25 4 issues (1 year) $45 8 issues (2 yrs) $60 12 issues (3 yrs)

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SHOP/SUBSCRIBE: www.johnnealbooks.com

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hand papermaking newsletter

sheet forming, casting, adding color andinclusions, and processing plant fibers fromyour garden.

Hook Pottery Paper , LaPorte, IN, (219) 362-9478, [email protected], www.hookpotterypaper.com.Classes inpapermaking and pottery and a residencyprogram in northern Indiana.

Paper Marbling , October 3, with Andrea

Peterson. Use handmade papers as the basisfor Western-style marbling.

Papermaking and Printmaking , October 31and November 7, 14, & 21, with AndreaPeterson. Explore paper making techniquesthat can enhance the printed image andadd relief printing to create a limitededition.

Open Paper Studio, November 28-29, withAndrea Peterson. Work independently withprepared pulps.

Minnesota Center for Book Arts,Minneapolis, MN, (612) 215-2520,

www.mnbookarts.org. Classes at the OpenBook center for book and literary arts.

Introduction to Marbling , October 10, withLin Lacy. Learn to prepare materials andproduce several patterns, incorporatingtraditional designs and contemporarymaterials to create decorative papers.

Marbling Open Studio, November 21,with Lin Lacy. Hone your skills workingindependently under the watchful eye of anexperienced marbler.

Papermaking Open Studio, November 21,with Lin Lacy. Hone your sheet-pullingtechnique working with a featured fiber.

 Japanese Papermaking and Decorating ,December 5-6, with Jana Pullman. Learnthe tools and techniques used in basics of 

Japanese style papermaking; then learn thedecorating techniques of “dragon paper”(Unryu Shi), marbling (Sumi Nagashi) andfold dye (Shibori-Zome).

Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatoryand Educational Foundation, Cleveland, OH,(216) 361-9255, http://morganconservatory.org. Workshops in hand papermaking andthe arts of the book in an innovative greenenvironment.

Paper Circle, Nelsonville, OH, (740) 753-3374, www.papercircle.org, [email protected]. Call or e-mail for information

about upcoming paper classes.Open Studio, second Saturdays, with studioartists. Gain new skills while working onthemed, relaxed projects.

The Papertrail, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada,(800) 421-6826, www.papertrail.ca. Classes in

papermaking, marbling, and related arts andstudio rental scheduled on an as-needed bas

PapierWespe (PaperWasp), Aegidigasse 3/Hof, 1060 Wien, Austria, (0676) [email protected], www.papierwespe.Workshops in English and German taughtby paper specialists in downtown Vienna.

Pyramid Atlantic, Silver Spring, MD, (301608-9101, www.pyramidatlanticartcenter.or

Workshops in papermaking, printmakingand book arts.

Papermaking Society, First and Third Thursdawith Gretchen Schermerhorn. Bring snackdiscuss papermaking techniques, and makas many sheets of paper as you can.

Pulp Printing , October 24 or November 14with Gretchen Schermerhorn. Learn howto do pulp printing and stenciling to printdetailed imagery into the handmade paperexposing an image onto a screen mesh, anthen spraying colored, finely-beaten pulpthrough the screen onto the cotton sheets

Ridgetop Studios, Soquel, CA, (831) [email protected], www.babcockart.com

An Introduction to Papermaking: Working with Natural Fibers, November 7-8, with JohBabcock. Use historical methods as well asexperimental techniques to make handmadpaper from garden fibers and kozo.

HAND  PAPERMAKING 

regional happeningsY ou are cordially invited to join us in the Boston area on

Sunday, October 4. Enjoy lunch with Lee McDonald hosted by the Boston Paper Collective, a mini-seminar in the afternoon with Sid Berger, and a festive exhibitionopening with Elaine Koretsky, while supporting the non- prot programs of Hand Papermaking.

From 11:30 until 1:30 we’ll gather for a casual lunch at thehome of Lee McDonald, where he will regale us with sto-ries from the early days of the hand papermaking renais-sance, talk about his latest beater, and introduce

the Boston Paper Collective. Lee began as a Twinrocker apprentice in the mid-1970s and he’s been designing/build -ing papermaking equipment ever since.

Next, a few minutes away at the home of Sid Berger and Michele Cloonan, from 2:00 until 4:30, professor Berger will teach us how to recognize and describe paper charac-teristics and aspects of paper decoration, using rare papers

 from his amazing collection to illustrate. Sid has been

collecting and researching paper for nearly 40 years and was recently part of an international team of scholars de-veloping a thesaurus of paper terms. He directs the PhillipsLibrary at Peabody Essex Museum.

At 5:00 our group is invited to join a gala event, withwine and cheese, to celebrate the opening of the exhibition“Before Paper” at Elaine Koretsky’s International Paper Museum at The Research Institute of Paper History and Technology. Located in a 100-year old building originallyused as a carriage house, the Museum holds a tremendous

collection of books, handmade paper, and artifactscollected by the Koretskys during several decades of  eld research worldwide.

This unique opportunity is limited to 20 guests, and pri-ority will be given to current subscribers. Sign up now bycalling Hand Papermaking at (800) 821-6604. Partici-

 pants are asked to make a $75 tax-deductible donation.www.handpapermaking.org/events

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October 2009

Robert C. Williams Paper Museum, Atlanta,GA, (404) 894-5726, http://ipst.gatech.edu/amp/  

Teachers’ Japanese Papermaking Workshop,June 21-25, 2010, with Berwyn Hung. StudyJapanese papermaking in-depth, fromits history through its practice, includingconstruction of a sugeta.

San Francisco Center for the Book, SanFrancisco, CA, (415) 565-0545, www.sfcb.org. 

Book arts classes and events year-round.Pastepapers, December 4, with Leigh McLellan.Create colorful, vibrant patterns by coveringbeautiful charcoal drawing paper with pasteand then drawing, stamping, combing, orpressing and pulling apart the surfaces.

Sarvisberry Studio and Gallery, Floyd, VA,(540) 745-6330.

Handmade Paper Workshop with Local Plantsand Fibers, October 3-4, with Gibby Waitzkinand Georgia Deal. Learn to make paperusing local plants and embedded botanicals,from garden fibers to finished piece.

Seastone Papers, West Tisbury, MA, (508)693-5786. Scheduled papermaking and bookworkshops listed at www.seastonepapers.com;  contact Sandy Bernat for more informationon open studio and private workshops foradults and children.

Southwest School of Art & Craft, SanAntonio, TX, (210) 224-1848, www.swschool.org. Classes at the Picante Paper Studio.

Advanced Studio Rental , most Wednesdays,with Beck Whitehead. Use of paper studioand equipment for private instruction uponrequest for use by paper artists.

Papermaking Saturday, select Saturdays, with BeckWhitehead. Work on independent projects withinstruction available in the morning.

Special Fibers: Pulp Painting , October 31,with Beck Whitehead. Learn pulp paintingtechniques using abaca, flax, and cotton rag.

Kozo and High Shrinkage Fiber: Unusual  3D Techniques, November 7-8, with MelissaJ. Craig. Explore the creation of moulds,armatures, and mounting strategies to makefree-standing paper sculptures through acombination of lectures, demonstrations,and hands-on lessons.

Stone and Paper Art Center, L.L.C.,Mandeville, LA, (504) 674-9232,www.stoneandpaper.com.

Hand Papermaking, selected Saturdays,with Mary Elain Bernard. Learn Easternand Western methods of making paper andincorporate local plant fibers.

Tidewater Cottage and Studio, Del Haven, NJ.Day workshops and weekend or week-long

retreats in a fully equipped paper studio, 10minutes north of Cape May, New Jersey. For aschedule or information about studio rentalwith instruction, e-mail Winnie Radolan [email protected].

 West Dean College, Chichester, WestSussex, U.K., (0)1243 811301, [email protected], www.westdean.org.uk.

Informing Paper: Recycled Paper Pulp Vessels

and Vintage Paper Casting , March 21-24, withMagie Hollingworth. Explore ways of formingorganic vessels with recycled paper pulp andcasting with handmade and vintage papers.

> EVENTS

The Friends of Dard Hunter meet annuallyto enjoy speakers, presentations, tours of local paper and book arts facilities, a trade

show, auction, and banquet. Scholarshipsare available to those with financial need.For information on this conference visitwww.friendsofdardhunter.org.The 2009meeting will be held October 15-18 inAtlanta, Georgia, taking full advantage of allthe Robert C. Williams American Museumof Papermaking has to offer.

The International Association of HandPapermakers and Paper Artists will conveneagain in 2010, September 9-13, at the HanjiTheme Park in Wonju, Korea, about 1 ½ hoursfrom Seoul. There will be a paper festival, fourexhibitions, presentations, and workshops.

Korean, Japanese, and Chinese papermakers willbe invited, in addition to IAPMA members,to share their paper processes. See moredetails as the congress evolves at www.iapma.info.

> more events athandpapermaking.org/events

> more classes and workshops athandpapermaking.org/listings.htm

> EXHIBITS

Robbin Ami Silverberg will have a soloexhibition at the Petofi Irodalmi (Literature)Museum in Budapest, opening onSeptember 3. The museum address is:Károlyi Mihály utca 16, H-1053 Budapest,Hungary. More information about themuseum can be found at www.pim.hu.

 You Were Here: Fiber Art Postcards, anexhibit at Tohono Chul Park, Tuscon,Arizona, is on display September 10through November 16. Postcards in WishYou Were Here will document real orimagined places, trips, experiences, or events

in Arizona, and feature a variety of fiber arttechniques including handmade paper. Fordetails, visit www.tohonochulpark.org or call(520) 742-6455.

On September 17, Jill Littlewood’s exhibit“Death and Other Lives” opens with agallery talk at Bluseed Studios in SaranacLake, New York. This installation is madeof 200 panels of handmade paper withdrawings, pulp paintings, collage, printing,

and calligraphy on the theme of death.Coinciding with the exhibition, Jill willlead workshops in pulp painting and onart that deals with social issues. For moreinformation, visit www.bluseedstudios.org, or call (518) 891-3799.

The Origin of Paper in China has agala opening on November 1 at theInternational Paper Museum, 31 GrandStreet, Brooklyn, New York. Regular hoursare Thursdays, 2:00-5:00 PM. For furtherdetails, call (718) 599-7858. The exhibitionBefore Paper, which was shown in New York,

will now be on display at the Massachusettslocation of the International Paper Museum.The opening celebration is scheduled for De-

cember 6. For further details, call (617) 232-1636 or visit www.papermakinghistory.org.  

The Robert C. Williams Paper Museum of Atlanta hosts two exhibitions in conjunctionwith the Friends of Dard Hunter AnnualMeeting. “Sukey Hughes and the World of Japanese Paper: A Return to the Source”opens October 15 and runs through January28. “Make An Impression! The Art of Combining Handmade Paper and Print”is open October 16 through January 4. For

more information, call (404) 894-7840 orvisit www.ipst.gatech.edu/amp.

 War Work: Artists Engage Iraq and Other  Wars will be on view at Carleton College,Northfield, Minnesota, from October 22to November 18. The exhibition includesbook, paper, and print artists Sandow Birk,Daniel Heyman, John Risseeuw, Ehren Till,Megan Vossler, the Combat Paper Project,and more. For more information, call(507) 222-4469 or (507) 222-4342, or visithttp://apps.carleton.edu/campus/gallery. The exhibit will then be at The Art Museumat the College of Wooster from January 12 toFebruary 28.

Book Bombs, a collaborative project byMary Tasillo and Michelle Wilson, will be ondisplay January 8 through March 31 at variouslocations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, aspart of the inaugural Philagrafika2010 PrintQuadrennial. Book Bombs is a series of printsand zines, some featuring paper handmadefrom urban invasive fibers, examining themany uses of public park spaces, installed

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hand papermaking newsletter

#405 QUICKNIP PRESS

www.arnoldgrummer.com

(800) 453-1485

For more information, please contact:

David Reina, (718) 486-0262, [email protected] Guernsey Street, Brooklyn, New York 11222, USA

David Reina Designs Inc.Providers of quality equipment for the hand papermakerfor over twenty years . . . offering Hollander Beaters,Hydraulic Presses, and Paper Drying Systems.

The Legacy Press has recently published

Killing Green: An Account of HandPapermaking in China by Elaine Koretsky.The book chronicles the author’s manyfield expeditions over more than a quartercentury, including excursions to remotevillages that represent unbroken traditionsin papermaking by hand. From the Takli-

> PUBLICATIONS AND VIDEOS

makan and Gobi Deserts to the Himalayas,Elaine Koretsky interviewed papermakers,recorded their histories, and documentedtheir processes. Visit www.thelegacypress.comfor more details and to place an order.

Shoichi Ida: USA Remembers, edited byJane M. Farmer, is a fond look at the artwork,projects, and lasting friendships that Japaneseartist Shoichi Ida made in his many visits tothe United States. Shoichi Ida had a special

gift for combining media to create artworks,including dimensional uses of traditionalpapers in his early prints, collaboration withJapanese papermakers, as well as makinghis own papers for mixed media works.This facility and their personal compatibilityinspired the presentation to Ida and RobertRauschenberg of the Award for Excellence inInternational Cultural Exchange at the closingexhibition of the New American Paperworksexhibition at the University of Maryland in1986. Available at www.blurb.com (go toBookstore, search for Shoichi Ida).

Paper Art I — 173 International Paper Artists is a new book featuring the paper art-work of members of IAPMA (InternationalAssociation of Hand Papermakers andArtists). More information, includingimages, can be found at www.iapma.info ,or by contacting [email protected].

The Summer 2009 issue of Hand Papermaking featured work by E.V. Day. Ashort video filmed at Dieu Donné shows thcreation of her monotypes in handmade papewith the help of collaborators Catherine Cand Akemi Martin. Browse to www.youtub.com/watch?v=NMVzsJX0EbI or searchYouTube for EV Day.

In the August 14 inaugural episode of TheTomorrow Show, host Mo Rocca takes a 12

minute look at the future of paper. Amongthe highlights, an interview with paper museum curator Cindy Bowden, and a visit toa house made of “papercrete” which is 80%cellulose and 20% masonry. Visit www.cbsnews.com and search for Tomorrow Show

More than a 100 handmade paper sculp-tures by Peter Gentenaar were recentlyhung in the abbey church of Saint Riquierin Northern France. A video of the workcourtesy of classiquenews.com—includingan interview with the artist—can be seen awww.gentenaar-torley.nl/Films_P_E.html

in just these public spaces. The projectis already underway, as documented athttp://bookbombing.blogspot.com, anddetails will also be available throughPhilagrafika2010, reachable at (215) 557-8433 orwww.philagrafika2010.org.

Project Runway, organized by the RobertC. Williams Paper Museum of Atlanta,is on view at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-JacksonInternational Airport. The juried exhibit

showcases clothing and accessories madeentirely from paper, including ball gowns,business suits, stilettos, hats, vests, andmuch more, created by paper artists fromaround the world. The exhibit runs throughJanuary 12, 2010, after which it travels to LaSala Galeria de Arte in Santiago, Chile. Formore information, call (404) 894-7840 orvisit www.ipst.gatech.edu/amp. 

Artists experienced in papermaking are in-vited to apply for the opportunity to spend uto three months working in the Paper Studat the Southwest School of Art & Craft.

> OPPORTUNITIES

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October 2009

For Sale: Beautiful, hardly used, 2 lb ReinaBeater, Twinrocker Press, LS McDonald-type drying box, moulds, deckles, fiber, allexcellent condition, will sell complete studio orindividual items, best offer. [email protected]

a

IN MEMORIAM

Charles (Ted) Edward Morgan 

(1910-2009) passed away on

August 5 at his home in Cleveland.

He had no immediate family.

He was 98 years old. Morgan wasan avid arts supporter

and a collector of 

paintings and prints.

He generously donated to

Hand Papermaking over the

years. Morgan recently told his

friend Tom Balbo that he wanted

his assets to support paper and

printing arts. The Morgan Art of 

Papermaking Conservatory andEducation Foundation opened

last year and will be supported

with a trust set up by Morgan.

2010 Mino Washi Calendar arriving lateNovember 2009. Available exclusively through Paper Connection International.This limited-edition, hand-crafted calendaris made from 100% kozo papers. Each of the 12 months is hand printed using paperstencils designed by Kiyoko Hasegawa of Mino, Japan; all can be framed as high-qualityprints. Reserve now while quantities last at(877) 434-1234.

Looking for a clean 10-pound [email protected]

Used Reina Beater for sale. Excellentcondition, Western Massachusetts, must pickup. $6,000.00 OBO; inquire about otherequipment. eclipsedpaper@verizon .net

Little Critter Hollander Beaters, sized from3/4# to 10# capacity. Contact Mark Lander,51 Hodgsons Rd, RD2, Rangiora 7472,New Zealand; ph 0064 3 3103132; emaillander- [email protected].

Cotton Linter Pulp. All quantities available.Call Gold’s Artworks, Inc. 1-800-356-2306.

For Sale: A Critter Hand PapermakingBeater made by Mark Lander. Like-newcondition. $2000.00 including shipping.Contact Mary Hark at hark@wisc .edu or(608) 230-5999.

> CLASSIFIEDS

Classifieds in Hand Papermaking Newslettercost $2 per word, with a 10-word minimum.Payment is due in advance of publication.

Industrial Papermaking Felts

Super Thick, Super Absorbent, Super DurablePerfect for wet pressing and restraint drying

Complete felts, or cut to your specifications

Peter Hopkins (802) 823-5405

[email protected]

Artists are expected to provide their owntransportation and materials. Housing maybe available, but Is not guaranteed. Col-laborations will be considered. For furtherinformation contact SSAC, 300 Augusta,San Antonio, TX 78205, (210) 224-1848,www.swschool.org.

Women’s Studio Workshop offers several oppor-tunities for artists working in papermakingand book arts. A year-long internship program

gives young artists creative support, culmi-nating in an exhibition, in return for theirassistance with the on-going operationsof the facility, including assisting WSW’sArtists-in-Residence with their projects andparticipating in WSW’s Summer ArtsInstitute classes as studio assistants.For details on these and other programs, visitwww.wsworkshop.org.

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hand papermaking newsletter

> SPECIAL THANKS

Hand Papermaking would like to thank the

 following people and organizations who havemade direct contributions to further our mission.As a non-profit organization, we rely on thesupport of our subscribers and contributors tocontinue operating. All donations are greatlyappreciated and are tax deductible. Call or write for more information on giving levels and 

 premiums.

Patrons: Susan Gosin, Barbara Lippman,David Marshall & Alan Wiesenthal, GibbyWaitzkin. Underwriters: Cathleen A. Baker,Sid Berger & Michele Cloonan, Charles E.Morgan, Peter Newland & Robyn Johnson,Nancy & Mark Tomasko, Beck Whitehead,

Pamela S. Wood. Sponsors: Michael Durgin,Jim Escalante, Jane Farmer, Andrea Peterson,Margaret Prentice, Kimberly Schenck.Donors: Eric Avery, Inge Bruggeman, Tom& Lore Burger, William Dane, Gail Deery,Paul Denhoed, Cynthia J. Fay, Gail Fishberg,Kathryn Flannery, Helen Frederick, Lori B.Goodman, Robert Hauser, Helen Hiebert,Barbara Hunter, Eve Ingalls Von Staden,Ingrid Rose Company, Lois & GordonJames, Rick Johnson, Ann Marie Kennedy,Elaine Koretsky, Karen Kunc, Mary Lou Manor, 

Gordon Marshall, Heather Leigh McGarvie,  

Betsy Miraglia, Catherine Nash, JanetOberla, Nancy Pobanz, Dianne L. Reeves, John L. Risseeuw, Mary C. Schlosser, KarenStahlecker, Helmuth A. Stahlecker Jr.,R. H. Starr Jr., Stephen Sward, Betty Ustun,Kathy Wosika. Supporters: Annie Alexander,Marjorie & Harold Alexander, Lynne Allen,Grimanesa Amoros, Martha Anderson, LoisD. Augur, Shirah Miriam (Mimi) Aumann,Eugenie Barron, Lora Brueck, T. PattersonClark, Nancy Cohen, Rona Conti, CharlesCooper, Elizabeth Curren, Jennifer Davies,Dianne Dolan, Jonathan Fairbanks, TheresaFairbanks Harris, Dorothy Fall, Lynn Feldman,Kathy Fitzgerald, Sara Gilfert, Lou Kaufman,

Kristin Kavanagh, Betty L. Kjelson, AllyeKranish, Gordon Marshall, Edwin Martin,Joyce McDaniel, Ann Montanaro, S.A. Scharf,Pam Scheinman, Peter Sowiski, JessicaSpring, Marie Sturken, Sheila Sturrock,Betty Sweren, Anne Williams, Therese Zemlin.  Friends: Pat Alexander, Tatiana Ginsberg,David Lance Goines. In-Kind: Carol Barton,Janet DeBoer, Paul Denhoed, Peter Ford,Helen Hiebert, Peter Hopkins, RussellMaret, Drew Matott, Rick McSorley, PyramidAtlantic, Britt Quinlan, Amy Richard,

Beverly Sky, Lynn Sures, USDA Beltsville

Agricultural Research Center. Founding Contributors to the Hand Papermaking Endoment: 49er Books, Shirah Miriam (Mimi)Aumann, Cathleen A. Baker, Tom Balbo,Timothy Barrett, Sidney Berger & MicheleCloonan, Tom & Lore Burger, Jeanne M.Drewes, Jane M. Farmer, Fifth Floor Foundtion, Helen Frederick, Sara Gilfert, SusanGosin, Lois and Gordon James, Sally WoodJohnson, David Kimball, Elaine Koretsky,Karen Kunc, Barbara Lippman, WinifredLutz, Susan M. Mackin-Dolan, DavidMarshall & Alan Wiesenthal, Peter NewlanFund of the Greater Everett CommunityFoundation, Margaret Prentice, Preservati

Technologies, L.P., Michelle Samour, PeteSowiski, Marilyn & Steve Sward, GibbyWaitzkin, Tom Weideman, Beck WhiteheaPaul Wong & John Colella, Pamela & GaryWood.

Hand Papermaking especially appreciatesthe generosity of Beverly Sky, who recentlydonated her custom paper press, raising$1700 to support our non-profit programs

A special event to benefit Hand Papermaking will take place outside Boston on October 4.

See ad on page 12 for details, or visit www.handpapermaking.org/events.

^^^^