Hi everyone, I hope you have had a good start to 2021, and that you and yours are safe and well. There has been some disturbing footage coming from around the world, and I feel very fortunate to be in my little relatively safe bubble here in the south west of Western Australia.
I have started a new project. I think my husband despairs of me....always some new art project to explore. But he is very supportive and even bought me a "paper making kit" this year after I had it on my Christmas list for the second year. He managed to get it into the house without me knowing when the parcel deliver brought it.
Now I don't profess to know anything about paper making. I have never even seen it demonstrated. So all I know is what I have gleaned from the Born in Paper website from where my husband bought the kit, and from a few little on-line videos. But I wanted to have a go, and that is what I have been doing most afternoons for the last week. I have had mixed results, but I have enjoyed playing but gosh it has been hot on my patio. My husband did ask me the other day what I was going to do with the paper I had made. All I could reply was "don't ask me something I can't answer yet".
The best place for you to learn is go to a workshop if you can. Born in Paper is located on the eastern side of Australia, a LONG way from me, so I need to find a workshop closer. Until then I just experiment and play.
1. First you need paper. I have always kept paper in a box under my computer that has only been printed on one side. So this is a great place for me to start. If you work in an office I am sure there is a LOT of office waste paper. Also for one batch I used offcuts from my botanical eco-printing projects which uses printmakers art paper.
Tear the paper up and pulp it all up in a blender with water. I bought a cheap one just for this. Don't use it for food after.
2. You can add flowers or leaves to your mix. I've sun dried some rose petals. Only took a couple of days, but it is summer!
3. You also need a Mould and Deckle. Put the pulp and extra water into a plastic tub. Mix it around so it is moving freely then "pull" your first sheet of paper with your mould and deckle.
Below is a mould and deckle. It is like two picture frames the same size with a piece of wire on one piece. The mould is a frame covered with metal or nylon mesh, and the deckle is the frame that sits on top of the mould. The paper is formed on the mould, and the deckle is used to create straight edges on the paper sheet.
There is a good video here to show you the process: Born in Paper on instagram4. Transfer your paper mush on the mould and deckle face down onto the "couching" cloth. Also can be seen on video from Born in Paper on instagram
Press out some of the water with sponge, then take the mould away - this is the tricky bit! Put another piece of cloth on top and roll with a rolling pin. Turn over, take away the wet cloth, replace with another cloth, roll again. The firmer and more you roll the better the paper will be.
Then transfer your paper to a board to dry. You can iron them flat when dry, and then put them under a stack of big books to flatten them more.
Here you can see my first go - a bit of tearing going on. Could be the paper was a bit thin, but also because I had trouble peeling the paper from the wire of the mould.
I've only started making paper this week, so honestly, I think you should ignore my "notes" and go to a proper paper making site like Born in Paper or Paper Slurry Here are a few of my papers from this week. I still have lots to learn Like how to get the wet paper off the screen without it tearing.... and how to get an even layer of slurry in the mould and deckle. Lots more to learn.
Dry wildflowers and leaves added to the mix
Dry statice flowers sprinkled on top of the wet paper and pressed in
The paper I made with scraps of printmakers paper previously eco-printed with eucalypt leaves. A few dry leaves were added to the blended when pulping the paper. This paper was thicker than the paper I made with the office paper.
So there you have it. A newbies little look at paper making.
Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.
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