More From Penland

from the knoll, evening time

 It is nearly midnight, with rumors that it night possibly rain a little tonight and the people in the park outisde my window are listening to 70's soul. Luckily, I had a late cup of tea to help combat the list of things I'd like to do tonight.  I forgot the list but now I can't sleep.  I found these photos on my phone last week, more images of my time at Penland.  It is difficult to express what a special place it is,   how beautiful the landscape is and how amazing it is to have so much time to focus on work.  As my time there seems farther and farther away, I keep in mind the things I learned.  From these photos, it seems that I like to collect things.  Though A. (who has moved with me 4 times at least) could've told you that.

chicken bone, moth wing, mica

collection in progress

more collections and the work i went home with

late at night, hard at work, my desk in the paper studio

Papermaking Workshop Part 2

one option for beating the fiber

 With buckets of cooked fiber and not enough coffee, on a Saturday morning in San Francisco, class began.  Students looked at sample books while Rhiannon talked about paper making and resources.  And then came the fun.  Students took turns with the blenders making the artichoke, fennel, eucapyltus, and grass fibers into usable pulp.  Others cut daffodil and horsetail stems to cook to use later in class. I prepared vats and had abaca ready to strengthen some of the weaker fibers, a good strong base for beautiful but not so strong fibers.

a significantly less popular option (this is kozo,not locally harvested)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Hand-beating fibers was also discussed and students were offered some prepared kozo to try.  It is a good fiber for witnessing the transformation of plant fiber from recognizable plant form to separated fibers ready to be part of paper.  Personally I also love partially beaten kozo because it is strong and holds its form and can form beautiful lace like designs.  Students were less interested or perhaps felt no realease in hitting something over and over.

vat of artichoke pulp

And so it began.  Pulp is added to a vat of water, the separated fibers are suspended, and then removed with a mold and deckle, almost like a screen with a frame.  Here the mold and deckle await the next person.

using a deckle box

An alternative method is to use a deckle box, adding the fiber and water to a box with a screen for a bottom and high sides.  Here, Rhiannon demonstrates how to make a one-of-a-kind pulp mixture in the deckle-box.

 

 

wet paper!

Either way, once most of the water has drained through the mold or the deckle box, the new sheet of paper is turned on to a pelon on felts to be ready to be pressed.  The pressing released more water and squishes the fibers together.

My paper is still drying in San Fransisco.  I will share photos once I get it back.  The class lasted all day and by the end, everyone was excited and exhausted.  I went home with a few bags of pulp and can't wait to try them out! They may have to wait until after the Patchwork show though.

And if you live in the Bay Area and this looks fun to you, contact Rhiannon Alpers through her website to sign up for summer classes in papermaking www.rhiannonalpers.com

Catching Up

tall windows in Rhiannon's studio

Yikes! It's been a while.  I've been busy busy.  I just downloaded my desktop calendar for April today.  It hasn't been all work--yesterday Andy and I took a walk in the woods and ended up in a redwood grove for a few hours, but more on that later.  Here's a  little bit of what I've been up to.

tools

Rhiannon Alpers was teaching a class using local fibers in papermaking and I asked to be her assistant.  I haven't been making paper too much and though I do not have a project in mind, I thought it might get me excited about paper again.  And it did!  I went to her studio a week before the class to help prep.

cooking eucalyptus leaves

 First we went for a walk and collected eucalyptus leaves and palm bark--the hairy stuff around the tree.  She also had some fennel from a friend though there is plenty growing wild in San Francisco. (I planted it in my garden anyway. And, thanks to the cats, it never sprouted).

cooking fresh fennel

checking the fiber

 We returned to the studio and started cutting the plants in prepartation. The fennel was fresh and the eucalyptus was brittle and would have to be mixed with a stronger fiber anyway so we started them cooking right away.

I love using the rotary cutter!

It takes about two hours for the fiber to cook so we cut some pelons (like interfacing for quilting) to put our formed sheet onto during class.  Then we had a little drink.  And got back to work.

artichoke and grass pulps

Rhiannon had some pulp left over from a previous class, some of which had dried and some of which was a little moldy.  We cleaned and rinsed and rehyrated.  Then we strained the cooked pulp and called it a day.

Next time: photos of class and the finished paper!

 Hey, if you live in the Bay Area and want to take a papermaking class, contact Rhiannon though her website for summer classes.

More About the Ladies

Since returning from the Ladies of Letterpress Conference, I have been excited to start working on new projects. Because I can't bust out all my supplies right now, it means I have been trying to update my etsy site and make more books while searching for a press to borrow here in town so I can print postcards. I am not frustrated at all because every evening the sun sets on the lavender shed behind the house and I escape for a ride through the neighborhood, usually running into at least one person I know.

I promised more information about the conference. There was a screening of "Proceed and Be Bold," a documentary about Amos Kennedy. Kennedy and the director of the film were in attendance to answer questions and provoke the audience. It was a bit of metaphorical shaking for those in attendance but welcome by most. Many panels addressed business concerns for the many small business owners. My friend Lisa, of ilfant press was on a panel about exploring possibilities of handset type. I took three pages of notes including a reminder to ask her for her slides demonstrating some of the techniques. She says she will post some of them on her website soon.

Back at home, I found some knitting Matt Henderson gave me last winter at LSU which I dunked in paper pulp. Not all of the experiments were successful but I will add it to the collection of tricks accumulating in my brain.