paper apprentice

New Website

2011-01-17T22:37:00.004-06:00

A website for me now exists!

jessjones.net

Most of my papermaking and bookbinding for the Master Craft Artist and Apprentice Program is archived there (in addition to new quilts I have been working on). Except for maybe one piece that is less than two years old, the entire site is work from within about a year and a half.

Exhibition Card

2010-08-17T16:46:00.004-05:00

I think they look great.

Images

2010-08-17T00:10:00.004-05:00

I recently had images taken of my work at Photoservices at TN Tech.

Artist Visit: Susan Hulme

2010-08-16T23:37:00.005-05:00

We stopped by Susan Hulme's home studio in Nashville to see some of her new work and samples from the 2010 Paper and Book Intensive: http://www.paperbookintensive.org/pbi2010.html

Although she works a lot with computers in graphic design (and her design work is really great!), she stressed the importance of the physical tactile experience she has when holding a handmade book, working with paper, or printing. The 2010 Paper and Book Intensive was held in Machias, Maine and she created these pieces in Frank Brannon's "Paper Sculpture" class (she also attended Tatiana Ginsberg's "Japanese Natural Colorants for Paper"):

Susan's own clamshell letterpress and a sample from it:

Artist Visit: Sandy Webster

2010-08-16T22:27:00.004-05:00

As one of our last studio visits before the conclusion of the grant (with the TN Master Craft Artist/ Apprentice Program), Claudia insisted that we visit the multi-multi-media artist Sandy Webster, and while she lives in Brasstown NC, she still often teaches in TN (and well.. she's just that awesome, so we have to include her). Her work is mesmerizing, combining the things I love about some of my favorite well-known artists like Joseph Cornell and Lee Bontecou. I identify with her affinity to collect things and her work has a history and sense of time. It just feels good to look at- her materials are really worked, aged to perfection.

Sandy makes quilts, weavings, prints, paintings, sculptures, books, boxes, and many many other things. She makes. A lot. She has written, illustrated, and bound a book on her own research creating pigments from soil (Gathering and Processing Pigments from the Earth -available from her website). She is also a creative troubleshooter- she teaches creative thinking through exercises she herself has developed and she is sought after for critiques and valuable input.

Her work and lifestyle are as inspiring as they are intense, and I left Sandy with a renewed energy for my work.

*for a photo of Sandy herself and many more works, check out her website: http://www.sandywebster.com/ linked on the right hand side of this page.

Love Letters

2010-08-05T17:01:00.005-05:00

I am a bit behind on my posts. Until I catch up, I am adding this image of paper I made in Claudia's recent workshop here at the Appalachian Center for Craft (her workshop was titled Beyond the Basic Sheet). This paper was made from all the love letters I have ever received (envelopes were included, cards and such were excluded) 1999-2009. They were all put into a blender to create pulp. It was a great project- emotional.. but wonderful. I think the papers are beautiful, with bits of handwriting familiar to me and the blue and black patterns on the inside of the envelopes.

Lake Paper II

2010-06-28T15:05:00.003-05:00

Today I actually got a chance to make paper in the lake.

Nashville Public Libary

2010-06-28T14:02:00.004-05:00

On a recent trip to Nashville, Claudia and I scheduled a "tour" of the Wilson Limited Editions Collection at the Nashville Public Library. It is such a wonderful resource in a city so close to us and we had a great time seeing the handmade papers, prints, and bindings. Having studied printmaking, I enjoyed seeing prints by Betye Saar, Jim Dine, Benny Andrews, Barry Moser, Robert Motherwell, and Faith Ringgold. The bindings --especially the later books that focused more on artistic quality-- were so beautiful. Many had clam shell boxes, pockets, portfolios, and even bronze decoration on the top- like The Temple of Flora (containing Jim Dine's gestural prints).

Hearing the history of the collection from Elizabeth Coleman as she showed us some of the most interesting pieces was a real treat. She is a great storyteller, knowledgeable about both historical and aesthetic aspects of the pieces and so enthusiastic about everything.

From the Wilson Limited Editions Collection website linked on the right hand side:

"The Limited Editions Collection includes over 800 books, dating from 1929 to the present, most published by the Limited Editions Club and Arion Press, as well as separate portfolios of some of the fine artwork that illustrates many of the beautifully-bound books. Books and artwork from the collection are on display in the East Reading room at the Main Library during regular hours. Individual appointments to view materials not currently on display may be arranged by calling 862-5800."

The Gilded Leaf

2010-06-21T16:05:00.004-05:00

So Claudia and I went to pick up a guillotine from Robert Owen Roberts whose business is called The Gilded Leaf. He is upgrading a lot of his equipment and had some things for sale. Trained as a bookbinder in Chicago, Roberts has relocated to Maryville, TN. His work is astonishing. While some of his work is extremely creative and has beautiful texture and color combinations as well as unusual decorative elements, he actually specializes in historic restoration. Much of his work is in restoring family bibles and historical ledgers. He showed us a sample of a springback ledger, a style of binding we had never seen. He has an extensive collection of very high-quality marbled papers, made for historical accuracy. Even the cases for the books were as amazing as the books themselves.

There is more information about his work and detailed photos on his blog for the Gilded Leaf:
http://gildedleafbindery.blogspot.com/ (Also linked in the list to the right.)

Itajime II

2010-06-06T10:37:00.007-05:00

These are my paper samples using itajime block resist and non-waterproof ink. I found it best to let it dry, then unclamp. Claudia mentioned I should look up orizomegami and shiborizome gami rather than itajime. However, I still have yet to find anything online that shows the crispness and geometry of itajime methods on paper.

Itajime Paper

2010-06-05T14:49:00.004-05:00

In teaching a class this weekend on Itajime (traditionally folded/block-resisted/dyed fabric), I wondered if this has been done with paper. It has, of course-- but not much. I couldn't find much online on how to do it. However, I decided to work with some of my eastern-style handmade papers.

Here's what I came up with after a couple tries:
1. fold then wet the paper by spraying it with water.
2. clamp the paper with plexi blocks and C clamp.
3. brush on INK- I used black non-waterproof (but I read somewhere that waterproof is best?) I think this is better than having to rinse the paper after dyeing
The result:

The problem I ran into was: Should I let the piece dry, then unfold it --or unfold is when it is damp so that the folds do not stick permanently?? This is something I'm still experimenting with. The ink bled into the resist very quickly when it was unclamped while damp- so maybe I'll try letting it dry and see if the paper survives...

[My original Itajime samples which inspired this project.]

Distressed

2010-06-05T14:17:00.005-05:00

So the denim pulp idea was put on hold for taking forever-- also the studio had to be used last weekend for my Itajime workshop. Today I divided up what I had in the beater initially and decided to resume beating it in smaller quantities. After restarting it today, I had to call in Cherry Cratty to troubleshoot. The material was not breaking up. She brought over a great book and suggested that I lower the beater blade more- and also cook the rest of the material in soda ash. I had lowered the beater blade when I had the original large load in the beater and felt like I was overworking the machine and getting it too hot. With less material circulating this time, it was safe to lower it and make it work. Within minutes I could see a difference. Thanks, Cherry!!!

*Claudia returns from John C Campbell folk school today. One of her upcoming workshops, Handmade Paper: Beyond the Basic Sheet, will be here at the Appalachian Center for Craft July 18-23. Registration is still available at 615.597.6801. I'll be there as an assistant, Claudia's workshops are always a hit (very productive too), and this place is so beautiful this time of year.

Lake Paper

2010-05-28T22:13:00.005-05:00

Not too long ago a photo of someone making paper in the ocean inspired me to create large deckle boxes. Using cheap wood, polyurethane, hardware cloth, and screening, I made a series of boxes-- the largest of which is 2'x4'. I plan to use them in Center Hill Lake, a short hike from my cabin at the Craft Center. I tested out one 2'x2' deckle box at Liberty Paper Mill yesterday. I lined a wooden frame with plastic and filled it with water until it the deckle floated inside, I pulled a sheet of paper, and I let it dry in the sun. Claudia told me that it should be completely dry before I took it off the screen so that it would restraint dry as much as possible. When it was dry, I peeled it off and had a beautiful large sheet of paper. The deckle box materials cost less than 50$ total at Lowe's. I can't wait to try it out in the lake this summer.

Sparkle and Fade

2010-05-28T21:34:00.016-05:00

Claudia has been teaching me how to pigment pulp using a Whiz Mixer. I have learned about how to add Retention Aid, Sizing, and Pigments. I made pulp in tan and terracotta- which I now know press and dry much much lighter than they appear when wet. I also have been adding Supersparkle from Carriage House, testing out what happens when the powdered mica (which is Supersparkle) is added to the vat or sprayed onto pressed wet sheets. It is very pretty and really seductive.

In addition to learning about pigments and other additives, I've been experimenting with beating cotton rag- specifically denim found in the "free box" (where students donate/ recycle old clothing here at the Appalachian Center for Craft).

I was warned by Claudia that we have so much soap in our clothes that I didn't need to "wash" the denim, I could simply rinse it a lot before beating it. I was lucky and the suds didn't get too out-of-control. The color is BEAUTIFUL. I still have a ways to go in beating it, so i had to put it on hold for a while.

[Cotton rag shredded on the left and halfway beaten on the right.]

The Secret Of Kells

2010-05-01T19:06:00.001-05:00

Beverly Plummer, Joyce Seivers, Claudia Lee and I saw the Secret of Kells at Nashville's Belcourt theater. It was fantastic! The hand-drawn animation contained imagery based on the Book of Kells. We all loved it- it was the perfect movie for a group where we have combined experience in bookbinding, papermaking, calligraphy, and printing (as well as other media). The movie was really touching, we were all inspired, and I think we all want to see it again after we research more on the Book of Kells.

Japanese paper

2010-04-05T22:59:00.011-05:00

So. Japanese papermaking. Yeah.
In my experience with many aspects of fiber art, I usually get a grasp of many hand processes fairly quickly. Japanese papermaking was not one of those things.

Just looking at the difference in Claudia's demo sheet and my sheet, you can see the fibers are supposed to line up and distribute very evenly.

[My poor first attempt at Japanese papermaking]

[Claudia's demo-- note the difference.]

I made about twenty sheets of kozo paper (at least they looked like ok sheets to me) using a sugeta and then switched to western papermaking using the Thai kozo in the vat. I still have plenty of kozo (in my freezer) ready to make more sheets and I am determined to get a handle on this using the sugeta.

[Both kozo pages, on the left is japanese papermaking, right is made with a western mould and deckle.]

Experiments

2010-04-05T22:11:00.022-05:00

These photos are of experiments with abaca. I use a lot of cartographic imagery in my work, and as I have mentioned before, I digitally print on handmade paper using a desktop printer. Recently, Claudia has taught me her method of including string when pulling a sheet of paper as well as laminating string and other things between two layers of overbeaten pulp to create interesting effects.

[My influences here are my map collection- specifically a map of the ocean, and stick maps of the Marshall Islands]

[This is another experiment with abaca. Sewing thread and spun lokta paper have been laminated between two sheets. The dark color of the lokta paper bled into the abaca- but I love the effect.]

[These are some "recycled" pieces.]

Beater Tests

2010-04-05T19:26:00.014-05:00

"Paper is designed in the beater." Claudia has emphasized that the beating of pulp is the largest part of designing paper. In order understand how to use the beater to help create a specific paper, it is common practice to do beater testing. This way, one can see how a pulp is affected by the length of time a pulp is beaten and by other variables like the level/number at which the beater is set and how hard it is beating.

[Claudia and Cheryl look at Tallu Schuyler's beater and fiber testing at the Appalachian center for craft. Her BFA research on handmade paper is a wonderful resource for seeing how many different fibers -including plants from the Craft Center- are made into paper.]

Claudia and I started the beater and waited for the pulp to be broken up a bit.

To do our beater test, we used a mould and deckle box and poured the same amount of pulp from the beater into the box and made a sheet of paper at 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 min as the beater continued to beat the pulp.

Papers were pressed and then restraint-dried on windows, or air-dried on plastic grids. This shows us how the paper behaves in the process -how it shrinks and cockles.

We beat abaca and bamboo separately, making a set of tests for each fiber. The amount of pulp created a thick paper, and I noticed that abaca shrank quite a lot- where the bamboo remained nearly the same in size. Bamboo, which I had not experimented with before, kept an oatmeal texture even after 100 min.

Artist Visit: J. Smith

2010-03-22T14:37:00.023-05:00

Joyce, Claudia, and I visited John Smith, who lives in a beautiful home between Smithville and Sparta. He does everything: paints, designs, makes his own tools, collects many things (from fine art to antique microscopes), builds model ships (that are incredible years-long endeavors where he plies his own thread to make miniature rope for the rigging). He was a trained artist, he worked for many years as industry executive because of his problem-solving ability, and he has incredible creativity. The astonishing thing about John aside from the number of different things he attempts, is that he does everything well. Getting a tour of his collections and interests is like seeing the hobbies of several people combined. However, the main reason for our visit was to see his book collection (comprised of many first editions and extremely rare books), and his own skillful rebinding of books.

John has collected rare books for decades, but became interested in protecting his books and rebinding those that had wear. He has learned a lot about what makes a book gain or lose value --sometimes rebinding is not the best option-- and books can be protected in many different ways. He knows what materials are appropriate for a project and how to do a new leather binding on a century-old book and preserve the original look by integrating well-chosen materials. Looking at his rebound books and clamshell boxes, both are very precise and well-crafted in addition to being archival.

[One of John's beautiful clamshell cases for a book. The navy blue portfolio on the top (that slides perfectly underneath the book), contains loose pages of prints. The navy book cloth on the portfolio matches the navy book cloth on the original book- an example of his attention to detail.]

[Some of John's rare books: Japanese block prints, 150+ years old; Aubrey Beardsley's first published illustrations from the late 19th century; Don Quixote combined 1st and 2nd ed. from 1675.]

John has artistic talent as well as a problem-solving scientific mind and real ingenuity. He made his own press for complex binding processes. It has movable pieces that create the indention on either side of the spine, and the entire press lifts off to become horizontally positioned so that it is easier to work on the spine. In seeing his book collection and how books are reconstructed, I learned so much from John about the structure of books: how marbled paper was attached, how leather is flattened to be folded around a cover-- all things I had never thought of when looking at a book.

[John's press that he built himself.]

Artist Visit: B. Plummer

2010-03-13T23:37:00.022-06:00

It has turned out that meeting other paper and book artists has become a very valuable component of this apprenticeship. This past week, Claudia and I met with her long time friend and mentor, Beverly Plummer. Beverly is the coolest-- she met us after her yoga class (she's 92 and can out-yoga me, I'm sure), we had a great lunch at her apartment near Belmont College in Nashville, and I got to see some amazing papers and hear amazing stories.

Claudia has been telling me about how papermaking emerged in the U.S. in the 60s and 70s and how no one knew anything at the time. Somehow the field grew as people communicated and experimented, and fiber became a more legitimate fine art material. Beverly talking about her own research and exploration perfectly illustrated the history of papermaking that I've been learning. I got to hear first hand about how 40 or so people came together for the first official papermaking convention in Appleton, WI. This was the site of the Dard Hunter Collection and the site was probably chosen for that reason. (The collection had moved from M.I.T. and would eventually move to GA Tech where I was able to visit it.) The people from Carriage House and Twinrocker were there, people from all over the country- some learning about paper specifically for watercolor or other media and some wanting to explore paper for its own sake. And there was Beverly... at this meeting in Appleton- right at this pivotal moment in the history of papermaking. (What is so difficult for me to do is understand how this was accomplished in the pre-internet world. I'm still wondering-- how did people communicate.. how did information travel? I still can't wrap my mind around this after a week.)

Beverly is seriously the first person to write an article on creating paper from plants, in the U.S. That is an astonishing fact. It was in her book Earth Presents, 1974. In the book, she talks about not knowing exactly how to make paper, but she shares her experiments with recycling paper (kleenex tissues were readily available) and processing plant fibers. She read a lot from libraries that held books on Chinese and Japanese papermaking. At the time, a few libraries had sample books and some of those were in circulation- not special collections! The books with priceless samples could be taken home. These resources informed her exploration. She began making paper all over her house. She told me that she made paper for a year without concern for making a "thing" but to see what she could do. She was concerned with simply looking at a material and seeing what was possible.

Currently, Beverly works with Hatch Show Prints and is active in the Friends of Dard Hunter. She makes awesome block prints of animals. Beverly is also famous for her work with John Cage making edible paper. This is documented in the Story Corps recording with Susan Hulme and in her beautiful collection of tests of the edible papers. Her paper collection included so many different materials: okra, cabbage, onion skins, iris, pea pods, palm leaves, black beans, mushrooms, corn, cat tails, milkweed, roses, wasps nests...

It was such a great day and a wonderful opportunity meeting Beverly. She is inspiring to me not only as a papermaker, but as an innovator --and as a fellow artist and explorer of materials.

Beverly's edible paper tests and Cage's notes.

A.I.R. Exhibit

2010-03-09T22:44:00.007-06:00

The Artist in Residence Exhibition was opened recently at the Appalachian Center for Craft where I am a Fibers resident. I was able to include some of my new books in the show.

Origami books with cases, pamphlets
Digtally printed handmade papers, book board, surgical thread, ribbon, claps, pva

Six different book forms
Digtally printed papers, vintage maps, book board, surgical thread, ribbon, claps, pva

Shifu

2010-03-08T13:58:00.007-06:00

I am always being shown new things at Liberty Paper Mill. Claudia has so many samples and she is always willing to decode the process it took to make them and take time to show me how it's done. Last week she showed me some paper that had been spun into yarn --a Japanese technique called Shifu-- and I was able to try it the other day.

I chose a tough green Japanese paper. Claudia showed me how to fold and cut the paper where the ends were still stuck together but the paper was essentially cut into 1/4" ribbons. Then the fabric is broken apart into a long strip which you can twist. She showed me how to spin it off the point of a bobbin winder. This way it becomes tighter. If done while the paper is a little damp, it becomes permanently twisted when it dries (like the tightly spun yarn on the right of the photo).

What I love about processes like this is how they can be another tool in the toolbox. I can never really tell what will be useful to me in my work, and some things pop up as the perfect solution. I have plenty of sheets of Japanese paper that didn't turn out (still practicing that process, more update on that later) and spinning them could be a great way to recycle the bad sheets.

Paper Museum, Atl, GA

2010-02-14T18:06:00.008-06:00

On Friday, I visited the Robert C Williams Paper Museum which is located on the campus of GA Tech. Although the museum focuses on the history of paper as it moved towards industry, it has a wonderful collection tracing centuries of paper and books from different cultures. It also exhibits other paper-related and paper-influencing techniques like vellum, printmaking, and even cuneiform on ancient clay tablets. The museum is best known among papermakers for the Dard Hunter collection. As they state on the museum's website, Hunter was "responsible for a renaissance in hand papermaking and printing." Hunter was part of the Arts and Crafts Movement, and the website notes: "Today, most of the historians and artisans interested in papermaking and printing were directly inspired by Hunter."

On special exhibit was a collection of photos, fibers, and paper documenting the process of papermaking in Japan.

Seivers Workshop

2010-02-11T10:53:00.010-06:00

This week our friend Joyce Seivers came to Liberty Paper Mill and gave a book workshop to me and Claudia. Since we have begun studying Japanese paper, we created a Japanese stab binding with a hard case. This kind of stab binding has a cover that wraps around the entire text block. It is sewn with an 8-hole binding and I chose to try sewing it with antique surgical thread, which had surprisingly good tension and a nice look. We made the hard case for the book out of davey board wrapped with paper (Ahead of time, I printed Canson paper with a scan of a quilt- and cut down a vintage map for the liner). Also, I learned how to attach a bone clasp on cords that are embedded into the book board and are completely hidden by the paper. It was a great lesson and Joyce is an amazing teacher. I value every minute I spend with her because I learn and accomplish so much in her guidance. (As Claudia says "Joyce is bookbinding royalty." She's so right.)

Kozo Fiber Processing

2010-02-08T01:30:00.011-06:00

Claudia is an expert on how to make many different kinds of paper. Along with western style papermaking, Claudia is teaching me Japanese papermaking. This is somewhat similar in principle in terms of sheet forming: the pulp is suspended in water in a vat, is pulled, couched and pressed.

However, there are big differences which will prove challenging. The fibers used are longer and have the ability to create translucent sheets, so the paper must be pulled very carefully and evenly (thin layer atop thin layer) by swishing the mould and deckle quickly back and forth. Formation aid, which makes the mould and deckle drain much more slowly, is key. Instead of the usual mould and deckle, this method requires a sugeta -which is a hinged mould and deckle with a bamboo screen and mesh screen in between. This tool is expensive and many papermakers make one with found parts. The thin sheets are couched together in layers rather than in between felts and they are not put into a press, but pressed by adding weight.

One fiber used in Japanese papermaking is Kozo. Japanese Kozo is very expensive, so Thai Kozo is a cost effective substitution (at 4$ a pound rather than 30$). The fibers come in a dried bundle and are very hard. They are boiled with sodium carbonate (soda ash-- in proportion to the amount of water used) until soft. They pull apart quickly along with the grain, but they should pull apart against the grain when they are fully cooked. Then the fibers are hand beaten using wooden mallets.

The kozo I ordered from Carriage house was extremely tough. It took forever to boil. I am planning on boiling it again so I can assure it is fully cooked and hand beating it this week. (While we have been boiling fibers, we have been watching videos from the University of Iowa Center for the Book and I think Japanese papermaking is very intimidating after watching Timothy Barret's meticulous and authentic process.)

Claudia showing me her stainless steel turkey fryer which makes a great pot for boiling fiber:

Checking the kozo:

The fibers in the kozo lighten as they lose their gums and waxes, turning the water brown and leaving behind only pure cellulose fiber:

German Accordion

2010-01-21T10:22:00.009-06:00

One of the things I have been working with during my apprenticeship is digital printing on handmade paper. I have been experimenting with how to feed handmade paper through my Epson inkjet printer and how to mask off sections of paper as a resist. I have been doing digital printing on fabric for years and have found that the process translates well.

Below is the development of a sculptural book in the form of a German Accordion fold. I didn't think this book form was all that interesting until I started working with it- now I think it has so much potential. Claudia suggested that it would make a good a wall piece, and I totally agree.
1. I practiced the scale and the cut-outs with Canson paper.

2. I remade the form with digitally printed handmade paper, choosing the parts of the sample book that I liked. (The digital image is a color copy of a quilt that resembles topography.)

3. I then sewed signatures made of vintage maps into the cut outs.

Reina Hollander Beater

2010-01-21T09:12:00.021-06:00

I had my first lesson in using a Reina Hollander beater last week. We started with one of the easiest fibers to work with: Abaca. Abaca comes in sheets that break up easily when sprayed with a hose and the conversion to pulp is so easy.

In the future, in terms of making pulp...
We will be making pulp in different ways: working with the original fibers, finding fibers locally (iris leaves, yucca, hosta, etc.) and taking cellulose fabric and cutting it down into tiny squares and recycling it into pulp. (I am saving bits of cotton, linen, rayon to see what works.) But now, I know how to safely use and clean a beater.

We used our abaca pulp in a deckle box. A deckle box has high walls that allow water to pool on top of the mould- allowing more hand manipulation with the pulp. Instead of pulling a sheet from dipping the mould under the water in the vat, we set the mould on top and poured the pulp into the deckle box.

Claudia showing me how to work with deckle boxes (while her dog Max keeps an eye on us).

In Claudia's studio is another tool that I learned to use: a vacuum table. Like many papermaking tools, this can be put together using many common hardware store objects. The stacks of paper and felts are put on a plexiglass tabletop, a tube with holes for draining the water is placed along the stacks. (Here, our paper is pressed in between burlap instead of felts so that the texture of the burlap presses into the paper.) A sheet of plasitc is placed over the table and the suction presses the water out of the paper. It is surprisingly strong. The water collects in a tank and must be drained. The vacuum table is an alternative to a press.

Artist Visit: C. Cratty

2010-01-20T13:05:00.013-06:00

Recently we visited the studio of Cherry Cratty who makes compositions entirely out of paper pulp. She sprays the pulp onto a surface, then applies bits of pulp like paint. Unlike paint, the pulp creates a highly textural surface and a completely unique mark-making language.

The pulp she uses is beaten quite a long time-- until it is extremely fine. (She uses a small portable beater called a "Critter.") She pigments the pulp and makes little cakes of basic colors (like a set of paints) and then blends colored pulp together to get the desired color.

So few people paint with paper pulp that there is very little information and no "right" way to do anything. This pushes her to be creative with her tools in addition to her visual creativity. The technique she uses most often is picking up the pulp from a vat with a small sharp stick getting just the right clump for the right stroke of color. The sticks she uses to grasp the pulp are (no joke) the quills of a South African porcupine. She says that no other object works quite as well- and after demonstrating other stylus-like objects of different textures, I believe it. (The quills themselves are very beautiful: different sizes and lengths with black and cream stripes. They look like magical objects.)

In a very recent technique innovation, Cherry whips the pulp with a milk-shake blender to create a frothy mixture. She then applies it to a dry pulp-covered surface with a brush. It is thin and translucent like watercolor, creating a surface that is light and ethereal, but retaining the beautiful texture of paper.

I am excited to see what happens in her workshop at the Appalachian Center for Craft in May.

Artist Visit: J. Seivers

2009-12-16T17:21:00.015-06:00

Claudia is connected to an astonishing number of book and paper artists in the south and many are near the Nashville area- not far from where we live. One thing Claudia decided would be an integral part of the Master/Apprentice program was visiting paper and book artists and talking to them about their process, their perspective on their work, as well as their larger outlook on the field of paper and books.

For our first field trip, we visited Joyce Sievers. Her studio is within her house which is located near Smithville, TN. She is an accomplished book artist and shared her collection of books with me. She had many works that were completed museum quality pieces, some pieces in progress, and many many ideas about the nature of bookbinding. She is a member of Book Babes- a group that meets at the Liberty Paper Mill, and she also teaches workshops on bookbinding.

Joyce's work really is exactly what bookbinding can be when it is at it's best. Her materials are well chosen and meaningful. She spoke about how books are about containing and revealing content, that opening and experiencing a book is what it is all about. A good book artist controls how that content is revealed to the viewer: the process of experiencing the physical, tactile materials and the visual information in time. (Until meeting with Joyce, I never realized the importance of time in the experience of a book.)

Me and Joyce, Joyce's studio:

Work Makes Work

2009-12-07T15:03:00.008-06:00

Claudia and I have our 30-day evaluation via conference call tomorrow-- a check-up for the grant we received. We are excited to report how well things are going. We got off to a rolling start because about a month ago, Claudia taught a workshop at her mill and there was a lot of pulp left over and I was able to crank out a lot of paper with the leftovers. In the process, I learned how to operate the restraint dryer and how to mix formation aid, I refreshed my memory of how to use the press (which uses a 6 ton bottle jack), and I experimented with moulds and deckles. So.. already we have a lot of material made and a lot to report.

After making all that paper, we have yet to clean the studio. We are waiting for the wood stove to be put it before we get back in there. In the meantime, I've been learning simple book forms from Claudia. I'm very good at doing my homework.

This is Jemima. She and another cat and three dogs live at the mill and are great companions.

Experiments

2009-11-25T16:10:00.005-06:00

For those that do not understand the power of handmade materials.. I give you exhibit A. This is an origami book form. I made a demo book (the one on the left) out of regular Canson paper and then created the same book form out of handmade paper (the one on the right). The blue paper has been digitally printed with a map of constellations. Because of the material, and partly due to its scale, the handmade paper has a buoyancy and fluidity when it is opened that is very different than the crisp, hard commercial paper.

More of my paper:

My Julia Child

2009-11-23T15:41:00.009-06:00

Claudia Lee is my Julia Child. I am working through Mastering the Art of French Cooking- except my veal stock will be a bundle of plant fiber boiled in soda ash, and there will be Abaca pulp pureed in a Hollander beater with a dash of pigment and a cup of formation aid. We will also explore presentation: handmade sheets served up in a Coptic stitch binding or origami fold. I can picture little text blocks of signatures like layers of phyllo dough. I plan to further develop my taste for paper, and maybe move a small step closer to synesthesia.

Claudia Lee (owner of Liberty Paper Mill) and I applied for and received the TAC/ TACA* Master Craft Artist and Apprentice Program grant. Our proposal was to create handmade papers for handmade books. This blog will document my experience as her apprentice. Essentially (and unlike a traditional apprenticeship), the plan is to teach me as much as possible about papermaking in the time we have, binding books along the way- which will then determine what to try next in terms of fine-tuning my paper.

According to TACA, the Artist/Apprentice program is intended to "facilitate concentrated learning experiences that encourage and invest in the continuation, advancement and creation of Tennessee craft." We emphasized in our application the traditional methods we would be using and while they will be the foundation of the program, I hope to expand and develop my personal voice in paper and book forms even beyond the scope of the grant. I agree with Bruce Metcalf when he wrote that “To craft, tradition is not necessarily backward, corrupt or a restraining force in civilization; it is not an anchor, but a rudder.”

*(TAC= TN Arts Commission, TACA= TN Association of Craft Artists)

Some photos of the mill: