2012 Papermaking Season Has Begun

It was a beautiful, sunny day today and I was off from work, so spent some time outside straightening up my papermaking studio and setting some fibers to ret.  Mulberry, willow, kozo and gampi bast fibers were each put in a five gallon bucket with approximately six ounces of wood ash and four gallons of water. I put tightly fitting lids on them and placed them in the sun. I plan to give them a stir or tumble once a week for a month. Hopefully April will be warm and sunny so that I can cook these fibers and then beat them. Then the real fun begins!

Mulberry bast with bark

willow bast with bark

gampi

kozo

The mulberry and willow basts were gathered here on our property.  I bought the beautifully clean gampi from Keith Gum of IFUGAO Papercraft. The kozo is from Magnolia Paper.

 I am also reading up on preparing fibers for natural dyeing.  My plan is to dye the cotton sheets first this year, then cut and beat them. This should be easier than trying to mordant, rinse, dye and rinse pulp like I did last summer. From what I read, I believe I need to treat the fabric with tannin (need to find a natural source of that), then mordant twice with alum. Fibers/fabrics can be premordanted and kept indefinitely, ready and available when the dye materials present themselves! I am also planning to use this dyed cotton fabric for weaving and small sewn projects.

Chine Colle Workshop

This weekend I attended a two day workshop at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking. This was the first time I have taken a class there. The instructor, Patrick Egger, is a recent MFA graduate from RISD. He studied under Brian Shure. Pat learned this chine colle method from Brian and taught it to us. I was one of three students enrolled in the workshop, which was wonderful because we each got our own press to use!

This method of chine colle uses a Japanese cooked wheat paste that is brushed onto rice paper and allowed to dry. About 30 minutes before use, this paper is put into a damp pack (placed between moistened pieces of newsprint and wrapped in plastic). These papers are then placed on top of the inked plate and a backing sheet (traditional European printmaking paper) that has been in a damp pack for 24 hours is placed on top and then put through the press.

I did a small series of prints with a drypoint etching plate I created today. The papers I chine colle'd were prints and ghost prints I did previously on thin mulberry papers.





I also used this method to collage previously printed papers together.



These pieces have been collaged over a print that I didn't care for. This will be the basis for a new print.



I really like this method. It allows me to paste up a lot of material at one time that I will have on hand to add to my printing plates as I work on them. A little bit of preparation will enhance creative expression. No need to stop the printmaking flow to prepare a piece for chine colle.