All of us learned an amazing amount in eight weeks.
To remind myself, I'm posting this sequence of photos on how a coffee bean bag (above)
became parchment-colored, embossed paper with a feathery deckle:
1. cut up jute bag with strands of dyed jute removed (below)
2. fiber after being soaked for days, boiled in soda ash water, soaked again, and drained
3. fiber in the Holland beater being made into pulp (below)--this took about half an hour in all
4. tough fibers wrapped around the gears of the beater.
5. But also a nice bucket of pulp for making paper (below)
6. wet sheet of paper with embossing agents (string, twigs, button), ready to be pressed and dried.
I started out pretty scared of the Holland beater, a very expensive piece of equipment that I could ruin if I used it incorrectly, or that (alternately) could chew me up. But Melissa and Heather walked us through the whole process so many times that I became comfortable and excited about what a beater can accomplish with cut up fabric or tough plant fibers. The secret is understanding the fiber and preparing it adequately; this takes patience and planning.
The members of the Spring 2011 Concentration in Books and Paper cannot say enough good things about Melissa Jay Craig and Heather Bella, as brilliant artists and dedicated teachers. Please, check out their web sites!
http://melissajaycraig.wordpress.com/ (her blog and access to all her sites)
http://www.heatherbella.com/
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