Art Books and Papermaking

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Papermaking with plants and recycled pulp, making one off books with the result...bliss!

Papermaking and using the made paper for Art Books and sculptures is a way of being environmentally concious as well as satisfying artistic impulse.
I use plants and cotton fibres, recycled paper pulp and sometimes linen or cotton rags to make my papers.

The Art books pictured here have been made and handstitched by me to my own designs...I have not had any lessons in bookbinding so while they may not qualify as professionally finished they look good and feel good to me.

I am about to begin an Altered Book journey so that will be the next artistic avenue to open up for me.Watch this space for more details later.

Cover of Art Book, This book contains samples of some of my plant papers. It has embossed cotton paper on the base with silk paper, bamboo paper and collage elements with hand-made beads to tie off the bindings.

Papermaking for me consists of first growing the plants in my paper garden,harvesting,retting,cooking, beating and them throwing the waterleaf after which each leaf is dried,pressed and sometimes sized to make it suitable for writing or printing.

I am currently making paper with Irises from my garden ...watch this space for the results!

My Art Journal.The place where it all happens.The cover was a not-so-successful watercolour of an Arum Lily.So I attacked it with scissors and it now adorns my Journal ...much better in parts than the whole was!

Artist Statement.

Papermaking is for me a way to control the amount of depredation I make on our Earth and to express myself artistically while feeling good about the process. try it -you will like it...and the journey just begins there ....there is a world of ways to use paper artistically !

Art Book with silk paper cover. This book was made for the Stamping Downunder Convention in Brisbane 1999. The base layer is gold iridescent and the silk paper is made from silk 'tops', the fish and shells are stamped,embossed and cut out.Gold thread was used to bind it with a brass 'bead' to finish.Each page is stamped and has been signed or artistically altered by some of the visitors to the convention...a great memorial of a great time.

Journal Cover

Handmade paper and silk paper with a stamped on silk kookaburra,feathers,bark and bead combine to front my Art journal..where "I am Woman" !
The place where I jot down ideas for future reference...small enough to take anywhere I use my larger Journal to 'flesh' the ideas that are first given birth here.