Papermaking again in Half Moon Bay

A few weekends ago, I returned to Half Moon Bay again for a workshop at Judy's space. (See previous years here and here). This time we did Japanese Style Papermaking. Above, you can see the participants trying out beating the fiber (with my lovely hammer from Andrea!)

Above, John and Robert practice the nagashizuki shake, while Nicky looks on. Nicky took some great photos and video from the day, check them out on Instagram here.

After lunch, I talked about inclusions, and people went wild. Below is Nicky's, and I love how he manages to make something feel calligraphic, even with thread.

Despite being exhausted from the workshop, and installing a show the day before (images to come), I had heard from Judy about the humpback whales that were feeding at Miramar, and didn't want to pass up the chance to see them close up - or, as close as you can get from shore. They were tricky to photograph, but mind-blowing to see. There were also several hundred pelicans.

I'm given to understand that due to the changes caused by global warming, whales are venturing closer and closer to shore to find food sources, so there was a tinge of sadness in seeing this pod. However, at the same time, it was a magical end to the day.

Upcoming Papermaking Workshops - San Jose and Half Moon Bay for July!

Japanese Style Papermaking
Kitsune Arts Studio
415 Kelly Avenue, Half Moon Bay, CA
Sunday, July 17, 10 AM - 4 PM
Cost: $80
For more information, or to register for the class, please email me here.


Japanese-Style Papermaking
School of Visual Philosophy
425 Auzerais Ave. San Jose, CA
Saturday, July 23, 10 AM - 4 PM
Cost: $85, plus $15 for materials.
For more information, or to register for this class, please visit here.

In these workshops, students will be introduced to the process of making Japanese paper. Japanese paper, often incorrectly referred to as rice paper, is known for its great strength while appearing delicate and gossamer-thin. Students will learn the basics of preparing their own fiber, hand beating, and forming sheets in the traditional nagashizuki method. Students will take home wet sheets to dry at home with instructions. Please note – this technique involves a lot of water, and students will get wet. Please wear shoes and clothing that can get wet. Participants should also bring a roll of paper towels to carry this wet sheets home on.

Return to Half Moon Bay

This past weekend I was thrilled to return to Judy's Kitsune Community Studio and teach pulp painting again. I'm not sure if it's the weather, Half Moon Bay, or Judy herself (most likely) that makes every time I go there just magical.

Oddly enough, to add to the magic of the memory, some shmutz on the lens of my phone gave all my images from the day a slight halo effect.

Last time visited Judy's, her cat Winky decided to join the class. This time around, Tanuki, her other cat, spent a portion of the day supervising the class.

This class really took to the technique. Below is Yoko's paper.

Nancy picked up the painting part of method very naturally. Many of her pieces were portraits or figurative works.

Besides everyone making paper, a workshop at Judy's includes incredible food. I was introduced to HMB artichoke bread this trip, which is worth the drive "over the hill" just for that. I also learned that it is almost impossible to buy underwear in Half Moon Bay. So, artichoke bread, yes, underwear, only at the Walgreen's, apparently.

Making Paper at the Berkeley Botanical Gardens

I was fortunate to teach Papermaking from Plants last week at the Berkeley Botanical Garden, as part of their Fiber and Dye programming. For the class, I decided to prepare some fibers that grown locally, so participants could learn how to make paper from their very own gardens. I also invited participants to bring plants from home, and asked the garden for any cuttings they could spare.

One of the fibers I prepared was yucca - that's what's beating in Dulcinea above. It's from my yucca plant that I grew in Richmond - you can see it in the picture here - that I'd harvested and dried before we moved. Winnie had warned me that the fiber would foam in the beater, but I didn't realize how much it it would foam! Even dried, the fibers were full of saponins.

Below, the beaten fiber, still sudsy.

I posted a picture of the suds to Facebook, and I think some people found it pretty gross. However, I found the suds almost like a luxurious bubble bath, and I was so enchanted I decided to write about it for Mary's "Eat Your Words" zine.

Every time I do a class like this, the prep exhausts me and I wonder if its worth it. Then I teach the class, and watch how people are transformed by making plant matter into paper, and realize it totally is. I've been thinking about how making paper from local fibers connects people to place, and how paper from local plants has what I think of as hereness - the sense of the landscape in the very fibers.

Along with the yucca, I prepared New Zealand Flax (which really isn't flax, it's phormium), daylily, and corn husk, and during the class we coaked and blendered some pampas grass leaves. It was so, so , so great to teach people how to make paper from scratch from their own gardens.

We started out with everyone making a sheet of each of the fibers from the pure botanical, and then added a little abaca so that we didn't run out too soon.

It was a full class, with very enthusiastic participants. The garden also gave us some banana cuttings, which we didn't get to, but they let me take them home.

Below, Lisa experimented with incorporating fresh plant matter into her paper.

I had been pouring our waste paper onto the plants, and took the press outside to press, hoping the water would drain into the garden - but then was chagrined to learn that the plants were under controlled watering conditions for study. Oops.

We went through almost all the pulp, and I let Christine take the remainder home - she used it up right away.

We ended the workshop with the pampas grass paper - completing the cycle of plant to paper in a day. We didn't have enough for everyone to make a sheet of pure pampas, so it was a pampas grass-abaca mix. All of my prepared fibers has been dried, so the bright green of the fresh fiber excited the participants and felt to me like the grand finale of the workshop.

Tomorrow I return to Half Moon Bay to teach at Judy's again!

In other exciting news, I've been invited by the San Francisco Center for the Book to make a book for their 2015 Small Plates Imprint! I'm going to work with a variation on the flag book structure.

I was also selected for Creative Capital's "On Our Radar" program!

Upcoming Workshops for 2015

Papermaking with Plants
MARCH 22 BERKELEY BOTANICAL GARDENS
10 AM - 4 PM
$80 members/$85 non-members
Contact for more information: Mary Mworka, gardenprograms@berkeley.edu

Learn to make art from your own garden! No experience neccessary. This class will discuss the basics of harvesting, cooking, and processing plants and forming into sheets of handmade paper. We will use some plants from the Botonical Gardens themselves, and participants are welcome to bring in contributions from their home gardens as well. You’ll never look at your garden the same way again!
To register, please visit here.


Hand Papermaking and Pulp Painting
9:30 AM - 4:30 PM
March 28, Kitsune Community Art Studios, Half Moon Bay, CA
Cost: $85 Covers class fee and all materials
Contact for more information, or to register: Judy Shintani, judyshintani@yahoo.com

Learn the basics of making handmade paper in the European tradition. Students will the basics, from dry fiber to sheet formation, as well as techniques for embellishing bare sheets into works of art using a technique called Pulp Painting. Pulp painting uses finely beaten paper pulp that can act almost like paint to make brilliant imagery in handmade paper. When dried, the painting is an actual part of the paper, which can stand alone or be transformed further through drawing, printing, traditional painting, or whatever you can think of for a mixed media creation. This class will cover various pulp painting techniques including direct painting, stencils, collage inclusions, and other means of pulp-based mark-making. Techniques for making paper at home will also be discussed. Students will leave the workshop will a number of their own wet papers that will dry at home. No prior experience necessary.

To see images of previous workshops at Kitsune Community Studio, please visit here.


Hand Papermaking and Pulp Painting
1-5 PM
April 4, Rocinante Press, Oakland, CA
Cost: $80, covers materials and class fee
Offered through ExchangeWorks
For more information, or to register, please visit ExchangeWorks.

A class simliar to the one offered in Half Moon Bay, in Oakland, CA. Follow the link to ExchangeWorks to register.

Upcoming Pulp Painting Workshop

Pulp Painting at Bryant Street Studios

Taught by Michelle Wilson
Class Held at 1890 Bryant Street, San Francisco CA 94110

Finely beaten paper pulp can act just like paint to make brilliant imagery in handmade paper. When dried, the painting is an actual part of the paper, which can stand alone or be transformed further through drawing, printing, traditional painting, or whatever you can think of for a mixed media creation. This class will cover various pulp painting techniques including direct painting, stencils, collage inclusions, and other means of pulp-based mark-making. Sheets will be air dried and some left to dry under pressure for several days and mailed to students.

MATERIALS FEE: $10
Materials are included, and there is a short tool list which will be emailed for the class once you are enrolled.

CLASS DATE: September 20th. 2014
CLASS TIME: 10am - 4pm
CLASS FEE: $150

For more information, or to register for this class, please visit here.

Workshop in Half Moon Bay!

Last weekend I went across the water and "over the hill" to teach Pulp Painting at Judy Shintani's Kitsune Community Studio in Half Moon Bay. Outside her studio, her neighbor had lovely garden, much which was watered that day with our leftover water. Part of the garden was the amazing hanging cabbage garden above.

As we were setting up, one of the two studio cats, Winky, decided to get comfortable on Reed's station.

However we were soon off to a very productive day.

Reed did some interesting experiments with veil pulp and thread - laying thread down before the veil layer, then pulling it away to create a negative mark.

I even got to play! I left the thread in this piece and a few like it; it made me think of rhumb lines. I did trim the ends after the paper dried.

It was a warm, sunny day, and as we wound down, I think Lisa's piece below summed up what we were all thinking.

Before heading back to the East Bay, several of us stopped to see Judy's show at Harbor Books and Gallery. This picture really doesn't do the pieces justice - they are powerful and sublime.

Both Judy and Reed took some great photos - you can see them here and here respectively. It was one of those workshops that left me exhausted and exhilarated; so much so that Robert commented on it when I got home. For me, it was fulfilling to work with a small group of very interested (and interesting!) people. And of course, to talk papermaking all day.

Upcoming Workshops Summer 2014

Pulp Painting at Kitsune Community Art Studio!
Studio of Artist Judy Shintani, 514 Kelly Ave, Half Moon Bay, CA
July 27, 10 AM - 4 PM
$80 Covers class fee and all materials

Join us in July to learn the basics of making handmade paper in the European tradition. Students will learn the basics, from dry fiber to sheet formation, as well as techniques for embellishing bare sheets into works of art using a technique called Pulp Painting. Pulp painting uses finely beaten paper pulp that can act almost like paint to make brilliant imagery in handmade paper. When dried, the painting is an actual part of the paper, which can stand alone or be transformed further through drawing, printing, traditional painting, or whatever you can think of for a mixed media creation. This class will cover various pulp painting techniques including direct painting, stencils, collage inclusions, and other means of pulp-based mark-making. Techniques for making paper at home will also be discussed. No experience necessary. Limited to 6 participants. Please bring a lunch.

After the workshop, consider enjoying a walk on the beautiful beaches of Half Moon Bay!

To pay and register for this workshop, please follow this link. Enrollment limited to six participants.

Handmade Paper and Pulp Painting
Gualala Arts Center, 46501 Gualala Road, Gualala, CA
August 2, 2013 10 AM - 4 PM

$100 Members, $115 Non-members, $20 materials fee
Join us in beautiful Northern California to learn the basics of making paper by hand! Students will learn to form sheets in the European tradition, and to embellish these sheets using finely beaten pulp in a technique called pulp painting. No prior experience necessary. To learn more about this workshop, visit here.

To register for this workshop, please call the Gualala Arts Center at 707-884-1138.

Please note, these are wet classes. Please wear shoes and clothing that can get wet.

More papermaking at Magnolia Editions

Just finished up another workshop at Magnolia Editions - this time, a focused class in pulp painting. The class set a new record for me in distance traveled by a participant - this time it was Florida!

Above, you can see the entire class took place under the very intense gaze of Chuck Close in tapestry form.

Jenny (pictured above) has made paper with David Kimball, and brought along a pouring mold he'd made for her many years ago. Here she is experimenting with incorporating doilies into the poured sheet.

The class only had six students, all of whom worked pretty much nonstop. My assistant Heather and I had to switch off for lunch, since the students wouldn't slow down. Some of them stopped and had a quick snack, but I'm not sure all of them did.

Don introduced an interesting technique. Using a piece of gampi that had been digitally printed with one of his and Era's images, he laid it under a screen that he'd gotten from a commercial paper manufacturer. The printed image was visible through the screen - although I think a thin pellon would work just as well. Students in the class played with painting some pulp using the image as a guide.

We tried pulp with formation aid and without. You can see the difference above - the yellow is without formation aid, much clumpier. Whereas the black pulp paint has formation aid and appears much more smooth, controlled, and linear.

After the class was all done giving it a try, a sheet of paper was pulled and couched on top of the pulp painted design.

The whole thing was pressed in the group pressing at the end of the workshop. A close up is below.

I'm not sure I've ever had a class go through so much pulp, make so much paper. I was kept so busy these are the only photos I took.

On Saturday, May 3, Magnolia will be offering the workshop "Creating Paper Sculptures," Rhiannon Alpers, a highly recommended class. For more information or to arrange payment, please email papermagnolia@hotmail.com.

Upcoming Workshops for Spring 2014

Pulp Painting Techniques at Magnolia Editions
Saturday, April 5, 10 AM - 4 PM
Oakland, CA

Handmade paper can act as more than sheets - finely beaten paper pulp can function like paint! When dried, the pulp painted imagery is a part of the actual paper, which can stand alone as a work of art or be transformed further with printmaking, photography, collage, painting, becoming an extraordinary mixed media creation. This class will cover various pulp painting techniques, such as direct painting, stencils, and collage inclusions. Students are encouraged to bring items for inclusions, such as fabric, old photographs, thread, lace, or other items that will not bleed when wet.

Please reserve your spot by emailing papermagnolia@hotmail.com, and don't hesitate to pass this info on to anyone you know who might be interested.

Handmade Paper from Plants
Pollinate Farm and Garden, Oakland, CA
Sunday, April 6, 1-3 PM

In this fun workshop, students will learn the basis for Western-style paper making, using edible and ornamental plant fibers. The hands-on portion of the class will cover basic paper sheet formation as well as fiber preparation and artistic embellishments. Participants will leave with several wet papers to be dried at home. This is a wet class! Please bring a new roll of paper towels and wear clothing and shoes that can get wet. This class is appropriate for children over the age of 8 when accompanied by an adult.

To register, please visit here. For more information on Pollinate Farm and Garden, please visit here.

Introductory Papermaking at Magnolia Editions

While almost all my paper buddies were in St. Louis for Dard, I was teaching an Introductory Papermaking workshop at Magnolia Editions. Above is a shot I took from the new space above the beater room, where the drying box now lives.

We also went over beating fiber, showing students that paper is really made in the beater, even more so than in the vat.

My workshop included a special appearance by Don Farnsworth. Don is one of those people who can take any subject, and relate it to the whole world. For instance, when I was discussing hydrogen bonding in papermaking, he mentioned how that is the same reason that water has a meniscus, and how this related to water's behavior in both laboratory settings, but also lakes and rivers. Towards the end, Don did a quick Japanese paper demo.

I was sorry to miss Dard (although I was there in spirit), but felt so honored and grateful to teach at Magnolia. And due to popular demand, they offered a second session on November 16! I believe there is still a slot or two left, email papermagnolia@hotmail.com to reserve one of the last spots!

Too busy to blog!!

So much has been happening, and I am overdue to post so many things...and will soon. Meanwhile, I completed the print above. It's grown out of the collages I've made over the spring and summer.

On another note - due to popular demand (!!!) Magnolia Editions is offering a second Introduction to Papermaking workshop with my on November 16. For more information, or to register, please email papermagnolia@hotmail.com.

Upcoming Papermaking Workshops at Magnolia Editions!

We are pleased to announce that Magnolia Editions will be hosting papermaking workshops in our newly renovated paper studio!

Please reserve your spot by emailing papermagnolia@hotmail.com, and don't hesitate to pass this info on to anyone you know who might be curious about how paper is made:


Introduction to Papermaking
Instructor: Michelle Wilson
(special appearance by Donald Farnsworth!)
Saturday, Oct. 19 from 10 am to 4 pm:

Learn the basics of creating your own handmade paper in the European tradition with Cotton and Abaca fibers. From the linter and beating stage to finished sheets, you will learn the process for making paper with different moulds and in a variety of colors. Students will learn to set up vats, pigment fibers, form and embellish sheets of paper. We will begin with a brief introductory lecture and spend the rest of the day making paper. Students are encouraged to bring items to use as inclusions such as dried flowers, lace, fabric, or old printed materials that will not bleed when wet. Please note: this is a wet class – participants are encouraged to wear clothing and shoes that can get wet.

Instructor Michelle Wilson is an artist in whose work handmade paper plays a central role, whether in printmaking, book arts, or installations. She teaches throughout the Bay Area, most recently at San Francisco State, the San Jose ICA Print Center, and the Kala Art Institute.

Japanese Papermaking
Instructor: Carol Brighton
Saturday, Oct. 26 from 10 am to 4 pm:

Japanese paper (washi) is world famous for its beauty and strength. Learn to make traditional washi step-by-step from cooking and beating the fibers to sheet formation and drying. We will make sheets on sugetas (Japanese moulds) and Western style moulds, learn to laminate inclusions in collage, and explore other techniques for decorative papers. Students are encouraged to bring items to use as inclusions such as dried flowers, lace, fabric, or printed papers that will not bleed when wet.

Instructor Carol Brighton is an artist whose handmade paper expertise can be seen in her printmaking and pulp paintings. Brighton teaches papermaking at the Academy of Art and also conducts printmaking workshops in her own studio.

The fee for each workshop is $120 per person; classes will be limited to 8 participants each, so early reservations are recommended.

Again, to reserve a place in these workshops, please email papermagnolia@hotmail.com.