The main ingredient in all of my paper art: my own handmade paper.
A couple of weeks ago, my sister happened to be visiting when I made a fresh batch of paper. So I conned her into taking some fresh pictures of me making my fresh paper. I'd already made the pulp when she arrived:
I have an
abbreviated run-through on how I make my paper over at my normal website
(including the pulp-making process).
But I'm pretty psyched to share my new photos so why not go through the sheet forming process right here, right now. Here's how I do it:
I pour my pulp into a floating, framed screen (also called a "mold and deckle").
I agitate the fibers and spread them around inside the frame:
Then I pull the screen out of the water and let the water drain through the fibers back into the tub.
I carefully remove the frame from the screen (or the deckle from the mold).
I press a drying felt (also called a couch sheet -- pronounced "cooch sheet") into the wet paper.
I flip the screen-paper-felt stack onto a pile of other newly made sheets of paper (this stack is often called a "post" of paper)
I sponge out as much water as I can through the screen before...
I pull back the loose screen to see my new paper!
The new paper is attached to the drying felt. After pressing the entire stack of new sheets between boards with a clamp and letting any excess water drain for a while, I hang the new sheets to dry outside on my special drying porch (still attached to their drying felts). When they are dry I peal the new sheets off their felts and voila! New paper is made.