I'm dreaming . . .

Goose XING

In this town we know that geese are people too.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Something Whispered Snow

Something told the wild geese

It was time to go

Though the fields lay golden

Something whispered "snow"

As a first grader, I learned this Rachel Fields poem. I think of it every Fall.

 It came back to me in September as I walked through this not quite golden field, under a stormy sky that shouted "rain." This is a 5 x 7 card.

The Last Leaf

. A light touch with the blender always seems to yield spectacular results. For this card, I blended several colors of brown paper, then added a bit of red and yellow to the pulp. A quick flick of the blender and presto -- instant Autumn.

Impressive, right?

By pressing string  to just-made wet paper, then lining a straight sided can with that paper, I ended up with a nice design and a very smooth surface on my paper vase.

It was easier to make the string design, then flip in on to the wet sheet of paper.

Undercover

This wonderful packing material cuts like butter. Its about  an eighth of an inch thick and holds its shape under wet paper. The whole thing dries beautifully.

Cushion-y packing material and buttons applied to a stiff background to be covered with just-made paper.

Circles

I was thinking about using these for tags on Etsy items, but I like them just they way they are.

Guest Spot: Arun Loves Nature

Arundhati Srimani, teacher extraordinaire, always accompanies the preschoolers on their field trip to my studio. After making sure that every child is perfectly happy with their own creation, Arun manages to make a sheet or two of her own paper. It looks like she has been saving up her papers from the last few field trips and finally had the time during the August break to make some cards.

Arun's love of nature permeates her classroom. There are plants, flowers, paintings, photographs, light tables covered with feathers and leaves. And the poetic words of children who have learned to embrace and observe the natural world. It's no surprise that Arun would create beautiful landscapes with her paper.

Thank you, Arun!

The Denim Papers

If you cut it up small enough and blend it long enough, denim turns into a wonderfully sticky, stringy pulp for recycled paper.

I like to think of denim as more of an accessory than a head-to-toe look. A blend of denim pulp and recycled paper pulp works best for me. Blender-ize the cut-up denim and the recycles paper separately, them pour both batches in the vat and swish vigorously to mix. Pull the sheet using the dip method.

Here are the results:

The texture is smooth and surprisingly light.
I want to cover a bottle with the grey/green sheet.

Speaking of head-to-toe denim, here's a fellow who can really pull it off.

The Chicago Papers

One of my favorite buildings, as for the location, the two signs say it all.