For many years, I have participated in an annual swap for hand-made paper swatches. The finished book is an invaluable resource, so participation is a must for me. However, it gets a little tougher each year to submit something creative. This is a synopsis of this year’s swatches.
Paper I made from some lovely flax that my friend, Julie Johnson, brought to the annual gathering of western papermakers.
Treated with a paste made from konnyaku flour, and wrinkled to make momigami.
Folded and clamped for resist dyeing.
Into the indigo dye pot.
Rinsed, unclamped, rinsed again, and hung to dry.
Varnished with kakishibu, which is a solution made from the tannins of green, fermented persimmon fruit. The actual swatches are much more subtle, but I had to turn the contrast up a bit to get the base color to show.
The finished swatches had a lovely, leathery texture and a great color, though I had to sneak in a little card with some eucalyptus oil so the smell wouldn’t knock the coordinator over. The odor will eventually disappear, but the swatches were going to spend some time in a plastic bag while traveling. Nik made the annual swatches from our Western Gathering goulash, so we’ll both get books.
I even had some pieces left over for book covers. Yummy!
3 Comments
What will you make with these lovely papers?
Most of them got cut up for this swatch swap, but I have a couple of larger pieces that are big enough for small book covers. That’s probably what they’ll get used for, but i do think it would also be nice to stitch through.
lisa, i just couldn’t do it this year. too tired, i guess. i like what you did, though. now i wish i had so i could touch (and even smell–i love that, too) this sample! oh, well…