Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Wishing you all a merry Christmas and a healthy, happy, creative new year.

Merry Christmas

Getting closer and rusting again

Last week after I'd made the paper from the white that fell on the ground it came out looking very grubby so I decided to rust it and some thread to bind the book I was planning last week. I finished that book off last night and all the chooks seem to have suffered no ill effects from consuming lots of paper pulp, the eggs seem to be OK too!

Here are the pieces which were destined for cards and a bit lower on the page you can see the cards themselves, about 4 sheets were OK to keep white but I quite like the rusty look anyway.

rusted paper and thread, the top one is cotton the bottom linen

The finished book bound with linen thread

Photo album made as a demo for Bairnsdale workshop and completed this week.

Book cloth cover with window of Korean Hanji

Inside, each photo page is protected with a sheet of translucent paper

paper brooches just back from CAS show

card with hanji and japanese paper

Card with hanji and some papers bought back from Japan

Rusted card with sample from Geelong workshop antiquing

Rusted card with sample from Geelong workshop graphite and shellac

Card with sample from Geelong workshop

graphite and shellac with acrylic paint sanded back

Card with sample from Geelong workshop watercolour and irridescent medium

Card with sample from Geelong workshop 

graphite and shellac with acrylic paint sanded back

Card with sample from Geelong workshop  irridescent medium

Christmas and Silver

Yesterday I was heading out the back door with a bucket of pristine white pulp, a few moulds and deckles and some other stuff to take up to my shed and I dropped the bucket, it broke into pieces and pulp went everywhere, I managed to scrape up most of it and the chooks took care of the rest, they loved it, the picture shows when they had eaten half of it, when I came back later there was nothing left, I hope it doesn't do anything strange to their digestive system or the eggs! They seem fine this morning though no eggs yet.

  

I managed to finish off the paper for the wedding programs yesterday along with some plain paper for cards. Next year I am organising an exhibition celebrating IAPMA's 25th birthday and it will be a silver show. All IAPMA members were sent a piece of silver paper to use to create something for the show. The silver I used is made in Italy by Quill and I came across it because MJ wanted it for her wedding invites and because I printed off one set of slips with the wrong information, I had lots to recycle. I just used a blender to pulp down the silver and combined it with some recycled black mountboard to make my Christmas cards and a book for the Silver Show. For once I am way ahead of the game, closing date for entries is 1 August 2011, mind you I haven't bound it yet, I'm still deciding how to go about it. I printed on the silver for my Christmas cards and used the same punch I bought for the wedding invites.

Front of Christmas Card

Inside

All the sections of the anniversary book

 

Inside one of the sections

detail of cover silver on black

Detail of inner cover black on silver

I realised the other day that I had nothing left in my etsy shop so it is time to make some more books. So far I have only arranged one and haven't even bound it, I'm still deciding on the thread. That is today's challenge once I get off this computer. I recently took a range of my journals and a few artist books down to Open Drawer a textile shop, gallery and workshop space in Hartwell, very close to where I live.

 Last month I taught a cyanotype workshop for 69 Smith Street Gallery and when I came home I exposed some organza using a peacock feather as the mask, they are beautiful pieces but I am not sure what I will end up using them for, I was a little surprised that they worked so well because I had kept the mixed chemicals for a couple of weeks before I coated the fabric, then I left one sitting in the dark for a couple of days and the other for a couple of weeks awaiting time and sunshine. I bought the chemicals from Gold Street Studios and their service was fabulous and the chemicals were beautifully packaged.

Geelong class photos at last

 

These are some of the photos taken by Chris Beehag back in late September at the Brazen Breastplates Workshop. It has taken me this long to get them up here, Chris sent them to me ages ago but I have had too much on my plate. It was a very small class but lots of fun and very productive.

Making the first sheets of paper

Batik, painting with wax

decisions! decisions!

The Class

Demonstrating metallic rubbing

Demonstrating metallic rubbing

Demonstrating metallic rubbing

Demonstrating metallic rubbing

Demonstrating shellac and boot polish

Demonstrating shellac

Demonstrating verdigris wax

Demonstrating verdigris wax

Demonstrating verdigris wax

Demonstrating verdigris wax

Demonstrating verdigris wax

Demonstrating verdigris wax

Papercuts II

I have some works in Paper Cuts II as one of the 8 artists, I will be at the opening for about an hour.

long time no post

It has been so long since I posted, I've almost forgotten how to! I have been very busy since I got back from Korea and have just finished putting together a bumper edition of the IAPMA Bulletin, hope to get it to the printers by Friday and out to members early in December. As well as the Bulletin I have been working on the Valda Quick Biennial Paper Arts Exhibition which finally opened last Saturday and I have been teaching workshops, I just have three to go now. This coming weekend I'm down to Bairnsdale for a two day bookbinding workshop then the following Saturday beginners papermaking at the Stables at Bundoora then out to my daughter's school for a day papermaking with year eights, and both my beater and my washing machine are out of order at the moment, I'll have to get one of them fixed before next week or I'll have to use the blender on all the pulp or take a trip out to the Stables. In the last month I've also designed a binding for Papermakers of Victoria Year Book and run through with two groups. The binding was a variation of one I learned years ago from George Matoulas, the paper cover was made by Marianne Little and Barb Adams from mixed plant fibre paper and twenty four members of PoV made the pages. Each participant gets a copy and we have several which may be auctioned at a later date. 

Photo Ann Baxter.









The other thing I have been doing in the last month is making invites for my niece's wedding and for my mum's 90th birthday.