Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Daylily flower paper

Since it's too hot for me to get out and about, it was a good day to try out the daylily flowers I'd dried in the studio, for paper.  Added in a few bits of abaca fiber to give a bit of body and softness, and here's a post of paper in the making.  This is a couple of handfuls of dead flowers I'd picked off the daylilies.  And it was quite a short session, just to use them up and see what happens.
 
Paper made from the foliage of daylilies, which I made last year, comes out bronzy and crackling.  The addition of abaca is to avoid the crackling which I didn't want on this occasion.  I liked it for the book I made of the foliage, though.  The paper from the flowers will probably be a different color, but you can't tell ahead.

Here's the makings


and a sheet newly made, resting on the side of the vat to drain


and here's the post, that's the whole output, drying in the sun. 


 I saw a blue jay eyeing it a bit ago, and hope they don't get involved pecking.  But in fact if they walk on it, that could be very nice, bird footprints. The vertiginous (see Milton Avery, sorry, in-joke) angle is to get the whole post in one shot.

This will dry pretty quickly in today's high heat, and if I'm up to it tomorrow, I'll make more, using other fibers.  All out of daylily flowers now.

5 comments:

  1. I was just wondering about the large amount of beautiful cream colored fur I combed off Marigold yesterday. You must have read my mind there.

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  2. I know I've seen some paper that looked as though it had hairs in it. But I'm not knowledgeable, so it may have been some fiber I don't know. If you do it, you'll have to work felidae into the eventual piece's name.

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  3. I've often wondered about putting old paper wasp nests in handmade paper. Recycled "paper"?

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  4. It's already lovely paper. I've thought of it but not wanted to destroy the beautiful honeycomb design.

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