Paper making, Part Two, The Reveal

So here's the post of paper,  dried in the linen closet overnight, and you can see the process of removing the paper from the felts.

The paper clings firmly to the felts and you start by persuading the edges to lift

Then slide your hand under the paper to lift it off. This is one of the best parts, like pulling a print and seeing those wonderful edges, or taking the tape off the edges of a watercolor.

Then see what it looks like

Top left, I removed a couple of petals to create ghost images

Top right lint partly laminated into the paper

Bottom left raised sculptural shape

Bottom right lint again rising and falling into the surface

The pulp I added makes some interesting negative shapes

top line

Bottom, right, flowers embedded

The bottom one here is interesting because it picked up yellow color from the felt, probably turmeric from a previous use.

Some are background on which other work can be mounted, some are standalone artworks for framing. You can see the range just in this little post of ten. What you probably now realize is that handmade paper of this kind is itself an artwork. It can be drawn on with dry media, and you can mount flowers and grasses on it, since it's acid free, but it's not a material for just writing on. I have stitched into paper, too. In fact I have a couple of gold work embroidery ideas for some of these pieces.

Hard to see white on white, but a couple have a really pleasing raised area that looks sculptural, and stitching could work well there. Hm. Thinking.

All in all, a good day's work. Some of these look wild now and will frame up nicely.

If I had wanted a big single piece, I could have flopped out the individual pieces directly onto another surface, edges overlapping, and they'd have bonded as they dried. Or you can join them dry, using white glue, Sobo is best.

And you never, ever, cut handmade paper. That would be a crime against nature. If you want to reduce the size, you paint a line of clean water along your boundary, then ease it apart. You can also use a steel ruler to tear along, and create a fake deckle.

This has been a lovely interlude, and I'm back to spinning next. Thanks for following along,and maybe you'll like to try your hand. As you see, you probably already have the tools.