More paper experiments

Next door, there's a giant lily, which has come into its own this year, become practically a landmark, spectacular blooms.  This pic is way past its best, now that petals have started to fall.

And I've been collecting the spent petals as they fall, partly to make it look nicer, partly, true confessions, to collect them for papermaking.

I made a post of paper today using them, most I'd had drying  in the studio, but when I ran out, I ran out, if you follow me, and picked up some more and used them as is.  Mixed with a bit of cotton linter, to make sure the paper has some body.

My neighbor's going to be a bit amazed when he sees the result of my tidying up for him.  They're out now, drying in the really hot sun, and I'll show them off soon. 

This might make an artist's book, and then again, I don't know. 

Meanwhile, in other news, I made an artist's book out of that paper with the local flowers embedded

That top image looks quite monumental.  Standing on page edges. Very simple assembly, white-glued the left edges.  This kind of paper takes happily to white glue, doesn't stain it, and works well.


And created a collage with older handmade papers

The gold drawing of birds in a tree is one I did some time ago, and embedded onto this round paper.  Waterproof metallic ink, on tissue paper, just rested it on the mold as I was lifting it out of the vat.  Tissue paper sinks in, dries attached.
 
Messing about in the studio on hot days when I really can't get out for more than a brief time, is the art equivalent of rolling socks or alphabetizing spices.  I cannot tell a lie, I did alpha my spices yesterday.. 

Tomorrow even hotter, so another papermaking day. I collected some dried up daylily stems, lovely shapes, to use as laminating material.  So we'll see how that goes.  I had to stop making paper today, partly because I was a bit spent, partly because I was running out of felts, and mainly because I was running out of drying space on the patio.