Community Workshop: Handmade Paper: Adventures with Pulp, Embedding, and Laminating

Papermaking can be used as a catalyst for bookmaking, printmaking and drawing, as well as an art form all in its own. During this workshop, lead by Spudnik Press Fellow, Yasaman Mousavi, participants will learn to make unique handmade paper sheets using recycled paper scraps and natural fibers as pulp. After forming basic sheets of paper with a mould and deckle, students can explore paper texture through couching their sheets on various surfaces.

In the second part of the workshop, everyone will be able to customize their project by adding “inclusions” to their sheets. Scraps from prints, photographs, drawings, petals, thread, and more can all be embedded and laminated into paper as it is being made. Through this and “pulp painting,” the sculptural element of papermaking can be pushed.

Everyone will leave the workshop with a set of 3+ sheets of handmade paper and a foundation in low-tech non-toxic papermaking that is infinitely expandable, required limited access to special facilities, and can be incorporated into classrooms with children.

This is a very wet process, so dress down for this workshop, and please bring along some bits to embed in your paper