Pulp Painting at Cornish College of the Arts

I introduced pulp painting to students for part 2 of the Washi demonstration. The finely beaten cotton pulp has been dyed with pigments and retention aid is added to get a usable consistency to paint with brushes or dental syringes for finer lines.

 

Washi Papermaking at Cornish College of the Arts - THE ART OF PULLING SHEETS

Keta 

Brad Taylor adding the Su to the top of the Keta frame.....Sugeta means both together

Closing the fasteners

Starting to layer fibers

Creating a rhythm always keeping water moving

  

Lots of layers for durability but still thin

Final dried Japanese Kozo papers 

Final dried Japanese Kozo papers - different thickness examples

Washi Papermaking at Cornish College of the Arts - STUDENTS

Washi Papermaking at Cornish College of the Arts - PREPARATION OF FIBERS AND VAT

After soaking overnight, we boiled Japanese KOZO with soda ash to soften the fibers.

We prepared several pounds in separate batches.

Brad Taylor is explaining the cleaning process.

After boiling and cleaning, the fibers need to be beaten to continue separating the fine strands. 

This Sukibune Vat was donated to Cornish College of the Arts over 20 years ago as a gift from Washi Papermakers in Mino City, Japan

The beaten Kozo has been added to the vat filled with water.

Rob Lutz prepared Formation Aid to add to the vat which is essential when using long fibers.

After careful evaluation of the consistancy of all elements......(looking for the right sound and feel) the vat is ready to pull sheets of Washi paper.

Washi Papermaking at Cornish College of the Arts - SAMPLES

Our Washi demonstration at Cornish went great. Here are samples that I've been collecting or making for years. 

Japanese stencil paper roll

Summer 2016 - Teaching at Pratt Fine Arts Center

I'm looking forward to teaching painting in the Youth Summer Program at Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle during July and August 2016. 

Follow this LINK to see descriptions and to register for classes and HERE for info about me. 

Pulp Painting

Preparing pulp painting samples

Rosie

 Yep....a studio dog photo....I don't know why I haven't added this earlier, but Rosie is our favorite super smart little woof with a perfect mix of dainty cute and scrappy attitude.

Washi Papermaking 2-Part Demonstration

I have been working with so many great people at Cornish College of the Arts. Two of which are artists Rob Lutz and Brad Taylor. We discovered our common interest in making paper by hand and were inspired to prepare a wonderful Washi Papermaking demonstration at Cornish next month. We have been carefully boiling, cleaning and beating Kozo (mulberry) fibers to make Washi by hand in a traditional Japanese Sukibune vat. We will pull sheets using a Su-keta frame and I will introduce some pulp painting methods (that I learned years ago from the master hand papermaker, Richard Hungerford) using super finely prepared pulp that has been colored with pigments. 

New Logo

I have been playing around with some ideas for a KSL Studio logo.

 This one worked great after learning a photopolymer plate process. 

It captured my ink sketch perfectly...easy to make....

and slightly embossed the paper which I like. 

Now I need to experiment with background color.....