RAY BLISS RICH
The foundation of all my artwork is my finely crafted hand pulled paper. I begin my paper making by collecting plant materials such as knotweed, iris and lily leaves, marsh grasses, and cattails. I chop these materials into short sections and cook them in an alkali solution to neutralize any acids and establish a neutral ph. I buffer with calcium carbonate if necessary to achieve a neutral ph. I then beat these materials into pulp. I also utilize cotton rags from discarded clothing which does not require cooking.
Left foreground: three sheets of knotweed paper; the middle one being bleached as pulp.
Left background: white sheet of abaca with knotweed inclusions, with blue denim paper fore & aft.
Materials Used for Hand Made Paper
I am currently making my own paper with cotton rags, various local plant materials, and manila hemp. I get my cotton rags by recycling cotton clothing; including shirts and jeans. I purchased a Hollander beater to grind these into a fine pulp suitable for making paper. This machine is also useful for grinding up many of the tough plant fibers I use, such as dried knotweed.
Plant materials that I am using for my hand made paper include knotweed, cattails, iris and lily leaves, and marsh grasses. I have used the knotweed and cattails in both green and winterkilled (dried) forms. I also use the winterkilled knotweed as an interesting inclusion in my art papers (i.e.: those I paint and nature print on).
I was fortunate to get a large quantity of manila hemp fiber from a supplier going out of business; so I'm now using that as the base fiber for the sheets I paint on. I always use winterkilled (dried) knotweed as an inclusion. I am also using cotton and silk threads, mylar threads, gold leaf and mica fragments as inclusions in these sheets. The blue denim paper shown in the picture above is actually 2/3 blue denim and 1/3 cattail. I included the cattail fiber to get a crisper sheet.
I particularly enjoy working with cattails because it gives a high yield. That is; I get greater volume of pulp from the same weight of raw fiber compared to other plants I've tried. I have found that winter killed (dried) knotweed produces a very coarse fiber that is better suited as an inclusion than as the base fiber for paper. However; Gin Petty of Kentucky told me the short spring shoots of knotweed produced a fine pulp that pulled into beautiful sheets of paper. After giving them a try I found that to be exactly right. And bleaching that fiber revealed a beautiful golden sheet.
Because I am interested in the ethics of plant gathering; I have contact state agencies re: protected as well as invasive species in New Hampshire, and I have solicited property owner permission to gather plants for paper making.
Equipment & Process
accommodate approximately 3/4 pound of material per beating session. As you can see; it has a flexible tub and metal beater assembly. I mounted an old electric motor [top left] to make the roll turn. More information is provided below next to the picture that shows the construction of the roll.
In addition to the Hollander beater, a machine that grinds tough fibers into pulp, I use a kitchen blender and a hand drill paint stirrer to rehydrate dried pulp. Drying pulp is a good way to store it for later use. I use large plastic tubs as vats and several buckets for transferring pulp from the Hollander to the vat. I used to use a large strainer to remove excess water from pulp that I wanted to store for later use; but now use paint strainer bags as recommended by folks on the yahoo papermakers' discussion group. With these bags you can squeeze excess water from the pulp to dry it for later use.
I have an electric hot plate, and large stainless steel stock pot, to cook plant fibers prior to beating. Actually; I now get the mix started with a propane camping stove and transfer it to the hot plate to simmer. I have made molds (a frame with screen) in several sizes for different size sheets; including circular sheets. I also made deckles to use with the molds, when I need thicker sheets, or to pull more than one sheet at a time, but rarely use them.
ground are introduced into the tub next to the beater assembly. The rotation of the roll creates a current that draws the materials around through the beater assembly; where it is beaten between the roll and the plate. As the material is beaten I adjust the roll closer and closer to the plate until I get as fine a pulp as required for my paper. Of course; I do this with the splash guard in place to keep the water and pulp in the beater. When I use natural plant materials, they must be cooked in an alkali solution for up to 5 or 6 hours, to remove acidic elements thus enhancing their archival properties. This cooking process, and subsequent rinsing, takes place before the materials are beaten into pulp. I always cook plant materials outdoors because of the noxious odor involved. The plant materials are cut into short [approx. 1"] pieces before cooking. Some thicker materials may also be split lengthwise before cooking. I sometimes buffer my pulp with calcium carbonate, in the beater, if test strips dictate.
Cotton rags do not require the cooking process described above; because that was done before they were spun into threads and woven into cloth. However, I have discovered that I need to wash cotton garments without detergent, to get rid of any residual detergents already in the fabric, before grinding them in the Hollander beater.
Once I finish grinding the material the pulp is transfer to the vat. I then add water until I achieve the pulp density needed for the thickness of sheet desired. As I pull sheets of paper from the vat, more pulp will need to be added periodically, to maintain the pulp density needed. After pulling a sheet from the vat, water is allowed to drain from the mold, and the sheet is then transferred to a felt. Felts with freshly pull sheets are stacked and then excess water is drained from them by use of a press. The sheets are then hung on the felt to dry or brushed against a board to dry. The last sheet pulled for the day is left on the mold to dry. This provides a sheet with greater texture than those pressed and dried on the felt or board dried.
