A Papermaker's Season by Gin Petty

Gin Petty's A Papermaker's Season (2004) is a wonderful journey through time, fields, plants and papermaking. She edifies, amuses and enlightens,, all while giving us tangible results of her processes. We may touch time and experience the secret that papermakers and paper lovers share, not just how it looks but how the paper feels.

This tactile and sensory seduction begins before opening the book. The visual texture of the cover- ribbon and cloth, feels so good. It is a handsome object that suggests precious treatment.

But its content is too exciting and and rich, necessary and practical, for the book to rest as adornment. I read that she picked the particular cover materials to encourage handling, anticipating that we would want to keep this at hand.

We journey with GP from April to November 2003 and are presented with 46 paper swatches made from 25 plants. We tromp around. We scrounge and scour with Gin, because, as the pulp seekers know, "every flower bed becomes fair game, even the neighbors." Though in every gathering, Gin is a model of rigor, seeking permission before collecting the cellulose prizes.

And in her openness and rigor, there is the gift of interaction. The stories she shares places the "delightfully subtle balance of materials and methods" that is paper, in a wondrous context.

I share that wonder, as the journey of experimentation has awakened in me a deep appreciation of every plant. GP sharpens the focus with humor, telling us where she ventured and how she made 'pulped, individuated, cellulose into a thin layer of intertwined fiber.'

She helpfully shares a list of blender friendly plants and tells us the best type of blender container. She distinguishes between the use of lye and soda ash; and the application of chlorine and hydrogen peroxide. She tells us when washing certain fibers yields a better paper. Yet this is not a how-to book. The accessible tone is between journal and letter-- it presumes you know something about the subject. You are colleague and cohort, friend over for coffee and peek in the vat.

The papermaking field needs more of this. This moves along the path of Lillian A. Bell's ground breaking Plant Fibers For Papermaking, illuminating new options. Her search for the "color underneath" creates some gorgeous options as she combines bleached and unbleached pulps.

GPs generosity of spirit is evident here, as it is on her pathmaking online journal of the living experiment. With this book you get to hold her good works and feel the glory of being a maker.

Thank you Gin, for being an exemplar and for sharing your journey.
Order info at http://www.ginpetty.com





Hand Papermaking WebRing| Sources on the Net|Creators on the Net|
Suppliers|Reading|Akua's Workshops 2003|Making Paper Bowls|
PaperWorks Debut| On Armature for Pulp and Papier Maché|Making Paper Overview|
Casting Notes| Making Big Paper|On the Critter | Sally Fox, inventor |Woven Heart|The Cherub, another Revolution in Studio Papermaking!| Making Paper From Arugula| Burdock Paper| Catalpa Bean Paper| Cattail Paper| Cattail Head Paper | Carrot Paper| Chicory Paper| Dandelions and Green PaperMaking| Dracaena Paper| Echinacea Paper| My First Gampi| Garlic Mustard Paper| Grass Paper|Goldenrod Paper| Ground IvyPaper | Hemp Paper| Hydrangea Paper | Making Paper From Hostas and Teasels| Jerusalem Artichoke Leaf Paper| My First Kozo| Kudzu Paper | Milkweed Paper Milkweed Fluff Paper| Paper Mulberry Paper| Queen Anne's Lace Paper| Smartweed Paper | Early Spiderwort Paper| Spurge Paper | Teasel Top Paper Yucca Paper | Wheat StrawPaper | Handmade Art Paper Beads: Flat, Flag, Scroll Beads| Handmade Art Paper Beads: Doll/ People Beads



'Zines!!!

I've created my first and second 'zines on hand papermaking: Introduction to Hand Papermaking (May 2003) and Handmade Beads of Handmade Paper (July 2003). Info here.

This HAND PAPERMAKING WebRing site is owned by Akua Lezli Hope.