Papermaking experiments with red seaweed from Eastbourne!

 So.....this is a new direction - I hope this works!

After taking some photos of the seaweed found down on the pebbly beach under the cliffs west of the town of Eastbourne (back in June) i have decided to try and embedded some into paper making fibres.

Here are the two types of red seaweed that I am going to experiment with - thanks to the forager of the seaweed who brought me these specimens from Eastbourne to London for me!!!

Phyllophora crispa 

Palmaria palmata

Washed and dried - ready for cooking with soda ash!

Teaching again at last!

 Back in June I was so pleased with the amazing BA Consevation students, studying at City and Guilds London Art School, that attended my 5 day Hand Papermaking workshop. 

We covered everything from Western to Japanese styles of papermaking as well as recycling, watermarking, pigmentation and tons of experimenting.

Using the fibres

When I start a project, that will include plant material, I always photograph the plants and use 

those colours as a starting point.

When embedding plant material into handmade papers it's so important to 

remove as much of the organic stuff as possible - using the cellulose matter only. 

This is because that stuff will ruin the papers when it naturally breaks down and 

deteriorates the papers from the inside. 

So.... I pigment the abaca, gampi or kobo with pigments, referring back to the photos, 

to add colour!

Then - after the project is done - it's playtime!

 

Finishing up with the Bluebells

 Here is the card and papermaking manual/informative booklet...

all done and also sent out copies to those who collected the leaves for me!

Time to make: Bluebell leaf papers

As I don't have a garden since I moved to North London - I asked for donations of Bluebell leaves from friends gardens' (not wildly growing ones) and in return I will send them items made with the resulting papers.

Let the experimenting begin!

Drying : Cooking with soda ash

 

Hydrangeas (+ crocus)

 I have been making some new papers to add to my Etsy shop. 

Using a base of abaca and pigments gampi fibres I embedded, firstly,  processed crocus leaves and then the processed hydrangea petals.

 

As I was going to visit Columbia Flower Market I decided to take my proper camera and take some shots of hydrangea flowers. I took this one of the markets' characters 

holding a large bunch of the flowers.

Been a bit busy....

The last couple of months have been taken up with making and selling my handmade papers. 

I am so happy that lots of my papers are going to new owners and hopefully they will let me know how they used the papers in their arts practice.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MandyBrannan?ref=seller-platform-mcnav#

Here are some of the ones sold already......

The next batch of papers will have processed daylily leaves embedded in the gampi and abaca fibres

 And now the pattern gets more complex.. 

 Using my mini hand made 'mould and deckle' ...am experimenting with the pulps to get the diagrids right!

And now made a 22 x 14 cm sheet....

 Adding black to the pulp mix...

and using up the pulp....

30 St Mary Axe - papers

These are some of the papers that I have previously made that respond to this building - now it's time to have another session of paper making. 

The pattern images which I have developed over the last 10 days defiantly enthused me to get processing/beat/pigment the fibres!!

30 St Mary Axe

 Here is the work that I have developed from my images of the building. It's still in it's mock up stage and it's ready to get its cover. 

30 St Mary Axe

This week I returned to work on my favourite building in London. Trying to re-utilise the photographic imagery that I developed over ten years ago while doing my MA course work.

The buildings outer skin is largely made with glass and metal diagrad structures that at different times during the day take on different types of translucency.