Foundational Hand and Collage

This series of hand-made postcards include collage and calligraphy elements.  Also included are original eraser stamps.  The calligraphy was executed in foundational hand using calligraphy felt pens.

Miracles happen












 
Matador













Light in the window shines on me

Hand-made corn paper (7) - Drying the sheets

This was a late Spring and early Summer production that resulted in dry corn paper sheets ready to be made into hand-made books!




It takes about 24 hours to squeeze/drain most of the water. After this, the sheets are separated from the stack and placed on a flat surface in a shaded area. Each sheet of corn paper should still be attached to a piece of felt. At this point, I place newspaper sheets underneath each sheet of corn paper to collect more water. I usually place three to five sheets of corn paper with their corresponding felt and alternate them with a stack or section of newspaper. Finally, I put a board and a heavy object (a brick) to continue the drying process.

This process takes between two to three days depending on the humidity and the temperature of the room. I do not use a blow dryer in this process, but the following link for the video 'Make Paper - Loading the Drying Box' gives you an idea of the process when a drying chamber is used.

Hand-made corn paper (6) - Making and pressing the sheets

This step includes experimenting with the pulp by adding dyes and other fibers such as cotton and recycled printed paper. As a result, there is an element of surprise once the sheets are formed and dried.



The best part of this step is the fun that comes from dipping your hands and arms to fish out the fibers using with the frame and the deckle. At this point, the fibers are drained as they collect on the screen of the frame and form into sheets.



The corn paper sheets are sandwiched between alternating sheets of felt. A stack of 8 to 10 sheets is then pressed using a two-board press as shown in the picture above.