Yesterday. At home. Computer off. Mobile phone out of sight. Just my husband, my dog Jack and myself. A rare day, determined to keep the world out.
The sun was bright, a little windy but warm and I was in the garden making paper.
I mixed two pulps; some recycled white and cream paper and some roughly pulped orange peel and pith. This second one came from my own oranges last year, pulped and frozen until now.
Thanks to the loan of a small paper press from Primrose Paper Arts I’m able to easily make and press A4 sheets at home outside.
The press above has a top that lowers on to it and then screws in place tightly. Very portable and simple to use for smaller sheets.
Although the wet sheets, straight from the vat, appear very orange they dry quite pale with the orange peel inclusions. I started with only the white pulp and added more orange pulp as I went, creating a variety of outcomes.
They were dried on the window, as usual.
Still can’t really tell what colour they will turn out as the sun shines through them whilst drying. As I ran out of pulp the sheets became more light-weight. So my first 14 or so pieces are at about 110gsm, and the remainder are reducing in weight to around 60gsm.
At the end of the day I achieved 24 perfect sheets, some plain white and others beautifully textured with flecks of orange throughout.
A peaceful and rewarding day. Now back to the real world.
TactualTextiles 