Some of the things I've been making.

3 basic stab-bound books with covers made of my handmade rag papers.

Top: one of my experimental books with leather laces incorporated into the spine and fore edge. The cover material is Japanese washi that I decorated using pigmented paste.
Bottom: a detail of the spine.

I started making these for friends! Collaged papers adhered to a glass front, edged in copper with an ultrasuede back (so that it feels soft against the skin).

Some of my letterpress cards.
The images are a combination of vintage metal cuts and old wood type. I print them on the Vandercook or my Showcard flatbed press. Polymer plates aren't part of my repertoire . I'm a bit of a Luddite, so I can't create the vector files needed to have polymer plates of new images produced!

A rainbow of my handmade rag papers sewn together for a book.

A small pillow book covered in silk for your little secrets.

A large album with a fuzzy heart and dragonfly pendant sewn onto a pink burlap cover.

The deckle edges some of my handmade rag papers.

Some books.
Top: concertina book covered in Japanese washi decorated using a paste resist method.
Middle: book with exposed stitches through the spine. The cover is more of my handmade paper made with a mix of cotton pulp and kozo fibre. There is a button sewn on the front and a cord to tie the book closed.
Bottom: book has exposed stitching and a cover made of card stock letterpress printed with an assortment of vintage cuts. The cord cinching stitches on the spine is also used for tying the book closed.

Washi, washi, washi!

It's almost here!
We'll be hosting an exhibition, workshop and lecture!
The times and other info are on the side bar.
Tomorrow I'm meeting with Sheila to figure out what artwork should hang in which gallery. It will be the first art show I have had at KOZO! I've bought a picture hanging system for the show. I'm hoping to host more art shows in the future.

The workshop is Suminagashi. It's a japanese marbling technique where sumi ink is floated on water. This works excellently when you use light washi to pick up the pattern on. I find making the pattern on the water to be absolutely mesmerizing. The marbled papers were originally used as backgrounds for wood block prints and calligraphy. But they are great for bookbinding, cardmaking, origami, etc.

The lecture is a lecture that I gave at the Ontario Spinners and Weavers conference last fall. I taght myself how to put together a power point presentation! So, aside from me talking about how washi is made, why it's an awesome paper, and it's multitude of uses in the textile arts, there will also be tons of visuals! I was able to convert my video and slides from my three years apprenticing in Japan!

Toronto's World Washi Summit

It looks like I will be participating in the Toronto World Washi Summit this June. KOZO Studio/Gallery will host an art show with a handful of artists working in or on washi paper. Washi paper is the paper that everyone mistakenly calls 'rice paper'! I will also be conducting a short workshop on suminagashi ( Japanese, water based, paper marbling) as part of this event.

I'll hopefully know which artists will be showing at KOZO by the end of next week. Very exciting!
Now I have to tidy up the studio!