Saturday, June 10, 10am-4pm
Eastern paper, often identified as washi, is characterized by its both thin and strong properties and is commonly made from the inner bark of the mulberry bush. The method we will use, although Japanese, is applicable to all plant fibers. This class will go over all the steps in making paper in this method, starting with pulp preparation: cooking and scraping the fibers clean and then beating them into pulp. We will then form sheets using the nagashizuki method with flexible screens as it is practiced in Japan. We will make as many sheets as time allows from both abaca (known as either Manila Hemp or banana fibers) and kozo (mulberry fibers).
Level: Intermediate – Introduction to Hand Papermaking or similar workshop experience (6 hours) required.
Registration closes June 1, 2023. Material fees are included with your registration, though a list of additional items needed to be gathered/purchased will be sent with your confirmation.
Registration includes a $42 materials fee to cover consumable materials provided in class, including kozo and abaca fiber, pellon, and formation aid. Students will need to supply additional materials of their own, including:
Gretchen Schermerhorn is a printmaker and hand papermaker and currently serves as Artistic Director at Pyramid Atlantic. She received her MFA in Printmaking from Arizona State University, and since then has completed artist residencies at The Women’s Studio Workshop in New York, Columbia College Center for Book and Paper in Chicago, Seacourt Print Workshop in Northern Ireland, California State University and the Robert Rauschenberg Residency in Florida. Her prints, installations, and works on paper works have been exhibited around the country and internationally, and her work is part of the Montgomery County Public Art Trust, Anne Arundel Community College’s print collection, and the Janet Turner Print Collection. You can learn more about her work at www.gretchenschermerhorn.com.
“Gretchen is an incredible teacher. She has a passion for art and teaching that conveys to the students. I always leave her class excited about what I’ve just learned.”
—Workshop Attendee, Summer 2022
“I appreciated Gretchen’s way of responding to each person’s efforts with a combination of support and ways to do more, try something else, push further.”
—Workshop Attendee, Summer 2022