INFORMATION about TREEWHISPERS

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Pamela Paulsrud, visual artist, papermaker and calligrapher received her MFA from Columbia College in Interdisciplinary Arts concentrating in Book and Paper. Pamela investigates the interface of the concept, process, and calligraphic nature of handwriting with the linear features of the landscape using artist books and handmade paper. Pamela’s work has been published in many magazines, books, and journals including Lark Books, Making Memory Books by Hand, Exploratopia, Living Artists, and several issues of Letter Arts Review. Her work is in the Special Collections at the University of California, San Diego; the Allan Chasanoff Bookworks Collection, New York; Topeka & Shawnee County Library Special Collections, Topeka Kansas; and Special Collections at the Newberry Library, Chicago. She was awarded the Newberry Library Purchase Prize in 1997. Her lettering titles the ceramic floor map in the exhibit Traveling the South Pacific at Field Museum, Chicago. She is currently exhibiting her work internationally. Pamela freelances and teaches workshops in lettering and book arts while continuing to pursue her interests in the healing arts.

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Marilyn Sward (1941 2008)
After receiving her BFA degree with honors in painting at the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana, Marilyn learned to make paper by hand. Forty years later that was still the most important fact. She founded Paper Press Studio, which together with Artists Bookworks, became The Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts. After founding it she was the director and chair of the MFA in Book and Paper Arts. She also was Adjunct Associate Professor in Fibers at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago teaching her classes at the Center. She co-authored a book, The New Photography, published by Prentiss Hall dealing with special forms and printing methods for handmade paper’s use in photography. She received many grants and awards for special studies and projects. Her own work is in museum collections throughout the United States and abroad. After retiring she served as the chair of the Board of Hand Papermaking Magazine and was president of the Trustees of Haystack School of Craft in Maine. She was also a trustee of The University of Illinois Library, and most proudly a wife, mother and grandmother. Marilyn left this earthly life on August 5, 2008. Family, friends and all those who she taught, inspired and mentored continue to know her love. _________________________________________________________


RECYCLED PAPER YOU CAN MAKE AT HOME!

SUPPLIES
plastic to cover your work surface
paper (newspaper, junk mail, yellow pages, paper bags, colored construction paper, old homework)
water
bucket
blender
round papermaking mold=embroidery hoop and synthetic window screening (*keep the screen taut between the hoops)
vat or tub large enough to accommodate papermaking mold and your hands around the mold (otherwise here known as the embroidery hoop)
*optional: large cookie tray to contain water when making sheets of paper
cotton sheeting or linen towels cut to a size slightly smaller than your large cookie tray
sponges to press paper and absorb moisture
iron and aluminum foil /or heat press and blotters /or laundry line and clothes pins for drying paper

PROCESS FOR MAKING SHEETS OF ROUND PAPER
1. Prepare surface for wet paper. Cover work surface with plastic
2. Place cookie sheet next to vat
3. Place first layer of cotton sheeting or linen towels on cookie sheet
4. Shred or tear paper into 1? pieces
5. Fill blender 2/3 full of water and add 1 handful of shredded paper
6. Cover the top of the blender and blend in short bursts on med-hi for a few seconds until consistency of oatmeal. (*If you add a little more shredded paper and blend again for a couple of seconds you?ll get a confetti look to your finished paper)
7. Pour pulp into bucket until you have desired amount of pulp
8. Fill vat or tub with water and pulp mixture (*greater proportion of pulp = thicker sheets of paper)
9. Swirl the pulp and water to disperse evenly
10.Dip embroidery hoop (with screening taut) into back side of vat
11.Pull hoop down into vat under pulp and toward your body
12.When mold is parallel to bottom of vat, lift straight up out of water and gently shake sideways and front to back before all water drains and pulp settles
13.Let water drain off for a minute
14.Turn upside down onto prepared surface with cotton sheeting or linen towels
15.Sponge back of embroidery hoop screen to press paper onto pellon and absorb moisture
16.Slowly lift embroidery hoop by one edge....the paper should now adhere to the pellon. *It's paper!
17.If ironing dry: layer damp paper between cotton sheeting or linen towels and press with iron until dry
If air drying: hang cotton sheeting or linen towels containing damp paper on laundry line. Drying time is about three hours depending on conditions
If using heat press: place paper between blotters and press until dry.
18.When dry write your personal tree story, draw your favorite tree or trace a leaf, compose a silly tree poem—think of trees, be creative and surprise us! Mail to treewhispers. SHARE YOUR STORY AND YOUR ART

A tree in California is 4,770 years old,
a tree in the woods began last year.
A tree tells its friend to prepare for a blight.
A tree repairs its wounds.
A tree blooms, another bears fruit.
Trees are the material of paper.
Their structure is a mirror of humans.

How have they nurtured, calmed, influenced, affected, protected you? Be sure to stop by our new Gallery, our Stories section, and see how you can contribute your stories and your art!

We look forward to hearing from you!