Making Paper

Hi everyone, this post is about making paper......from paper!

It is a great way of using old scrap pieces of paper and envelopes, this post covers the basic preparation.

You will need.

Old towels
Newspapers
J cloths
Large container for water and pulp
Old hand blender
Jug
Access to water and sink
And of course your torn paper


First of all you need to tear into very small pieces  your paper, I have included some brown paper to create a nice creamy beige colour.

You will need to pour some hot water onto the paper and leave for around 30 minuets to soak.

Once soaked take a small amount of the paper and place into a plastic jug.

Add some extra liquid to cover your paper.

Using an old hand blender pulp the paper pieces.

Add the pulp to a container with warm water in....see photo above.

Swoosh around with your hand, repeat this process until you have a good amount of paper pulp in your container, the more pulp the thicker your paper.

Using a Deckle ( you can make this using an old picture frame and some net stretched across and stapled to the back) Slide under your pulp.

Then lift slowly letting the excess water run off, be careful not to tip your Deckle at too sharp an angle! you do not want your pulp sliding off.

Lift out slowly and turn out onto J cloth.

Dab the back of the Deckle to remove excess water

Then lift frame slowly releasing your sheet of paper. Put all your sheets of paper to dry, if you are going to emboss your paper needs to be slightly damp.

Once my sheets were ready .....using a small table top printer (borrowed from my friend) I layered up the paper with lace and crochet.

These are a couple of embossed dry pieces, they can be torn up and used to create pages for artist books. If you are careful depending on thickness of paper you can also stitch into them.

This little book has added fabric to compliment the pages of embossed paper.

Here you can see the embossed piece, I have given it the lightest of touch with a white oil pastel.

A big thank you to my lovely friend Coral Spencer for demonstrating while I took the photos and the use of her printer to emboss.

Have fun.

Marilyn xx

Sketchbook play

Hello everyone

At last I have finally managed to blog!!!
This post is the one I wanted to bring  you last week.

 This information comes from Sue Dove title "Snipping and Sliding" Collage for Textiles.

This information comes from www.workshopontheweb.com

Workshop on the web also has a Facebook page.

Here are a few more images from my sketchbook.

For all of you who asked how it was done I do hope this helps.

With thanks to Maggie Grey.....Workshop on the web.

And Sue Dove.

Until next time.....when I hope to bring you my handmade Silk Paper making.

Love Marilyn xx

Turn a stone, nature leaves its imprint.

For me as an artist I am constantly inspired with what I see everyday in the natural world, whether this be flora and fauna, old discarded buildings, shadows or raindrops. 

It is these, delicate subtle marks that embody my work.

Artist Books have become an important part of my fine art language; they enable me to express my work as a metaphor for the written page.

Mine Sky

Towards Heaven

The old mine, I see echoed in the trees........one man made the other natural.

Shadows

The Framed View

I see inspiration in the shadows, the old arches that frame a view.

The old arch window of the mine becomes the inspiration for mark making.

Lichen on rocks

Stones under the water

Beautiful marks and textures are abstracted.

Wax on tissue stitch

So dear friends what inspires you? I would love to hear from you.

Love Marilyn.  

 Sometimes in life we experience the most amazing discoveries. Such a discovery came my way in the form of an old, rather dilapidated photograph album, found on the floor of my elderly parents shed. There were old fragmented books and various boxes all in a state of decay....... Mum explained, the album was all that was left of her life in Germany, it contained images of the past, her family, Nazi Germany there was also her camera. I salvaged what fragments and photos I could, along with a diary that mum had kept......documenting her experiences of Berlin during 1945/46. This was the start of an installation piece of work I made.

The old photo album was displayed 

These are some of the images of Berlin that mum took on her camera

I wanted to convey the these photos as living memories still active to my mum

The photos flew down into hands that I had made using Resin, inside I had stitched the words of the German/Jewish poet Paul Celan

 "Sewn Under the Skin of my hands"

For my mother these memories and experiences have never faded they are metaphorically speaking sewn into the very fabric of her being.

I also hand stitched her portrait 

Until next time ........Marilyn xx

My very first blog post!

Sharing art is a passion of mine......making art is my salvation!

I have always been a maker of things, as a young girl I liked nothing better than to be sewing or reading. I loved my mothers mending and button box.....such wonderful treasures were hidden inside.

Today I make my own treasures.....I have a passion for creating artist books

I love to create with stitch and cloth

I have discovered a passion for Eco-Dyeing and have spent the last few months experimenting, it has been a journey of discovery and a healing of my soul.