More Paper

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Just sharing some more paper: now with more happy orange!

Project 10/11/12+: Paper

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Materials:

• Scrap paper
• Water

The (basic) materials list is misleading. This project is the big one. I'm really enjoying it, so I'm staying on this one for the rest of the term.

If you've ever made paper, you know it's a fairly complicated process. I followed the instructions here, with a few differences:

• I did not have a blender. I tore my paper scraps up very small and soaked them in water for 2-3 days. To help stave off any mold, I added a few drops of essential oil to the mix. (My paper smells nice!)
• My screen is made out of a small picture frame. (Incidentally, I found out said frame was poorly glued together when it fell apart upon immersion in the paper slurry. Now it's held intact by pushpins.)
• Some of my felts are made out of left over t-shirt material from my earlier projects; some are pieces of a ShamWow. I like the ShamWow felts better because they are very absorbent.
• I used a ShamWow piece instead of a sponge. (Hey, I worked with what I had.)

After what seemed like forever ripping up and soaking bits of paper (FOREVER, I tell you; for two weeks I was shredding sheets of paper while watching movies with my friends), I covered my dorm room desk with a trash bag and came up with this:


My batches were limited by the number of felts I had. (I've since purchased some cheap fabric to make more.)

For the second batch, I sandwiched the paper between a few sheets of plastic to be pressed and dried:


I don't like the texture; it's weirdly smooth (minus the bubbles) for handmade paper. The grain created from the screen and felts seems more natural:



I sprinkled some flower seeds into the next batch; after the paper is used, it can be buried and it will grow:


If I do that again, I'll buy some more attractive seeds. The ones I had just look like bits of fly poop.

My last batch had a little bit of glitter in it (not too much, I didn't want it to look like Lisa Frank vomited on it or something):



More paper on the way!

Project 3: Bird Painting

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Materials:

• Canvas board
• Found/recycled objects
• Acrylic paint

This painting is for a friend of mine. It was created through many alternative techniques; I finger painted, smeared, sprayed, dripped, poured, and sponged, only using a limited amount of brushwork. There's a feather embedded in the paint as well as some glitter. I still have to seal it, though – all I have is satin finish fixative and I want this to be matte.

A little back story on me and painting:
For most of my life, I took art classes – drawing, painting, sculpting, whatever. I find the techniques I weren't taught the most satisfying, however; there's just something gratifyingly visceral about dipping your fingers right in the medium and following your instinct rather than planning something. I find painting realistic pictures boring. Any artist who has been through as much training as I have can manage that; I take my joy from unrestrained creative activity rather than the product.

It's usually how I work, in any case. My original ideas for paintings are always much different then the final work; my thoughts are always evolving. The process of creation defines the outcome rather than a preconceived plan. I always use tons of paint; this piece took so long because there are so many layers of paint I had to let dry. I like seeing a piece evolve layer by layer, but I also like experimenting. Sometimes I take risks, try techniques that don't work, so I just have to deal with my mistakes in the next layer. I barely ever feel like a piece is "ruined", it's just going in a new direction.

I take the same sort of joy from painting that kids do. Children don't care about whether they are "good" painters, they just have fun doing it! Why shouldn't we be the same way?