Hand made Paper

My fascination with beach-combed objects stems from the fact that man-made items enter the sea at a place and time unknown.  At this stage, they are often useful, in good condition and are similar to many many other such times.  By the time, I retrieve them from the shoreline they are no longer of any use, they are worn and distressed by time and tide, and they are unique.  It is the alteration that occurs during this unspecified time period that interests me – it raises so many unanswerable questions: When did it enter the sea, why and how?  How long has it been in the sea?  How far has it travelled?

One particular fascination is brushes.  I find many plastic brush handles but more interesting are the bone or wooden ones.  These sometimes present with bristles, whole or partly intact, but the really interesting ones no longer have bristles, just the holes where bristles once were.

I like the contrast between the worn finish and the precision of the holes.  I am starting to explore this idea further, combining the found with the made; the old with the new; the perfect with the imperfect.

These three pieces combine hand made paper with found elements.  I’d love your feedback!

Paper making

I recently attended a course with Jane Ponsford and learnt the basics of hand made paper making.  We used cotton rag and in some cases, I combined this with found clay to add colour.

I wanted to combine the hand made paper with some of my found objects and went with some ideas in mind as to how this might work.

Three bowls on a shelf
Hand made paper bowls either side of a found object

Having kitted myself out with the appropriate gear, I am looking forward to experimenting more with the combination of made and found to produce a series of work.  The images above are all starting points rather than finished works but I have thoroughly enjoyed learning this new process.  Another course beckons in the Autumn looking at sculpting, folding and moulding with paper – can’t wait!