This class will focus on using kozo and high-shrinkage fibers, either separately or together, to make compelling three-dimensional paper forms, as well as the use of fiber reactive dyes to provide brilliant color.  We’ll cover the construction of various included and removable armatures and molds, from simple to more complex structures, including re-usable armatures and adaptable forms for making editions or series.  We’ll also discuss the inclusion of bases for free-standing sculptures and effective built-in hanging methods for wall-mounted works.  The class is excellent for people with some previous basic papermaking experience and sculptors who want to explore a new medium.

This class will help you learn how to control your pulp, to expand your possibilities working in paper, and recharge your papermaking repertoire. You can design a project, experiment with artistic technique, or form sheets for an existing project. In this class we will share ideas and experience in order to enhance our abilities. We will use both high and low shrinkage pulps and learn how to determine which pulps work best for your paper needs. Guided experimentation will be encouraged.

Metal armatures can be strong complex shapes that will support unique sculptural forms made in paper. In this workshop you will learn how to solder a variety of metals using small soldering torches. For larger projects you will learn how to use the MIG welder which utilizes the Oxy-Acetylene gas welding process. We will then transform overbeaten abaca and flax paper pulp into sheets of paper, which will be stretched over the armatures. Students will leave with a variety of small forms or can focus on one or two large forms. With these processes we will explore the richly evocative elastic nature of overbeaten paper pulp.

Learn all aspects of traditional Japanese papermaking, from selection of fiber to cooking, picking, beating, sheet forming, pressing, and drying. A solid grounding in this living tradition will lead to your own experimentation with contemporary variations.  Whether you are a new or experienced papermaker; an artist working in drawing, printmaking, or sculpture looking to widen your palette; or just a plain paper lover, learning to make washi will teach you about the nature of paper as a material.

Paper is one of the most important factors to a printmaker, and in this hybrid workshop the focus will be on creating customized handmade papers and applying printmaking techniques appropriate to the papers.  We will begin with the basics of sheet formation, using cotton rag and abaca fibers, with a focus on sturdiness and archival qualities. Then we will move on to stencil work, learning techniques such as pulp painting and chine colle. The second half of the class will focus on creating relief and polyester plate prints that register with the imagery embedded in the handmade paper.  The result will be richly layered prints, full of color and texture.

Join WSW in collaboration with R&F Handmade Paints as we create handmade paper and encaustic works. The first two and a half days of this class will be held at WSW in the papermaking studio, where students will work with cotton, abaca, and flax fibers. Once the basics are mastered, we'll investigate the potential of hand papermaking. We will create papers using a variety of hand papermaking techniques: layering, imbedding, translucency and opacity, stenciling, pulp painting, and embossing.

After lunch on Wednesday we will travel to R&F Handmade paints where we will use these handmade paper elements as starting points. This session will begin with an introduction to basic encaustic techniques. Then students will create deeply layered collages by working directly on the handmade papers or mounting the handmade sheets on panels. We will be saturating, bending, burnishing, dipping, staining, transferring, drawing, and carving into this natural wonder.