Jenn Woodward: Explorations in Hand Papermaking

Workshop Description

Day One: Pulp Painting Explorations. Students will explore how to make pigmented paper pulp to create a full palette of colors, and how to use those wet fibers as a kind of paint. Students will learn the process for making both smooth and textured paper pulp, plus techniques for markmaking, creating shapes of color, building layered images, and retaining negative space within a composition. Students will create several wet pulp painting pieces that they will take away from the workshop to dry at home.

Day Two: Exploring Local Plants for Papermaking. This workshop will introduce students to the wild and cultivated plants that can be used to make strong, beautiful paper of varied hues and textures. Students will learn how to harvest plants and process them via cutting and cooking the plants down into raw fibers, ready for the next stage of pulping. The class will then dive into processing fibers with kitchen blenders and by hand with mallets, making pulp. We will finish out the day making the pulp into sheets of paper, learning pressing and drying techniques that students can duplicate on their own after the workshop. Students will leave the class with a sampler of damp papers that can be used for a variety of purposes including postcards, drawing, painting, collage, bookmaking, or an as-is piece of art.

Day Three: Eastern Papermaking Explorations. In this workshop we will use imported bark fibers like kozo and gampi to create strong and translucent papers using techniques originating in East Asia. We will begin with a conversation about the history of craft practices using bark fibers to learn more about the origins of hand papermaking. We will then process raw bark fibers, cooking them and hand pulping them with mallets. We will use Japanese sugetas to make paper that students will take home to dry. All workshops will be hands-on, exploring process via communal activities and individual explorations of materiality.

Materials/Equipment to be Provided by Students

• Towel so students can transport stack of wet papers home
• Paper and pen/pencil for note taking
• Apron (if desired, to protect clothes from pulp)

See Materials Glossary for definitions and images

Materials/Equipment to be Provided by Instructor

• Pigments
• Cotton half stuff fiber
• Kozo and gampi bark fiber
• Additives (retention aid, sizing, formation aid)
• Moulds/deckles
• Sugetas (cloths and felts for couching)
• Tabletop press buckets
• Sponges
• Plastic cups and containers
• Blenders
• Mallets
• Stencils/cookie cutters
• Inclusions (thread and yarn)
• Stainless steel pots
• Strainers
• Electric hot plates

Instructor Biography

Jenn Woodward is a visual artist, educator, and non-profit fundraiser living in Oregon City, Oregon. She makes drawings and installations, working extensively with handmade paper. She is interested in the intersection of plant, animal, and human lives and how we can be better neighbors to one another. Over the past 19 years living in Oregon she has taught, exhibited, and lectured at locations throughout the state. For the past 13 years she has collaborated with her husband as the co-owner of the hand papermaking studio, Pulp & Deckle.

Instagram: @pulpanddeckle