coming Sunday April 10, 2016
High Shrinkage Fibers and Basic Armatures

I often say that paper is MAGIC, and if you care to doubt that, high shrinkage abaca and flax are my response to such nay-sayers. It is sculptural, muscular, and exerts a tremendous amount of force as it dries because it shrinks!

Constructing an armature of wire, wood, or other semi-rigid materials, wet sheets of abaca and flax paper can be stretched and adhered to the armature; the armature can be sandwiched between 2 wet sheets; or the armature can be dipped directly into the high shrinkage pulp. The result is a sculptural armature bound by the taut paper which shrinks as it dries, and I’m not talking a uniform shrinking like Shrinky Dinks, I’m talking about radical and sometimes unpredictable transformation!

In this one-day workshop, we will use high-shrinkage flax and abaca fibers for sheetforming as well as stretching over basic armatures. When working with these pulps, students can make extremely thin, strong, and translucent sheets of paper, ideally suited for embedding 2-dimensional imagery. These pulps are also prized for their ability to create a taut, smooth surface when the paper is applied over an armature. Students will form 2 dimensional sheets of paper and be guided through constructing basic armatures of their own design. All necessary materials will be provided, but students can also bring their own materials to incorporate.

Open to 8 students, $125 REGISTER NOW