April 14–15, 2012
Sat and Sun, 10am – 4pm

Instructor: Aimee Lee
Cost: $295 – includes $35 materials fee
(6 students min / 10 max)

Description: Korean papermaking has a history almost as long as papermaking itself. Korean paper, known as hanji, is made from the inner bark of the mulberry tree, renowned for its long and strong fibers. This makes hanji ideal for an array of applications suitable for book and fiber arts. Students will add water to hanji to learn a felting and collage technique called joomchi, which results in textured paper that is ideal for textile work, light and durable book covers, and sculpture. Joomchi can also be modified to create varying thicknesses of hanji yarn. Using mulberry bark, students will also learn to make thread for decorative bindings, weaving, or installation. As time allows, students will learn how to cord and weave hanji (called jiseung in Korean) to create woven pieces. Be prepared to work hard and walk away with a wide array of samples and new techniques!

Materials list:

• spray bottle/mister, to fill with water
• knife, straightedge, cutting mat
• awl and/or large needles (blunt ends work best)
• scissors
• PVA (we won’t be using a huge amount, just a dab here and there)
• Plastic containers (large yogurt containers will do; needed to catch water)
• paper-slitting knife (as used by bookbinders)**
• diagonal nippers (can be found at Michael’s or fishing-supply stores) OR small, sturdy scissors to cut ends of paper cord**

Optional:

• knitting needles (I use #6 and 7 needles but students can bring whatever size they like)
• spring clamp

**not imperative, but useful if you can find them. Here is a great site that explains the knife: http://blog.wsworkshop.org/?p=603

May 21, 22 and 24, 25 and 26, 2012 (5 days)
Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri and Sat
9:00 am – 5:00 pm (with a 1 hour lunch break)

Instructor: Frank Brannon
$581 (includes a $50 materials fee to cover materials and equipment maintenance.)

Description: If you are interested in working independently in the BookWorks paper studio, and would like to prepare via a one-week intensive, this is the class for you.

In the first two days, you’ll learn techniques for forming sheets of  handmade paper using pulp prepared in our Reina paper beater. We’ll look  at examples of how handmade papers are used in artwork, book arts,  printmaking, cards and envelopes. As papermaking is a physically  demanding job, we’ll have a break day on the Wednesday, followed by  three days of focus on the use of the paper beater as well as continued  improvement in sheet formation. Using various fibers, participants will  become comfortable with the use of beater with a special emphasis on  safety.

Please bring the following items:

For class, wear rubber-soled shoes and clothes you don’t mind getting wet.

March 24 and 25, 2012
Saturday & Sunday: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm (with a 1 hour lunch break)

Instructor: Frank Brannon
$241  (includes a $25 materials fee to cover materials and equipment maintenance.)

Weekend papermaking classes for the novice and those with some previous experience. You’ll learn techniques for forming sheets of handmade paper using pulp prepared in our Reina beater. The distinctive quality of handmade paper inspires many uses. We’ll look at examples of how handmade papers are used in artwork, book arts, printmaking, cards and envelopes. This is a hands-on weekend geared to familiarizing you with our new papermaking facility. Please bring the following items:

• For class, wear rubber-soled shoes and clothes you don’t mind getting wet.

Innovative Printmaking on Handmade Paper: September 13 through October 18, 2010
Pulp Painting: Beyond the Squeeze Bottle: October 16-17, 2010, 9:00–5:00 p.m.

Innovative Printmaking on Handmade Paper, the sixth portfolio in a series, will be on display at Asheville BookWorks the week of September 13th through the week of October 18^th. The traveling exhibition includes 20 prints juried by the national non-profit organization Hand Papermaking, Inc. The collection incorporates a wide variety of printmaking techniques— traditional, contemporary, and experimental—while emphasizing the equal importance of printed image and paper.

Whether done by individual artists or as collaborations between papermakers and printmakers, these innovative prints reflect a successful marriage of print and paper. The handmade paper is not simply a substrate; it is inherent in the artwork. The printmaking techniques represented include etching, woodblock, chine collé, linocut, digital inkjet, silkscreen, monotype, lithography, pochoir, aquatint, and letterpress. The papermaking techniques include watermarking, pulp painting, double couching, and overbeating; with fibers such as cotton, linen, abaca, hemp, kozo, flax, and sea grass.

Brooklyn artist Shannon Brock will conducting a paper pulp painting class October 16-17, 2010, 9:00–5:00 p.m. at Asheville BookWorks. The two-day workshop, Pulp Painting: Beyond the Squeeze Bottle, will explore image making in hand papermaking.  Using multiple moulds and vats of pigmented pulp, along with contact paper, dental syringes, paintbrushes and squeeze bottles, participants will develop images by layering and overlapping thin veils of pulp.  Basic paper sheet formation and pigmenting will be reviewed.

The April 17-18 weekend hand papermaking class had six participants who made pulp from several fibers: abaca (a banana family plant) and cotton linters. We also cut up cotton clothing to make cotton rag paper. The focus of the class was sheet formation. It was a great time on a warm spring weekend.

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