First Pigment Garden Project Group Meeting at Greenfield Community College

Nearly forty years ago I attended Greenfield Community College for about a year before transferring to the Ada Comstock Program at Smith College. The campus is as gorgeous as I remember it. The most significant change--a huge food court and student lounge, the presence of computer labs and cell-phone use.

At Soledad Suarez's suggestion I went to check out a newly formed Pigment Garden Project initiated by GCC faculty, Kelly Popoff and Tony Reiber--seen below in the slide show.  The group will meet in a collaboration between the art department and science department to research, grow, and process different fibers with a diversity of mordants to explore their efficacy as light fast dyes for fabric and paper. 

Our 2nd Annual Holiday Workshop, Saturday, December 14, 2013

Join us for another Holiday workshop to make Simple Gifts from paper taught by Brenda Lilly and Sheryl Jaffe.  You can visit last year's workshop here. 

This season we will continue with our butterfly theme and make paper butterflies taught by Brenda Lilly who studied with origami master, Michael LaFosse in his   studio here in Massachusetts, Origamido. Michael is among the foremost Origami artists in the world. 

Sheryl will expand our repertoire of folders and checkbook folders or wallets made from her beautiful fiber papers. See her message below:

"I could bring some paper and stuff to make different size templates, even teach template making for custom-sizing covers for calendars, tun books, checkbooks, or ??? Also, people are always interested in momigami, the crumpled paper, I could bring some papers, maybe you have some too that we could coat with konnyaku, which makes the paper very flexible and you get that crumpled paper* but strong cloth-like."

Here's an image of  a laptop computer bag made from paper cloth!

Visit our members page for their bios. 

WHERE: Yellow Schoolhouse (Dzogchen Community) at 18 Schoolhouse Road, Conway, MA
WHEN: December 14, 2013 All day
HOURS: 10-5:00 PM
COST: BY Donation

Here's a slide show of last year's workshop:

Khandroling Paper Cooperative will be at the Conway, Festival of the HIlls

Join us in the Craft Tent on October 6, 2013 for the annual Conway Festival of the Hills where Shang Shung Institute US will share a booth with Khandroling Paper Cooperative.

Come make some paper, get a mini-massage, and enjoy lots of good eats like momos from Northampton's Lhasa Cafe and an array of great international foods.

It's the traditional hill town harvest festival : Join in the bounty if you live nearby!

[photo by Paula Barry]

2013 Swatch Swap Samples on their Way

Last year Khandroling Paper Cooperative was able to participate in the 2012 Swatch Swap. 

I made simple kozo sheets while on retreat in August 2012--cooked on Khandroling with pond water and soda ash, then hand beaten outside on a picnic table, made with a small Lee McDonald mould and deckle and then pressed in an antique book press before air drying.  I called the results "Plein Air." I wake up early, so each morning I walked from Rinpoche's cabin where I was doing retreat down to the beaver pond where a silky little lady met me on her morning swim. After breakfast at the camp kitchen over looking the pond, I liked to beat the kozo a few minutes every day. 

That's us on the left -- a real plain jane paper.  


This year I was able to offer some of our experimental calligraphy paper made with Kozo, Ping Tang, and linen beaten in the hollander beater with sacred substances and recycled texts from Tibet. The wet papers were pressed in our antique iron bookpress then restraint dried for several days. The results are good but we are still in the  experimental stage.

For the 2013 Swatch Swap, here is our recipe:

Khandroling Paper Cooperative Calligraphy Paper Recipe

Kozo and Ping Tang beaten for thirty minutes in Mark Lander’s Critter with added inclusions of sacred substances from Tibet and recycled Tibetan texts and prayer flags. Previously beaten linen was added. Sheets made with a custom-made mould and deckle approximately 23” L x 6” W, the size for traditional doorway mantras. Each sample stamped with our KPC chop.

The two end sheets are fiber left-overs one of a kind or failed pulp painting but, nonetheless, robust for a cover!

Now cooking Kozo for our  Festival of the Hills papermaking this Sunday.

Northampton High School and visiting artist, Milan Rai

Invited to visit Northampton High School by Art Director, Sheryl Jaffe,   our visiting artist, Milan Rai, wowed students with his simple message of sustainability and collaborative art installations using white butterflies made from recycled trash as a symbol of personal and collective transformation. As one student was heard to comment, "Who wouldn't want a white butterfly?"


[Photo by Naomi Zeitz of Milan and Sheryl]

Many of the students themselves come from a multicultural background and could relate to Milan's "magic," as he travels the globe.

The results outside the classroom were stunning. 
A slide show and article by Sheryl are forthcoming.