View from on High - The Mandala Hall for the Universal Mandala Hall on Khandroling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgacB2y5WWM&feature=share  Click to journey in the sky above Khandroling--our inspiration.....Holiday Greetings to All

Coming Soon - The 2016 International Swap Swatch

[Individual swatch pages in the process of assembly]

Once again Khandroling Paper Cooperative will participate in the International Swatch Swap which each year assembles swatch books to highlight hand made paper. Anywhere from 60-80 artists participate. In previous years we submitted our papers which  you can read about here:

Our 2012 Swatch Book 

Our 2013 Swatch Book

(We took a break in 2014/15) 

Along with our individual swatches, each papermaker submits two cover sheets which are then used to cover someone else's Swatch Book. KPC cover submission was made this summer during our annual papermaking fest on Lower Khandroling Farm.  You can visit the main Swatch Swap website here for lots of info about the process. The hosts for this year's swap are Barbara Landes and Helen Schneider from Madison, Wisconsin. 

[Still working]

[Finished and bound books]

Photos courtesy of the 2016 swatch team

NEXT Mindful Origami Club to Meet on Thursday, December 8, 2016 from 5:00 - 6:30 PM

Come and join our group to learn how to fold the Lotus Flower for the 250th Anniversary Celebration of he town of Conway, MA in June 2017. 

WHEN: December 8, 2016, 5:00PM-6:40 PM
LOCATION: 18 Schoolhouse Rd. Conway, MA 01341 in the Library
COST: Free

We need your help to make one thousand, (1,000) Lotus Flowers to distribute during the parade in JUne 2017. Brenda Lilly is offering to facilitate these drop in sessions. We will be meeting every second Thursday of the month beginning at 5:00 - 6:30 PM to fold in the Yellow Schoolhouse Library on the first floor. 

Come by anytime during that session and be a part of history! Our next meeting is December 8. RSVP Jacqueline at 413-522-1125 or jacqueline.gens@gmail.com or just come.  Some individuals who live far way may be able to count making the lotus as fulfilling their Karma Yoga requirement. 

To learn more about this community project,  visit our blog at http://www.khandrolingpapers.blogspot.com 

For those who want to become more involved in the process of handmade paper, we will be making paper from "Conway Rags," beginning in 2017 as we initiate the design for our parade float. 

Last month during our first meeting, we made several dozen origami Lotus. Each blossom is distinct and beautiful--like our own condition.   We invite parents and kids to come and participate. Invite your friends!

Mindfulness of Origami Club Begins on Thursday, November 10, 2016

Please join us for our first Mindfulness of Origami Club with Brenda Lilly, to meet the second Thursday of every month in the Yellow Schoolhouse at Tsegyalgar East. This club is free. 



For further information contact Jacqueline at 413-522-1125 or jacqueline.gens@gmail.com

BEGINNING NOVEMBER 10, 2016,

5-6:30 PM in the Library at 18 Schoolhouse Rd. Conway, MA 01341. 

   

The Khandroling Lotus Blossom project is an international endeavor to restore the historic schoolhouse in Conway, MA site of so many Dzogchen retreats, the Shang Shung Tibetan Medicine School, and numerous community functions as the first North American Gar founded by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu. Purchased in 1995, the building continues to provide a base for the Dzogchen Community's practice life, numerous SSI educational programs in Tibetan culture, and courses in Vajra Dance, Yantra Yoga and Khaita Dance. 


The Lotus is an important symbol through out all the Buddhist lineages. We will be exploring the many facets of this precious symbol of enlightened perfection and goodness which we all possess. 

Our newest Lotus Origami incarnation created by Brenda Lilly with the six-syllables of the Mani mantra written on the six petals with the HRIH in the center.

The building itself has special meaning to the town of Conway, MA as the first multi-class grammar school which was home to generations of children educated there. As a fitting gesture of goodwill , Khandroling Paper Cooperative on behalf of the Dzogchen Community will participate in the 250th Conway Town Anniversary Celebration to be held in 2017  with a Paper Lotus float and the distribution of thousands of handmade paper lotus blossoms. 

[Brenda instructing Francine in the making of a small Lotus]

In dreams

they come with out-stretched hands

the color of malachite

giving, magnetizing

palms formed by leaf and wind,

torrential waters--

As they pass to me the lotus bud

grown up from mud

its stainless bloom

opening

[Rita Kaiser, Brenda Lilly and Nancy Paris, Summer Celebration, 2016]



We look forward to sharing this journey with you over the next year!

OPEN HOUSE on Sunday, October 30, 2016 from 4:00 PM-9:00 PM

                                                                                                                                             
Khandroling Paper Cooperative will host an Open House on Sunday, October 30, 2016 in our Basement Studio for a traditional Dia de los Muertos installation, and refreshments from 4:00 PM-9:00 PM or earlier if you want to help in dressing the altar. Come meet some of our members and see our most recent woodblock prints and paper items. A gift for everyone! Refreshments and lively conversation!

WHERE:  18 Schoolhouse Road, Conway, MA 01341 in the KPC studio
WHEN: Sunday, October 30, 2016 4-9:00 PM 
OTHER: Free 


Bring a photo or artifact to add to the altar. Come earlier if you would like to participate in the installation. 

We are nearing the thin time, that magical twilight moment when the veil between this world and the other is more transparent. 

Khandroling Paper Cooperative to Participate in the 4th Annual "Cheap Art" Fair

Khandroling Paper Cooperative is pleased to be part of the 4th Annual 2016 CHEAP ART SHOW produced by Creative Community Connections (C3) on Sunday, November 6 from 2-5pm at the Polish American Club at 46 South Main St in South Deerfield.


This is a one day show that celebrates financial accessibility to art and is based on the famous Bread and Puppet Cheap Art Manifesto and model. Come join us for a magical event. 

Name: 4th Annual Cheap Art Show
Where: Polish American Club at 46 South Main St in South Deerfield.
Date: November 6, 2016

Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST

Website: https://www.facebook.com/C3Deerfield/


Event Description:

This exhibit is based on the Bread and Puppet Cheap Art Manifesto: “Art is FOOD. You can’t eat it but it FEEDS you. Art has to be CHEAP and available to EVERYBODY.” Local artists of all ages will sell a range of art and crafts for no more than $15 per piece. Free refreshments and cash bar.

[Cheap Art Graphic reprinted from Bread and Puppet  Why Cheap Art?  Manifesto]

Fibers For Papermaking: KOZO, MITSUMATA, AND GAMPI

Kozo bundles in the background ordered from Carriage House Papers

I came across this great site called True Art for the Creative Process in the context of Dharma Art put together by  Steven Saitzyk. I found this section on oriental fibers useful in papermaking particularly useful.

These are the most common fibers used in making Oriental papers. Only the inner bark, or bast fiber, of Broussonetia kazinoki for kozo, Edgeworthia ehrysantha for mitsumata, and Diplomorpha shikokiana for gampi, is used to make paper. When these fibers are used without wood pulp or other fillers, they are as permanent as cotton and, in the case of gampi, even more permanent.
Kozo, known in North America as mulberry, makes the strongest and most durable of the Oriental papers. It has the longest fibers, will not shrink or expand when wet, and produces a paper with an uneven surface. This fiber is used alone to make paper and is added to other fibers to give them additional strength and durability.

Mitsumata is traditionally described by the Japanese in what they feel are female terms. They say it is the most beautiful, softest, most absorbent, and the weakest of the three fibers. It is often used to balance kozo fibers, which are described in male terms, to increase the absorbency, even the surface, and add beauty to a paper. 

Gampi is described by the Japanese as having both male and female characteristics. Its fibers are long, thin, somewhat shiny, and very tough. The fibers are so durable that paper made of gampi is referred to as “paper cloth.” Gampi paper is smooth, lustrous, and has its own natural chemical resistance to papereating insects. It is nonabsorbent, damp-resistant, and may well be the most permanent paper in the world. The best paper is made from uncultivated plants, but the plant is rare because it was overused to the point of near extinction. Most available gampi papers are made from a species of the plant found in the Philippine Islands and processed in Taiwan.
Many Oriental papers available in the West are made from one of these three fibers. They are called Japanese papers, or Japanese-style papers, even if they are made in another country. 

Tan-hi is the Chinese version of kozo fiber and is the primary ingredient in such traditional Chinese papers as gasen. Today, tan-hi is more commonly referred to as tampi.

Cooked Kozo in various levels of preparation from hand beating

Reprinted from True Art on this page: http://www.trueart.info/?page_id=331


Photos by Jacqueline Gens

Current Open Studios for October 2016

Kaylee, Jane, and Pam meeting the Critter for the first time

These days a group of us meet each Sunday 12:30 PM and Tuesdays 10:30 AM for Open Studios at Khandroling Paper Cooperative located at 18 Schoolhouse Road, Conway MA in the basement of the old Conway grammar school now housing the Community of Tsegyalgar East, North American seat of Tibetan Teacher Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche. 

Participants are introduced to all aspects of papermaking including cooking fibers, hand beating fibers (hence Kaylee's beating stick) beating rag and fibers in the Critter, and drying. We are also preparing our 2016 swatch samples due October 15.

Upcoming events include:

Kichung Lizee's  Calligraphy workshop on October 23, 2016

Brenda Lilly's Mindfulness of Origami Club beginning November 10, 2016 5:00-6:30 PM

The Critter at work transforming Cotton rag, Abaca, and Kozo into high end pulp to make perfect paper.

Photos by Jacqueline Gens

AT LAST: Tashi Mannox's Sacred Scripts Book Avaialble!

Tashi Mannox reknowned Tibetan Calligraphy artist and scholar of Tibetan lettering has finally had his book of Tibetan scripts published. To read about the workshop Tashi taught here at Tsegyalgar East in a workshop co-sponsored by Shang Shung Institute of Tibetan Studies and Khandroling Paper Cooperative, visit our post and slide show:

http://khandrolingpapers.blogspot.com/2014/04/during-his-course-april-4-6-2014-co.html

You can also read a lengthy interview with Tashi in The Mirror following his workshop.

To purchase this book visit Amazon.com here. 

October 23, 2016 Calligraphy Workshop with Korean-American Artist Kichung Lizee

[Photo by Jacqueline Gens of Kichung Lizee showing us her "MU" scroll 

(seed syllable for emptiness) during one of our workshops}

Khandroling Paper Cooperative is pleased to offer new member Kichung Lizee's workshop on Eastern Calligraphy:

ONE STROKE & BIG BRUSH
Empty Hand, Empty Brush

A contemplative immersion into

East-West brush painting

Eastern calligraphy is a type of meditation and also a discipline in centering--starting from the correct postural alignment of the spine, to preparing calligraphic ink, holding the brush correctly as an extension of the arm, and executing the brush stroke in oneness. Learn how to sense your internal energy through Qi-Gong and Tai Chi exercises and apply this awareness to free-flowing calligraphic art. This workshop offers a unique opportunity to integrate mindfulness and creative expression. Experienced artists and beginners welcome!

READ MORE ON ONE STROKE ZEN PRACTICE Here


When: SUNDAY, October 23, 2016, Time 10:00 AM-4:00 PM 
Where: Yellow Schoolhouse at Tsegyalgar East
18 Schoolhouse Road, Conway, MA (In the Library)
Cost: Recommended donation: $50-$90 or donate according to your financial circumstances
Contact: jacqueline.gens@gmail.com or 413-522--1125 to pre-register as space is limited.

Making first stroke followed by big brush

Kichung Lizee is a Korean-born American artist and Buddhist practitioner who uniquely blends Eastern calligraphy and Western thematic materials. She has taught and exhibited internationally and curated many exhibits bringing together Eastern calligraphers and Western artists. She was honored with a special award in 2008 at the Seoul International Calligraphy Biennale, Korea, and has been a featured artist at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA, the Jordan Schnitzler Museum of Art, Eugene, OR, and the Turchin Center for Visual Arts, Boone, NC.

Works by Kichung Lizee can be viewed at http://www.absolutearts.com/kichunglizee/ 

Travel by Car to Tsegyalgar

From the South:
In Massachusetts take I-91 north to exit #24 for Deerfield/Conway. Turn right off the exit ramp on to Rts. 5 & 10. At the 3rd set of lights take a left on to Rte 116 north. Follow Rt 116 ten miles uphill into the center of Conway. Continue on Rt. 166 through the center of the village and past Bakers' convenience store on the left. Continue up the hill a short way. Where Rt 116 curves right, take a left onto Maple Street and another immediate left onto the very steep Schoolhouse Road, where you will see Dzogchen Community welcome sign. At the top of the hill you will see the Yellow Schoolhouse.

From the North:
In Massachusetts take I-91 south to exit #25 for Deerfield/Conway. Take a right off the exit onto Rt. 116 north. Follow Rt 116 ten miles uphill into the center of Conway. Continue on Rt. 166 through the center of the village and past Bakers' convenience store on the left. Continue up the hill a short way. Where Rt 116 curves right, take a left onto Maple Street and another immediate left onto the very steep Schoolhouse Road, where you will see Dzogchen Community welcome sign. At the top of the hill you will see the Yellow Schoolhouse.

Khandroling Paper Cooperative featured in Greenfield Recorder Article

On Saturday, August 27, 2016 Trish Crapo from the Greenfield Recorder visited Pat Lehnhardt's Japanese Bookbinding Class. To read her article visit the link below:


http://www.recorder.com/Preserving-the-old-creating-the-new-4440083

REVIEW of The Archaeology of Tibetan Books by Agniezka Heiman-Wazny

The Archaeology of Tibetan Books
by Agniezka Helman-Wazny
Brill's Tibetan Studies Library;Volume 36, 2014
Brill, Leiden/Boston, 298 pages

ISSN 1568 6183










Generally, people consider the material culture of old Tibet prior to 1959 as backwards compared to what we would call the developed world. However, one aspect of Tibetan culture for millennia far surpassing any other culture is it's vibrant and, I might add, living culture of mind which has come to light upon the diaspora of knowledge holders coming to the West and the enormous cornucopia of literature in the Tibetan language revealed in its political upheaval and published now in many languages. As most historians would agree, the meeting of Tibetan culture with the West is as relevant as the vast richness of Hellenic culture meeting European for the first time. How these influences will shape future cultures is still a work in progress. Those of us who are practitioners of Dzogchen,  are indebted to Tibetan culture as the container for preserving precious wisdom Teachings.

Like the Inuit of Greenland with their hundreds of designations for Snow (being their most present artifact), Tibetan language has an extraordinary range of vocabulary in the hundreds, maybe thousands to do with mind. I'm no scholar here in linguistics or Tibetan culture but with the explosion in translated publications from the Tibetan into World languages, we can see the vast scope of learning preserved in perhaps the harshest environment on earth. As most of the educated world has come to accept, Tibetan culture despite its limited material culture and widespread illiteracy nonetheless had a highly sophisticated body of literature.

With this culture of mind, of course, there are books and libraries, and then the technology of books, paper, printing, inks, craft and artistry to execute these from the earliest manuscripts found in Dunhuang in the first century C.E. through the centuries.

The synopsis from the publisher writes:

In The Archaeology of Tibetan Books, Agnieszka Helman-Ważny explores the varieties of artistic expression, materials, and tools that have shaped Tibetan books over the millennia. Digging into the history of the bookmaking craft, the author approaches these ancient texts primarily through the lens of their artistry, while simultaneously showing them as physical objects embedded in pragmatic, economic, and social frameworks. She provides analysis of several significant Tibetan books—which usually carry Buddhist teachings—including a selection of manuscripts from Dunhuang from the 1st millennium C.E., examples of illuminated manuscripts from Western and Central Tibet dating from the 15th century, and fragments of printed Tibetan Kanjur from as early as 1410. This detailed study of bookmaking sheds new light on the books' philosophical meanings.

Now, here is where I get very enthusiastic about this particular publication on the archaeology of books.. Having studied in my youth for a certificate in analytical field archaeology at the University of Massachusetts with  aspiration for an academic career in anthropology, I came to respect the science of analytical archaeology where the minute details of archaeological remains contain potential to illuminate the broader strokes of meaning—much like the poetical view that a grain of sand contains a whole universe, as poet William Blake expressed it:

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour

The main idea here is that in order to understand culture with little physical remains and artifacts, studying the traces of natural elements could still reveal a base of important knowledge about the habitats and behavior of people. When you think of it, it is something amazing that one can tell so much about a culture even from soil analysis, weather patterns, pollen deposits, etc.

The other topics covered in this publication which greatly interested me was the evidence of innovative book structures beyond the traditional pecha style of Tibetan books we are used to seeing. It  was a  marvelous revelation to witness where traditional models met with individual expressions of artist creativity. I am not surprised because knowing many Master of Tibetan Buddhism without fail most are highly artistic in original ways not just traditional arts/craft. 

Papermaking in Tibet is fairly well-documented. One of the unique qualities of Tibetan papers prior to the 1950's was the wide spread use of fibers (Daphne and Edgeworthia species) which had the properties to repel insects-- hence the longevity of Tibetan books.  Heiman-Wazny thoroughly explores these along with 

MORE TO COME on Paper technologies..........

Jacqueline Gens
August 2016

Sheryl Jaffe makes paper for "what do you see, little frog?"

Basho’s Pond: Lotus leaves, Frogs and the Spirit of Transformation. Art Installation and Exhibit of Handmade Paperworks by KPC Member Sheryl Jaffe

WHEN: September 4-October 22, 2016

OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday September 10, 2016,  5:00 PM - 8:00PM

WHERE: Easthampton Arts Walk
Mill 180 Park, Easthampton 413-527-0311
180 Pleasant Street, Easthampton, MA 01022

Furu ike ya --Old Pond 

kawazu tobikomu --Frog Jumps in

Inmizu no oto --Sound of Water

SHERYL JAFFE - ARTIST STATEMENT

This famous Haiku, written by Japanese Zen poet, Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) is the inspiration for this colorful, provocative art installation. Out of the timeless serene summer twilight of the old pond comes the “kerplunk” of the frog’s splash. As the Buddha changed with noticing the morning star, we can be transformed by the “kerplunk” of the frog. The lotus is known for its purity and beauty that is born from the mud and muck of the world, frogs are living reminders of rain, fertility, transformation and rebirth. Their well-being is closely linked to that of our environment. Amphibian means 2 lives, (one on land and one on water), most of us have at least 2, some of us many more. Our brains carry the memories from one part of our life to the other and it can be challenging to move through these many lives. Frogs are a great metaphor for these transformations; eggs to polliwogs to froglet to adult frog.

Transformation is the thread that connects and repels. As living beings we change, grow and are transformed by events, relationships, emotions, experiences. Change is constant, this is both difficult and refreshing. In my studio practice I engage with plant fibers that are transformed by heat, water, movement, color and me. These paperworks are all made of plant fibers, they will continue to absorb the moisture in the air, the ambient light and the mood of the viewer.

This old mill is being transformed, this Park is becoming a place of shared experiences, laughter and conversation, music and art, meeting of minds. I am fortunate to be involved in the nourishing life of the people and the plants here. Sheryl Jaffe is an artist, papermaker, swimmer and teacher residing in Ludlow, MA.



COMING SOON- Detail of “What Do You See, Little Frog?” monoprint on artist made handmade paper, 65” x 140”.

KPC Member Margherita Crystal Lotus Publishes New Coloring Book, Where Heart Touches Matter

Margherita Zondrak is an Intuitive Business Mentor, Author and a Creative Artist working with clients who want to make their heart centered business & life highly successful. She is the author of: The Crystal Lotus Handbook - An Essential Guide to Crystals. Her work in the Khandroling Paper Cooperative involves traditional book arts and product development. For further information visit her website at www.thecrystallotus.com

Her coloring book. Where Heart Touches Matter is now available from Amazon, here.

[Margherita at work in the paper studio, photo by Jacqueline Gens, 2014]

[Some of Margherita's books made from KPC Papers]

 [Margherita's donated crystal wands in handmade box at KPC]

Mindfulness Origami Program at Khandroling Paper Cooperative and the Lotus Blossom Origami Project

[Small Lotus created at Summer Celebration, August 2016]

Brenda Lilly, a founding member of Khandroling Paper Cooperative and long time resident of Conway, MA  will offer a monthly Mindfulness Origami Club at Tsegyalgar to celebrate our participation in the 250th anniversary of Conway during the summer of 2017. We will be introduced to a variety of forms over the year beginning the second thursday on November 10, 2016 from 5:00-6:30 PM. 

The first meeting  is Thursday, November 10, 5:00-6:30 PM at 18 Schoolhouse Road, Conway, MA 01341 in the LIbrary

[Brenda instructing Francine in the Lotus folds|

Mindfulness is good for our bodies, mind and energy. When you combine mindfulness with Origami, the art of paper folding,  you begin to relax giving your mind a sense of purpose free from distractions. While folding a particular model your awareness and concentration heightens. During the folding process you are  centered while creating something with your hands. Even the simplest fold offers a feeling of fulfillment while allowing your mind to be present in the moment.The end result gives you an awareness of accomplishing something that can raise your self-esteem whether a simple box or a complex challenge. --Brenda Lilly

[Brenda with Diana Sullivan Nancy Paris during Summer Celebration, photo by Kathleen Fekete]

The Lotus Lantern

Brenda's unique lotus with the Mani mantra

Brenda at our first Gallery Show, in Shelburne Falls, MA  2013

Brenda Lilly writes: "Origami has been a personal passion of mine for over 24 years. As an art educator I began learning folds that I could teach to my students. Over time and through influences from other artists I now fold with hand made papers, a variety of simple to complex designs, and incorporate the models into a work of art. The idea of sharing my accumulated knowledge inspires me to infect other people with the magic of creating something 3-dimensional with a flat piece of paper.

[Left to right: Rita Kaiser, Brenda Lilly and Nancy Paris, Summer Celebration, 2016]

[Diana and Jen from Milwaukee photo by Kathleen Fekete, Summer Celebration]

During our Summer Celebration Retreat in August 2016, Dzogchen Community participants had an opportunity to try their hand at making origami Lotus blossoms under KPC member, Brenda Lilly's instruction. The pictures speak for themselves. 

***
Join us for our monthly mindfulness of origami club