Our KPC Logo/Seal/Chop

Many Thanks to Harold Graves, secretary of Tsegyalagr East, for creating our logo for Khandroling Paper Cooperative

My First Handmade Calligraphy Paper

I used one of Sheryl Jaffe's handmade mould and deckle sets to create tradittional calligraphy paper from Kozo and Ping Tang hand beaten fibers. The mould measures 27 inches horizontally which makes it suitable for writing text or mantras.

I was very happy with the results. In the next batch I will add gold flecks and sacred substances for calligraphy paper.

I also experimented with some decorative elements by adding dark iris fibers.


Here's the final result of our five foot scroll made using the floating Nepalese mould. Many Thanks to Sheryl Jaffe for introducing this marvelous low-tech method to us. Next I will be testing the ink absorption qualities. We did not size these pieces.

Khandroling Paper Cooperative Makes Calligraphy Paper for Chögyal Namkhai Norbu

[Chögyal Namkhai Norbu at the Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy in Moscow]

In preparation for Chögyal Namkhai Norbu`s arrival at Tsegyalgar East, Khandroling Paper Cooperative, prepared its first batch of fine calligraphy papers for his use while here in June.

On Saturday, April 27, 2013, Naomi Zeitz and Jacqueline Gens headed out to Sheryl Jaffe's paper studio for a paper making date.  Sheryl is a new member of our community and the main instructor for the papermaking cooperative.

Before our arrival, Sheryl had cooked up a batch of Kozo and started up the critter to which we added some Khandroling pulp and some already cooked and beaten Ping Tang pulp from Carriage House papers, which is known for its fine ink absorption quality good for traditional calligraphy throughout Asia.

Here's Naomi holding up our hand beaten Kozo ready to add to one of our vats under Sheryl's marvelous outdoor paper making pavilion made entirely from long-lastign locust branches

We usually work with several vats of  differnet pulps combining both hand beaten fibers and pulp made in our portable  hollander beater. That day we had cooked and beaten Iris, Kozo, linen or flax beaten in our critter adding the mitzumata. We made a number of different sizes from standard to sheets a couple of feet long for Rinpoche to use.

After a few hours of turning out dozens of papers with our various moulds and deckles and different fibers,  Sheryl suggested that we make a few large sheets in her Nepalese-style mould. Here is the water bath constructed out of 2 x 4s and plastic to float the mould before adding pulp.

She then added pulp made in the critter to the mould

This method is very low tech and a variation that is used throughout Asia. Sheryl learned it attending a demo held at one of the Dard Hunter Conferences.









The next simple step is to agitate the pulp and make sure it is distributed evenly. Here she is paying special attention to the edges and corners to make sure there is enough pulp.

Once we evened out the pulp before lifting the mould, Sheryl then place some wooden dowels in the center so that the sides would remain stable instead of buckling under the weight of the heavy wet pulp.

There's no photo of the two of us lifting the heavy water logged mould from the bath but here we've balanced the mould so that it can drain

thoroughly before we dry it upright in the sun. To help facilitate the draining, she used her wet shop vac to pull the water from the screen holding the pulp in the mould. The screen is nothing fancy but curtain material tacked onto the wooden mould.

Stay tuned for the finished papers from this session. Normally we would add recycled Mirrors to our pulp as part of our mission to recycle sacred texts. In this instance, with everything in storage, we trust that Rinpoche himself will empower the paper should he use it.


For the latest info and schedule of events, visit Khandroling Paper Cooperative

To read about the amazing world of Tibetan fonts and calligraphy visit Tashi Mannox's fine website.





Coming soon our 7 foot mould donated to KPC!

Spring Hours and Programs Coming Soon

Well, here's our entire operation in storage. Many Thanks to Harold, Dave Hayes and Tom Burton for transporting everything to the storage unit

Many Thanks to the Dzogchen Community for hosting us this past winter in their basement, now being prepared for the upcoming retreats with Chogyal Namkhai Norbu.

Khandrolng Paper Cooperative will have a booth at the retreat with Chogyal Namkhai Norbu at 18 Schoolhouse Rd. in Conway from June 7-12 with lots of products to sell. Summer and fall workshops TBA

Recent News from Mark Lander via the Yahoo Papermaking Group

Here's a recent message from Mark Lander, the creator of the amazing "critter" that has so enhanced the lives of papermakers and artists all over the world. The simplicity of his 'hollander' beater design combined with it's low price has opened up the field of professional papermaking.  A lively man, we always enjoy his missives, news and interesting developments.

Here's his most recent message:

Hi everyone,
A big Hi from the South Island in New Zealand where it is Autumn, all the trees are changing color here, so so beautiful.

Finally I have my papermaking set up around the back of my new studio shed, the big pond vat is full up with 4000 litres of water, huge moulds are out in the sun drying. You know, hmmm ...what I really want is some of those big plastic pallets to lay across the ground to walk on so things don't get too muddy.

So, down I went to the local Council recycling depot where you can find that sort of thing, talking to the man, I said I wanted them for papermaking stuff, he looked at me oddly and said... 'Hey you! you're that papermaking Dude, the boss wants to see you immediately, follow me right now' OK I'm thinking what have I done, last time they accused me of sabotaging the town sewer system, that wasn't me, honest.

Turns out they have an idea, Yes turning toxic waste into beautiful bunches of handmade paper flower arrangements... they have people and funding but have not a clue as to how to go about it, they need expertise, and have been ringing my old 'cut off' phone number for weeks, and here I turn up, in their town, wandering across the their own back yard!
So So, out with the trusty rag cutter, (the one everyone said was a danger to the human race), the Critter Hollanders are churning away, a cotton and flax mix will be just right, hundreds of moulds (that I can't tell you about because i had to... 'sigh' ...sign a confidentiality agreement) the dye vats, the georgeous colors, the upside down volley ball nets to hang stuff up to dry, the creative brain steaming away, my studio looks like the eighth botanical wonder of the world, The results are more beautiful than anyone ever imagined, see see I keep telling you... Papermaking is Awesome!

Good News I have the Critter Project up and running well again , things got interesting with one that got stuck in Russian customs and has been around the world twice (which is an interesting story with a happy ending ... apart from selling my old truck for food!) so I am having a Northern Hemisphere 'Get set up for Spring' promotion. I have a 2lb capacity machine ready to go this coming week with no ones name on it yet, almost at the grinding in stage..Yay! More to come.

Interesting Critter Facts: ...I am up to machine #358, end to end they now stack higher than the Empire State building.
... The Price of a Critter is still the same in NZ$ dollars as they were 11 years ago... I have just got more efficiant in making them!

Thanks everyone, Best Wishes from Mark.

Yahoo has two main Hand Papermaking groups to join including the Hollander Beater papermaking group if you are interested or own a critter. Both have extensive resources online!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PaperMaking/
http://groups.yaahoo.com/group/Hollander_Beater/

Last Call for this Season

Khandroling Paper Cooperative will be packing up for the next three months while Jacqueline Gens is on semi-retreat at Tara Mandala in Pagosa Springs, CO volunteering in their "Living Dharma" program. Many Thanks to Tsultrim Allione for making this possible. I look forward to seeing old friends during the next few months.

The paper cooperative will resurface sometime in June at Tsegyalgar East in Conway, MA to coincide with Chögyal Namkhai Norbu's June retreats June 7-12, 2013 followed by his Santi Maha Sangha training.

Last weekend--an undergraduate student in education at Fitchberg State contacted us to make paper for a school project. Sonia and her friend Eric made different colored papers representing the five elements which will go towards making paper lungta that Sonia will later hand stencil for her presentation. Hope we see some images of the final outcome. Since they had no background in papermaking, they were introduced to the process via the famous Arnold Grummer Blender/Pour mould method--fail proof and wonderfully fun. After a couple of hours they graduated to a western- style mould and deckle making paper with ease from newly beaten linen pulp in our Critter earlier that morning.  [See below].

Harold Graves, the Tsegyalgar East secretary also stopped by to make paper from newly beaten linen and mitsumata fiber. [See below].

Thank you everyone for your support. Visit our blog again for updates on new products and activities over the next few months.

Jacqueline Gens
February 18, 2013

Conway, MA

Losar Greetings Year of the Water Snake

So this is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius
That long awaited communitas, with its panacea of universal love
Destined to unlock hard hearts.

Let the water snakes torpedo with their periscopic heads
As they propel us into sights beyond the norm to shed
Fixations, mental concepts and mean thoughts, our usual
Stale fare.

Let’s take our daily frights into the realm of self-manifest
Iridescence
Shed a skin; trade our complacency for wisdom mind
Wake to never ending freshness
And the minds true liberation

May all beings unearth the bounty of their innate treasure
And share in the grace of harmony
Released at last when love will steer the stars. 


Jacqueline Gens
Dawn
Tsegyalgar East
February 11, 2013 

Recent Pulp Painting Works

If you would like to see some of the work Naomi and I made during our recent workshop at Dieu Donne, visit this link on our Tsegyalgar East Community Blog.

Slide Show of our January Workshop

As psrt of our ongoing educational programs in papermaking, our January workshop with Sheryl Jaffe focused on Inclusions. We used a variety of pulps to make gorgeous translucent papers to which we added many different kinds of inclusions for laminating. embossing and collaging. We also began to conceptualize our Spring installation and show. Stay tuned for updates on February and March programming.

Our Visit to Dieu Donne

On Tuesday evening, Naomi and I attended a great workshop on pulp painting at Dieu Donne Paper mill in NYC where we finally got an in depth intro to mixing pigments with pulp. Our work from the workshop is still there drying but we can upload the results when we receive the paper we made back.. We hed traveled via megabus just for the three hour advanced workshop!

Well, guess we'll be beating more linen for ten hours to have some colored pulps on hand for our January workshop.

Next Workshop January 26 & 27 with Brenda Lilly & Sheryl Jaffe

LOCATION:
18 Schoolhouse Road
Conway, MA
413-522-1125 for further information or to register

Please join us for our January Workshop (Jan 26 & 27) which continues the exploration of the creative process of papermaking including the many uses of hand made paper by our master teachers,  Brenda Lilly and Sheryl Jaffe.

By arrangement with the instructors, this workshop has a special  donations payment plan according to each person's financial situation. The purpose is to continue to instruct interested individuals in the paper making process so they feel comfortable to work in the studio on their own.  People coming from out of town can request from the geko if they can stay in the Tsegyalgar East dorm for a fee. Write David Hayes at geko@tsegyalgar.org. 

If you want to learn how to make paper, here's an opportunity

SCHEDULE

Saturday, January26
Drop-in Origami Class with Brenda Lilly
9:00 A-Noon Come by and learn how to make a Lotus Flower Box, Traditional Crane, Brochure Box, or a variety of bird folds. She will have paper and directions for these projects and more. Come by and expand your imagination and go home with beautiful objects made from paper! CHILDREN WELCOME

 Saturday, January 26, 2013

1:00 PM-4:00 PM (and morning session beginning at 10:00 AM)
Inclusions Papermaking with Sheryl Jaffee
Participants can choose to learn about making pulp or attend Brenda's session on origami in an open studio environment where she will guide each person in a project of their choice.

INCLUSIONS with Sheryl Jaffe

Bring threads, old linens, prayer flags or ??  We can make kozo and cotton with inclusions and seaweed calligraphy.  We can talk about how paper is about communication and community.  Maybe any interested folks could stop in at any time. 10-4 Sat & 10-3 Sunday.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

INCLUSIONS continued

10:00 AM-3:00 PM with Sheryl Jaffee
optional studio time after 3:00 PM

Lunch breaks usually are pot-luck

Space is limited so please register early by contacting Jacqueline Gens at jaqueline.gens@gmail.com

The 2012 Swatch Swap Book is Here

Khandroling Paper Cooperative is part of an international papermakers Swatch  Swap  book with samples of paper accompanied with their descriptions. Both Sheryl Jaffee and Jacqueline Gens submitted 70 samples of their paper to include in the handmade books sponsored this year by the Canadian Paperdreamers of Quebec.  Each book was handmade and handsewn with all the paper samples. These Swatch Swaps grew out of a very active Yahoo papermaking discussion group that is the go to  place for information about handmade paper.

Here are samples of Sheryl's two submissions:

Horsetail

Sheryl also experimented with using old prayer flags as part of our ethos of recycling sacred text. Sheryl has participated in these swaps for years. These books are a great resource which we studied from Sheryl's library of past Swatch books for inspiration and ideas.

Finally, here is my humble submission under Khandroling Paper Cooperative -- a real plain Jane, as they say,  made with hand-beaten Kozo and recycled Mirrors while on retreat at Khandroling this past August. One day I cooked the fibers, then rinsed with pond water and finally hand beat. I liked air drying the paper which I later pressed in an antique book press. We had not received our Mark Lander hollander beater yet and I did not have access to a blender. However, Kozo proved a marvelous fiber to work with.

Dakini Script

I've heard of this kind of script used to communicate  special "Terma" (Treasures) to Tertons (Treasure Holders). I found this sample on Facebook: 

Terma revelation by Terton Migyur Dorje, written in dakini script (yellow letters outlined in orange on blue background). "Those who see this script will not experience the three lower realms and will be liberated from the fear of falling into the lower realms; will be purified of the five poisons and freed from the results of one's karma; will be freed from the fear of remaining in samsara."--terma revelation of Terton Migyur Dorje. --from the following online source

 I was intrigued by the way the letters are interconnected and appear to dance across the page. I  once met a woman who had a connection with the late Dudjom Rinpoche (1904-1987). One day he showed her many small pieces of thin yellow paper with "Dakini Script" which appeared as incomprehensible scribbles. The Terton is able to decipher this writing and unfold whole Teachings that were embedded from an earlier era or from another realm.

Chögyal Namkhai Norbu founder of the International Dzogchen Community is a Terton and our retreat land, Khandroling, the location of many of his Terma related to the Vajra Dance.

Here's an interesting article about another teacher of mine, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche's early terma which describes the yellow scrolls recovered by CTR.

As this particular page is the most frequented page on this blog, I enclose a link to the very interesting site http://www.dakiniscripts.at/dedicated to Dakini Scripts,

Trace Foundation on Tibetan Calligraphy

In September 2012 The Trace Foundation featured a Tibetan Calligraphy event in NYC to a full house.

For fifteen hundred years the Tibetan plateau has been home to a unique calligraphic culture, due both to a large population of monks who were expected to copy sacred texts and to technological development slowed by decades of geographic and political isolation. That’s why, as we become a part of a networked, plugged-in world—and as we spend more and more hours in front of computer screens—Trace Foundation was so excited to see a full and lively house for an event we held celebrating the heritage and techniques of this unique traditional art. We were particularly pleased to see so many parents bring their children to deepen understanding of their heritage.

On Saturday, September 29, 2012, Mipham Namgyal Rinpoche, a highly regarded artist, designer, calligrapher, and tulku (a reincarnated Tibetan lama) traveled to us from the Wamlung Dongak Chökorling Monastery in Kyegudo, Qinghai, to give a lecture and demonstration on his art form. Even before guests arrived, the Library came to life as he unrolled his work and as we hung up the work of special guests calligrapher Phuntsok Dhumkhang and library director Pema Bhum.

 To read more, visit:
http://www.trace.org/news/full-house-calligraphy-event#.UNQkK4VnOqQ

Please check back for the dates of our ongoing Tibetan calligraphy class in Conway< MA at the yellow schoolhouse. 

What's New at Khandroling Paper Cooperative: Open Studios of Late

Lately, our open studios have been graced by many visitors and enthusiastic artists stopping by to make art and learn more about the handmade paper process. Kathy O'Connor (photo background) from New York City saw our pile of scraps destined for the Critter and suggested  we reserve these lovely and luminesent paper scraps for making collages. She used a wooden  picture frame ($1.00 from Michael's) which she collaged and finished with a picture of Mandarava or Goma Devi.

Kathy also helped us finish one of our orders for Japanese style  wallets which we learned to make from Sheryl in our last workshop. These are extremely labor intensive with many steps such as making the paper from start to finish, dying pigments for pulp painting or stenciling,  cutting the wallet out from our paper using a template,  gluing, pressing, drying, scoring the final folds, and coatin with methyl cellulose.  We listened over and over on her Mac Book Pro to  Gurbani Kirtan singer,  Hari Bhajan Kaur.

Margarita  (photo foreground) from Ontario, at Tsegyalgar East for a retreat with her friend Yulia also from Ontario,  revealed her extraordinary talent for precision in making us a variety of book and folder templates. She also had numerous ideas for product development.

Here she is measuring out a template for a folder to hold practice texts--something we all coveted when finished.  We look forward to working with Margarita on developing some excellent products
to go into our Etsy store we are working on.

It's so great to work together with so many different people who bring their unique skills to the studio. Making art is fun but making together is even more fun especially in the context of our community.

On a volunteer note:

*Thank you Harold for your donation of overhead lighting and installing them. It's made a huge difference.

*Thanks Nary for routing our dehumidifier hose into a nearby drain pipe so we don't have to empty the five gallon bucket every other day.

*Thanks again to Nary  for fixing the heating blower in our studio.

WISH LIST
** A used refridgerator with freezer
**Fantasy wish list:  An etching or letter press for embossing papers
**Apple product boxes
**sacred substances (contact us what this means)

Stay tuned for our upcoming winter and spring workshop schedules that we are working on now. In the works-- a Beginning Tibetan Calligraphy class and more to come.....

In January Naomi and I will be taking a course at Dieu Donne Papermill in NYC to increase our knowledge of watermarks, pigment preparation and pulp painting.

And yes--one more thing --- the 2012 swatch book is completed. Khandroling Paper Coopertive will be one of 70 international papermakers presented in the hand-made book, a tradition that allows papermakers to share their work annually and, better yet, their recipes which is very educational. Our entry called "Plein Aire" is a hand beaten kozo paper made while on retreat at Khandroling.

Everyone have a great holiday!

Papermaking in Tibet

A SHORT FILM ON TIBETAN PAPERMAKING from Chinese TV in English.

Slide Show from our November 18 Origami and Simple Gifts Workshop

Tuesday Open Studio November 13

Greetings Everyone

This morning I opened our Carriage House order with lots of fibers, color additives and 2 new moulds and deckles to add to our collection. Some of our booty above. Tomorrow, I'll be in the paper studio 1:00 PM-5:00 PM after spending the morning on Khandroling photographing the new road and the space around the vajra hall

Not sure what I will do tomorrow afternoon in the studio but join me if you have some free time.
I was thinking of a long beating time for Abaca to experiment with some colors for pulp painting and making some stencils for watermarking. There's lots of linen to cut up for the critter and some Kozo that needs hand beating.

Sheryl Jaffe's work will be in the Zea Mays Print Fair North Show

Sheryl Jaffe's work will be shown at the Zea Mays Printmaking Cooperative show Print Fair North in Florence, MA the weekend of November 10-11.


Print Fair North @ zea mays printmaking

New Location: 320 Riverside Drive, Florence, MA 01062

November 10–11, 2012

10am–5pm @ Zea Mays Printmaking


Hundreds of original fine art prints by studio artists for sale at studio (not gallery) prices. Printmaking demonstrations throughout the day. Raffle for prints and workshops.

Sheryl is one of our main advisors and instructors at the Khandroling Paper Cooperative. During our October Harvest workshop Sheryl showed us examples of prints she made at the Zea Mays studio using her handmade paper. We look forward to experiment with  printmaking using our own papers.

Some Examples of Encaustic Paintings Made from Khandroling Papers

This past weekend I attended an Encaustic Painting workshop by Julia Jensen at the River Gallery School in Brattelboro, Vermont. I was hoping to explore this medium as a means to use with our decorative Khandroling papers. I wasn't disappointed.

The piece below was a simple thin piece of Kozo paper with an experiment of using sea weed stenciling. The letters failed to emerge but I liked the dots. I then added India ink with a small calligraphy brush. I love to add gold leaf for richness--a bit of an affectation. Sorry for the poor photo
quality from my IPad but the Kozo was simply mounted on board with pva glue. Every fiber can be seen. I was astonished at the strength of the paper to hold the india ink and the ability of the layered wax to convey the actual brush strokes with great clarity. I can't wait to experiment further.

Here is another sample of unadorned paper simply mounted on board with two layers of wax applied with buffing by hand in between. The paper already had a somewhat figurative look to it with a combination of inlaid semi beaten fibers and pulp painting with seaweed.

I can't wait to show everyone some of these methods at our open studios on either Tuesday or Saturdays!

Jacqueline Gens

Tibetan Art Lecture and Two-day Workshop with Penba Wangdu

The Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations and the Shang Shung Institute for Tibetan Studies are happy to announce a weekend dedicated to exploring and experiencing Tibetan art under the guidance of one of Tibet’s leading artists.

Friday 11/9/2012

Lecture on Tibetan art and art history by Penba Wangdu

Webster 220, 6 PM

https://www.amherst.edu/aboutamherst/visiting/map

Free and open to the public

Penba Wangdu was born in Shigatse, Tibet, in 1969. He studied fine art at Tibet University, taught at the Lhasa Normal School and began teaching at the Art Department of Tibet University in 1994. In 2000, he studied at the Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing, where he specialized in mural painting. From 2002 to 2005 he studied for his MA in Tibetan Fine Arts at the School of Arts, Tibet University. An artist of international renown, he lives in Lhasa.

11/10-11/2012

Two-day Workshop on Tibetan thangka painting

An experienced art teacher at Tibet University, and a recognized and well-sought master in the art of Thangka painting, Penba Wangdu will introduce participants, on the first day, to the basics of drawing and proportions in thangka painting. On Sunday, in the second part of the workshop, participants will learn more about coloring and composition.

You can see examples of Penba Wangdu here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/commongroundsproject/sets/72157625796924279/

Workshop Times:

11/10 10 AM-12 AM and 2 PM- 5 PM

11/11 10 AM-12 AM

Location of workshop: Webster 220

https://www.amherst.edu/aboutamherst/visiting/map

The workshop is free for Five College students and staff. For the general public a minimum donation of $ 20 per session is recommended. All profit will go to the Shang Shung Institute for Tibetan Studies. For more information and registration for the workshop, please contact secretary@shangshung.org.

Open Studio Times at Tsegyalgar East

Khandroling Paper Cooperative is happy to announce Open Studio times. Come learn the art of hand papermaking in our yellow schoolhouse studio located in the basement of Tsegyalgar East. Payment is currently by donation with a portion going towards the Dzogchen Community projects or Shang Shung and to cover materials used.

Tuesdays from 1:00 PM-5:00 PM or by appointment during any weekday (1-4 PM)
All day Saturday 10:00 AM-5:00 PM except during scheduled workshops or Dzogchen Community special events.

Open studio will make available the following activities: cooking fibers outdoors, beating fibers, use of the hollander beater (our "critter") or blenders for preparing pulp, making personal moulds and deckles, creating handmade books, calligrpahy and encaustic collages from our handmade paper and sharing information. No previous experience necessary.

A list of things to bring:

Fibers: Any dried fibers you want to cook and beat as an experiment--corn husks, cattails, ginko leaf,  or you can buy kozo here to make Japanese style papers.

Cotton rags, linen or blue jeans cut into small postage size pieces here or at home

Recycled sacred texts

If you would like to work at other times or one on one, please contact Jacqueline Gens at 413-522-1125 or jacqueline.gens@gmail.com

Traditonal Papermaking in Tibet

Visit this link to view a great video on traditional papermaking in Tibet at the Dege Printing House as part of the Rubin Museum's exhibit "Iluminated the Art of Sacred Books."


http://blip.tv/rubin-museum-of-art/paper-making-the-art-of-sacred-books-6127712

black ground manuscript page circa 11th-12th century with silver and gold inks

November 18, 2012 Workshop Origami and Simple Gifts with Sheryl Jaffe and Brenda Lilly

KHANDROLING PAPER COOPERATIVE

Origami and Simple Gifts with Sheryl Jaffe and Brenda Lilly 

Join us for a fun day making holiday gifts with paper

WHEN: Sunday, November 18 2012*
10:00 AM-5:00 PM

* If you would like to make your own paper prior to the workshop, contact Jacqueline for open studio times. 

LOCATION:
Shang Shung Library
Khandroling Paper Cooperative
18 Schoolhouse Road
Conway, MA 01341

COST: $75/$50** includes all materials
**Low income option

TO REGISTER: Contact Jacqueline Gens
jacqueline.gens@gmail.com or 413-522-1125
LIMITED to 12 participants

Origmai: My name is Brenda Lilly, a resident of Conway for 18 years, and an origami artist for over 22 years. Throughout my artistic ventures I have combined handmade papers into my art, either by folding the papers or using them as a backdrop for my pieces. This workshop will focus on boxes, and simple birds, and or fish. One box in particular is the Brochure Box, yes it uses brochures from museums or events. The more colorful they are with less words the better. If you do come across some collect 8 of them for one box. I will be bringing some along too. I can also accommodate special interests if people want to learn something specific fold, such as the popular peace crane. E-mail request at least a few days ahead of time to: lillyhill@rcn.com.

Simple Gifts:  Handmade paper wallets, star books and simple books/cards.  Fold, print and stamp colors and messages into paper.  Personal items you'll want to keep close for years to come, bring joy to yourself and others, holiday ideas become beautiful sturdy paper items that feel like leather. Join us for a day of fun with fiber. Sheryl Jaffe

Sheryl (left) and Brenda at the October Harvest Weekend.

Slide Show from Our October Harvest Weekend

We had a great weekend for our first workshop. Here's  a slide show. We will be announcing open studio times shortly.

First Pulp

Yesterday we finally got  Mark Lander's "critter" up and running thanks to Bret Bourman and Nary Mitchel. I loved hearing its  rumbles and thumbing.

In the wings a batch of cooked Iris and linen rags waiting for the beater.

Bret Bourman, the secretary of Shang Shung Institute figured it out.

The Critter is Here

Great News!

Our portable Hollander Beater aka the "Critter" has arrived from New Zealand.  The is a wonderful addition to our hand papermaking process as it will allow us to move beyond kitchen blenders to a more versatile means of making pulp.  With some help we will be assembling the small motor to get it up and running to make our first batch of cotton rag pulp within a couple of weeks and ready for our upcoming workshop in October 13 & 14.

We are currently collecting old Blue Jeans(100% cotton)  to make indigo colored paper and any 100% cotton rags, old underwear & T shirts, bed sheets, table cloths preferably in white but color OK too but keep separate. If you would like to contribute let me know and I can pick up your cotton rags. All contributors will receive a batch of our paper. You can also mail to me Jacqueline Gens, PO Box 171 Conway, MA 01341

These will need to be cut into 1 " postage stamp pieces to go into the Critter ( can be done with a rotary cutter as well as scissors). If you can't do this yourself, that's OK we can process the rags here. Also, it is important to fully wash the rag in hot water ONLY to remove any detergent.  Each batch needs about 1 1/4 pounds of rag to convert to enough pulp to keep us busy making paper all week long.

If you are interested in the process of hand made paper please join us for our work shop with Sheryl Jaffe October 13 & 14 or just stop by and visit us at the yellow schoolhouse in Conway to check it out. To learn more,  visit our blog at http://khandrolingpapers.blogspot.com/

Thank you Nary & Bret for all your help in assembling the Critter.

Harvest Papermaking Weekend Workshop DATES: October 13 & 14, 2012

Khandroling Papermaking Cooperative
Harvest Papermaking Workshop
October 13 & 14, 2012
With Sheryl Jaffe

WHERE: Tsegyalgar East Schoolhouse (Basement Studio) & Khandroling

18 Schoolhouse Road, Conway, MA 01341

HOURS: 9:00-5:00 PM each day

COST: $75*/$125 including materials * sliding scale for low-income

TO REGISTER OR FOR FURTHER INFO ABOUT THE WORKSHOP CONTACT: Call Sheryl at 413-585-9861 or email at sherylannjaffe@gmail.com

SCHEDULE:

1st Day Saturday, October 13 we will cover Fiber preparation and the marvels and history of paper. We will make some tools, cook, rinse, beat, blend and cut fibers in preparation for making paper on Sunday.

2nd Day Sunday, October 14 Making paper from a global perspective: su-geta, molds and deckles, floating molds of different sizes and shapes.

 We will explore kozo (mulberry), linen (flax), iris, ginko leaf, and corn, other fibers are welcome.

*Bring an apron and shoes that can get wet
*Bring a good pair of scissors, pen and paper for notes
*Bring something flat--a board or cookie sheet for transporting your wet sheets of paper home

 Local fibers make beautiful, unique, exotic papers for writing, drawing, printing, origami, cards, wallets, books, etc.

 INSTRUCTOR: Sheryl Jaffe MA, Art Education, 1992, University of Massachusetts, BS in Multicultural Art Education from the University Without Walls'1986. I began making paper about 20 years ago in order to create paper sculptures, this was a direct reaction to making sculptures in concrete. I needed to "lighten up". I was a potter in my early art career and I still think like a 3 dimensional person. Paper from plants to me is a sacred, tangible substance you can hold, see light pass through, create and receive messages with. When I am making paper I am so happy, watching the fibers come together, swirl around in the water and form such strong substances. I now live in Ludlow and I teach in Northampton where I work with inventive, creative high school students and teachers. I continue to be fascinated by form, light, nature and people. My art creativity finds expression in making handmade paper and using it to form sculptures, photographs, installations and books. My regular creativity finds expression in my teaching, gardening, cooking and learning. I have been exhibiting my sculptures, installations, prints and photographs for the past 25 years.