Paper, Lace and Light

Oxford Summer School runs for at week at the end of July, offering classes in arts, crafts, dance and music. This year I took a three day course with paper maker Jean Mould Hart entitled Paper, Lace and Light.
Working with a variety of pulps from recycled exhibition signs to the incredibly fine Kozo we produced a series of samples of textured and translucent papers.
Left is a sample of the 'paper' formed by teasing apart the wet fibres of Kozo pulp, this beautiful network rivals anything that can be made in bobbin lace and is remarkably strong when it is dry.
Abaca pulp was used to make this sheet of highly textured paper. Whilst still on the screen the pulp was subtly manipulated to produce this semi-translucent, highly textured result. The paper is even more interesting when back lit.
An open frame wrapped with cream coloured mohair yarn was dipped in abaca pulp and allowed to drip dry over a void to produce this wonderful three dimensional cobweb of paper.