One of the highlights of my recent trip to Japan was spending time at the Awagami Paper Factory as part of a retreat with Paper Cloth Studio’s Jo Horswill. The aim was to learn how to make paper!
The Awagami factory is located in Nakagawa, in the Tokushima prefecture on the island of Shikoku. Today they produce a brand of washi (Japanese paper ) that preserves the traditions of Awa Washi, a specialty of the region with a long tradition, while also innovating with unique products that meet the needs of today.
We learned about the fibers used in paper making, how they are sourced and prepared at Awagami. Their traditional papers use fibers from the bark of the Kozo plant, a relative of the Mulberry, which has much longer fibers than other materials and is also used to weave fabric. This gives the resulting paper a strength and beauty of its own.
After a process of stripping, cooking, cleaning and beating the fibers are mixed with water and Neri a plant based starch that is used in making washi. We learned the basic or flowing water process where fine layers of pulp are built up in the screen to make a sheet of paper. As each sheet it done it is stacked and then at the end of the day slowly pressed to remove the excess water. The final step is to transfer the individual sheets to boards to be dried overnight. Once removed the finished paper can be sized or coated depending on its intended use.
After a demonstration of the process by one of Awagami’s master paper makers we had the opportunity to try for ourselves, with some hands on coaching! This was followed up the next day with time to work on our technique!
This is a physical exercise and not without its frustrations! but when technique and rhythm come together is is very satisfying! I came home with a stack of my own hand made paper and a selection of other papers from the Awagami shop! The temptations were many and irresistible!
While I am not planning to take up ‘paper making’ now I’m home, this experience has given me a new perspective and appreciation for the paper that I use in my art work.
I learned about …
the different fibers and combinations of fibers used in paper making
the additives and sizing/coating used in paper making and how this impacts on the performance of the paper and the things I can do with it
the range of papers available - Awagami make papers from 6gsm to 300 gsm as well as custom made papers for specific projects
and the special skills that go into making hand-made paper in general and Awa Washi paper in particular
The experience has also changed my mindset from seeing paper just as a surface to work on … to seeing my self as a mixed media/collage artist working with paper and on paper. Just like it is important to understand about the pigments and paints I use, it is really helpful to learn about the paper that is such an important component of my art.
The second half of the retreat was spent in the Print Studio at Awagami … more on that in an upcoming post!
Thanks for reading ……