Last spring I received a random phone call from a woman named Paulette Shanklin who lived on the Oregon coast and had gotten my name from the folks who run the Newport Paper Arts Festival every April, where I had recently co-taught a class on paper casting with my friend Cynthia Griffin. Paulette said she was moving to San Miguel de Allende, in the state of Guanajuato Mexico, and she asked me if I wanted to purchase her mongo paper pulping machine…? I had no idea if I wanted it as I didn’t know what it was – she emailed some photos of an item that basically consisted of a hug plastic washtub suspended in a rolling cart with a garbage disposal attached to the bottom with a big hose that could feed right back into the tub. Feeling super surrounded with stuff, I hesitated, but my husband, Brya,n encouraged me to buy it. “75 bucks”, he said “you should get it”. Adding the thought that I’ve always wanted to have a garbage disposal with a toggle switch that could send the grinds to compost pit, I figured if nothing else I would have the mother of all mulching devices for the garden. Add in that Paulette would deliver it to our front door on her way south with her U-Haul, it was a done deal.
Paula’s arrival was a bit stressful for her, couldn’t find the key to the storage part of the truck, her little doggie was stressed, and her kitty had run away during the packing , which understandably worried her. But we embraced her spirit, got her to laugh as we unloaded the device, and sent her on her way with the best of wishes. In later contact with her, we learned her kitty was found and new home arranged, so whew on that.
Once August rolled around the fever started. I gathered a couple of bags of iris leaves, chopped them up into two inch pieces, and when the weekend was right, soaked them overnight.
Paula’s arrival was a bit stressful for her, couldn’t find the key to the storage part of the truck, her little doggie was stressed, and her kitty had run away during the packing , which understandably worried her. But we embraced her spirit, got her to laugh as we unloaded the device, and sent her on her way with the best of wishes. In later contact with her, we learned her kitty was found and new home arranged, so whew on that.
Once August rolled around the fever started. I gathered a couple of bags of iris leaves, chopped them up into two inch pieces, and when the weekend was right, soaked them overnight.
and then cooked them outside with some washing soda. (Apparently soda ash is what I want eventually, but haven’t located it yet). I cooked the leaves about 3 hours, they turned very dark brown. Rinsed them and plopped the cooked leaf material in the sink, added water, and turned it one. Zah! I had to admit it took some time to run it through several times, but pulp was the result.
I created a ton of pulp, especially after adding some cotton fiber. In retrospect I wish I had done more pure leaf pulp, but I’m an inexperienced paper maker, and there’s an art to sheeting, that I can say I am developing, especially after a second round.
Here’s the results of the Iris Leaf Paper Making Day. I will share my first use of this gorgeous paper in a future blog.
Here’s the results of the Iris Leaf Paper Making Day. I will share my first use of this gorgeous paper in a future blog.