Sustainable Papermaking, Paper from Plants

All paper comes from plants, but some sources are more sustainable than others. In this two day workshop with Master Papermaker Andrea Peterson, we will be focusing on creating handmade natural fiber paper in a sustainable manner. This class will give you focused and practical hands-on experience on how to take a fiber from your backyard and turn it into a usable handmade paper.

To expedite the process for a 2-day workshop, fibers are previously collected and dried. Some of the fibers we use will come directly from the Erie area, specifically for this workshop. We will discuss the process of collection and drying plants for paper vs. using fresh. We will cover precooking of fibers, options for energy sources for cooking, different caustics, understanding the cook process, beating possibilities, sheet forming and drying options. We will be expanding each one of these processes to cover multiple ways of working…