On Sunday, Oct 23, 2022, Free the Fern ran 3 eco-art workshop as part of our Grow Wild! event. Our second set of workshops, were two paper making workshops led by eco-artist, Joshua Ralph.
We began by creating a paper pulp using torn up pieces of scrap paper (flyers, paper bags, newspaper etc).
These pieces of paper were then mixed with water and blended using a really neat, portable, battery-powered blender.
This paper pulp was then dumped into a plastic bin of water. The process was repeated until the bin had a good mix of paper pulp and water.
Joshua then introduced how invasive plants and common weeds could be integrated into the paper making process. First, he took young ivy leaves and blended them in water, before adding them to the bin of pulp and water. Next he demonstrated how to add a mix of whole tansy sprigs, vetch leaves, and buttercup blossoms (with a few sprigs of grass thrown in for good measure).
The pulp, water, and plant mixture was ready to be transformed into paper! We dipped a framed screen into the bins, so that a thin layer of pulp, water, and plant mixture settled in the screen.
We then brought the screen with paper pulp and flipped it over onto a soft cotton fabric, sponging off as much water as we could from the back of the screen. We carefully, lifted the screen off, leaving the thin, wet paper laying on the cotton fabric.
Folding one side of the fabric over the wet paper, we used an iron to help press and dry the paper.
Once the paper became lighter, it was dry and ready to be peeled, carefully from the cotton fabric.
Voila! We had a beautiful piece of paper made from recycled paper pulp and plants!
Amazing!