Weekend Paper-Making Project

My scrap paper pile began overflowing this weekend so i decided to make some new hand-made paper. I had been wanting to do this for some time but i lacked the materials. I bought a screen that was originally intended for silk screen printing, but i decided it would be a better paper-making screen. And being a cheep skate i decided to make my own deckle.

Here i just ripped up my large sheets of paper into small pieces to blend into pulp. I use cotton paper for drawing and printing primarily so all of this paper is cotton paper. I recycle my paper from old test prints and drawings that i don't want. Its also nice working in a studio with other students because i get a lot of free paper when other students leave their trash around or throw their prints away--in short, i have LOTS of scrap that i get to create into new sheet for me.

I have been playing around with colored paper. I mixed acrylic paint with the paper pulp to dye the paper. Some of the colors are nice but its worth experimenting more. Another benefit to making my own paper is, I use a lot of rice paper in my intaglio prints (its called Chine Colle) and so by making my own paper, I can make it as thin or thick as i want making it cheaper for me. 

Pulling a sheet of paper out of the water.

My first batch of paper. I have more drying but these are the first to dry, be pealed off the plexiglass and ran through the press so they're flat and ready to be used again. Im excited because the size of the paper is large enough that i could make a few good size prints or books. The paper size is about 16" x 12"