More Phragmites Pulp

I tried to make more paper last week out of phragmites, but found that I wasn't getting enough pulp to cover the screen as I lifted it from the water - a clear sign that more pulp is needed. So I've spent a lot of time this week processing the last batch of dried phragmites collected last fall. (Note to self - next time you collect phragmites, separate the outer stalks from the inner stalks BEFORE you cut it into pieces.) As a result of not doing this the first time around, I've spent a lot of time picking through all the cuttings and pulling out the tough inner stalks as they don't break down no matter how many times I boil and chop them.

The whole phragmites process is time-consuming. It's not bad...just slow. First I boil the cuttings for 2-3 hours. Then I rinse it all and chop it in a blender. Then I boil it again for another 2-3 hours, rinse again, and then finally I chop it once more until it becomes a fine, consistent pulp. 

Picture 1 - cuttings after one boil. Picture 2 - cuttings after a boil and one time through the blender. 

Picture 3 - cuttings after a boil, a blend, another boil, and a final blend. 

Transfer Trials

I started testing photo transfers on my homemade paper. This is an image of the shadow of Cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum), a threatened plant species in Michigan, transferred onto paper made from the invasive plant Phragmites.

Here is the first transfer I made. I saturated the front and back of the paper with alcohol gel. As you can see, I used too much. The ink started running and bleeding through to the back of the paper, giving the image a blotchy appearance. NOT good. Also, I dried this piece of paper between two sheets of cotton and the wrinkles in the cotton made creases in the paper. My next experiment will be to dry the paper on Plexiglass so that it dries smoother on one side.

For the second run, I used less gel and applied it only to the top side of the paper. This time the image came out a lot cleaner. However, I spread the gel starting on the left and didn't get as much gel on the right side of the paper. This resulted in gaps in the ink. There are small gaps on the left as well, but this is due to the texture of the paper. Actually, I don't mind this as it gives the image an airy, ephemeral appearance and it works nicely with the theme of the project. Though I do think I can make the paper a bit smoother.

My husband took some pictures for me during the second transfer run. I should add here that I'm a bit embarrassed by the quality of all the images on this blog. I can only concentrate on one thing at a time and right now it's the paper-making process. My cheap point-and-shoot and iPhone will have to suffice.

Back to the process. The first step in the transfer process is printing a reverse image of the plant shadow onto special transparency film. I added a strip of painter's tape to one side of the transparency film so that my Epson 2400 inkjet printer would be able to read and pull it through.

I then applied Purell hand sanitizer to the paper and spread it first with my handy Pampered Chef scraper (which I had never used until now) and then with a brayer until the paper was completely covered. I now know that it's better to apply it to the top end of the paper and spread it downwards to spread it faster and more evenly. Gloves are worn because the gel sanitizer starts to liquify when you touch it and you don't want it to liquify until it makes contact with the transfer film.

The next step is placing the transparency film (ink side down) onto the paper, starting at one edge to avoid trapping air and causing bubbles.

A brayer is then used to apply pressure to the transparency film to release the ink. You roll it for about 1 minute and then gently remove the film. I actually lifted it up a little and put it back down a few times so I could roll it again to get more ink into the gaps, but because of the texture of the paper it just wouldn't absorb in some places.

I first learned the alcohol gel process from Melinda Pope at LCC and was immediately inspired. Later I was referred a book on photo transfers called Digital Alchemy by Bonny Pierce Lhotka. Bonny sells a transparency film which she developed specifically for this and other transfer processes. It's called DASS Transfer Film and it's available at www.digitalartstudioseminars.com. I purchased this film for the project and so far it has worked wonderfully!

I....have made...PAPER!!!!

I feel like Tom Hanks in the movie Cast Away after he builds his first fire.

I took a Hand Made Paper class this past weekend with Karen O'Neal at Lansing Art Gallery. It was an amazing class and a much needed confidence builder. I showed Karen the paper I had made out of phragmites (pictured in my last post) and she suggested maybe I hadn't cooked the stalks long enough before blending. She actually liked the paper, but we both agreed that it might be too rough to transfer an image onto the way I was envisioning. Anyway, I'm going to throw it back into the pot and give it another go in the coming weeks.

I had called Karen prior to the class to tell her of my paper woes, so she went ahead and brought me some of her own phragmites mixture to play with during the class. She's awesome! It gave me the perfect opportunity to both see what the pulp should look like and to give it a test run under ideal circumstances. Whenever I ran into a problem, she was there to answer my questions and give guidance. It was simply wonderful! I made eight pieces of paper with which I can begin to experiment the photo transfers onto.

THANK YOU KAREN FOR ALL YOUR HELP, INSIGHT, AND ENCOURAGEMENT! If anyone wants to learn how to make paper, Karen teaches both private and group classes at her studio, Out of Hand Papermaking Studio, in Ann Arbor. She's a great teacher, passionate about the process and about sharing it with others!

Paper?????

My husband thinks it looks like a door mat.

Over the last week, I've attempted to break down the phragmites stalks even more in the blender, but I was unsuccessful. So I decided to go ahead and make a sheet of paper anyway. Result: door mat. Later today I'll see paper artist Karen O'Neal and I'm hoping she can give me some guidance as to how to improve on this first run of phragmites paper.

Meanwhile, I'm prepping the buckthorn I collected along the river at Michigan State. I'm starting to realize that paper artists are an extremely patient group of people. That or I'm doing it wrong. I borrowed my husband's Swiss army knife and have been cutting away strips of bark from the branches (below). I've learned that any branch smaller than an inch in diameter is basically useless. On the other hand, anything bigger than 2 inches is tough and doesn't strip as well. (Good to know for my next collection outing.)

After I've removed the strips of bark from the branches, I then peel the outer bark away from the inner bark by hand. I could use both the inner and outer bark in my paper, but because I'm transferring an image onto it, I need it to be lighter in color and the outer bark will only make it darker. Again, this is a lot easier with strips from bigger branches. It's also a lot easier to separate these two layers within an hour of cutting them when they are still relatively moist. The pieces I had left out overnight had dried too much and were difficult to remove so I had to add a third step of soaking them in water in order to peel them.

My pile of inner bark is getting bigger, slowly but surely. I'm optimistic this paper will turn out better than the phragmites paper as the fibers are already easily coming apart even in the stripping process. My blender should have no problem chopping it all up. I can't wait to see if the paper will be more green or orange in color.

Making Paper

It has begun...well, sort of. 

I've never made paper before so a few months ago I contacted a long time family friend, Shirlee Aho Daulton at The Arthouse in Ottertail, Minnesota, for advice and insight. Shirlee was nice enough to send me some of her paper samples and processing tips. I also met with Karen O'Neal at Out of Hand Papermaking Studio in Ann Arbor. Karen lent me a mould an deckle and showed me several types of paper she had made from plants. Most recently I corresponded with May Babcock (http://maybabcock.wordpress.com/) regarding her experiments with making paper from Phragmites. What I have garnered from my discussions with each of these artists is that paper making is not an exact science and requires a lot of trial and error. 

I started with cutting the Phragmites stalks into pieces (now realizing I should have cut them shorter). I boiled them with soda ash for two plus hours, rinsing them afterwards for another 2 hours until the water ran clear. I tested the PH, which was normal and then started blending the material one cup at a time. This is where I ran into some difficulty. The Phragmites stalks are so thick and strong that my blender is unable to break them apart sufficiently. My first attempt at making a piece of paper resulted in thick clumps instead of a consistent film of pulp across the screen. I will spare you the picture of this unsightly scene.

This week my task is to figure out how to break the Phragmites down even further so I can make some paper.

Harvesting Invasives

On Thanksgiving Day I stopped on a roadside not far from my home to collect phragmites (Phragmites australis subspecies australis). I collected one basket of stalks with which to make the pulp. It doesn't seem like much, but I should be able to get a few pieces of paper out of it. In any case, there is plenty more if I run out. I was careful when removing the seed heads, so as not to distribute them elsewhere. They are bagged for burning at a later date.

Last week I met with Hope (below), a Botanical Technician at the W.J. Beal Botanical Garden, to collect common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica). We walked along the Red Cedar River across from the Michigan State University football stadium. Volunteers have been removing buckthorn along the riverbank there for many years, but it's a constant battle.

Hope showed me how to identify buckthorn and was kind enough to help me remove a good amount of it. Thank you Hope!!! I will definitely be going back with my saw to gather more after the first few rounds of paper making. Have I mentioned that I've never made paper before? More on that in my next post.

Margaret Welsch and the Michigan Nature Association

During my visit to Welsch Nature Preserve, I discovered that Margaret Welsch is President of the Michigan Nature Association. The MNA is a nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to protecting Michigan's rare, threatened and endangered plant species and the critical habitats that support them. They have successfully built a network of more than 170 nature sanctuaries across Michigan. I was quite embarrassed that I hadn't heard of the organization before that day, and am so very grateful for that moment of serendipity.

On the day of my visit, Margaret had expressed a lot of interest in my endangered plant photography project and mentioned that some of the other MNA members would, too. However, nothing prepared me for her phone call the following day. She informed me that MNA would be contributing $1,000 to support the project. In addition, they wanted to include an article about it in their Michigan Nature magazine. 

Last week I met with staff and board members from the Michigan Nature Association: Garret Johnson (Executive Director), Margaret Welsch (President), Aubrey Golden (Vice President), and Paul Steiner (Operations Director). It was an exciting meeting as we discussed ideas for further collaboration with the project. It is an honor to be in the company of amazing people who are dedicated to making the world a better place.

THANK YOU to Margaret Welsch and the MNA staff and Board of Trustees! I am truly honored to have your support and look forward to helping spread the word about protecting Michigan's endangered plant species and special natural areas. 

Check out MNA's informative website www.michigannature.org for a county-by-county list of its sanctuaries, for information on education opportunities in the area, and how you can help.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!