I don’t make New Year’s resolutions but this year I’ve decided I want to start making paper again.
I first learnt to do this on my Design Bookbinding course, in Art school.
Paper is obviously integral to the art of traditional bookbinding for decorative use on covers and endpapers as well as the book block itself.
The quality and longevity of handmade paper is superior to machine made paper made from wood pulp. The natural deterioration of Lignin (the plant cells in machine made paper) causes the paper to become more acidic and breakdown.
Handmade papers are naturally acid free, it also lends itself to bookbinding because it is easier to use as there is no grain in the paper. (Machine made paper has a grain, much like wood. This needs to be taken into consideration when folding. The grain has to be parallel to the spine of the book in order for it to lay flat when opened.)
My other motivation for making my own paper is that it’s becoming increasingly hard to find and as a result, expensive.
Here is a photo of a comments book I made with my handmade Rhubarb paper 30 years ago. Rhubarb is particularly suited to the process as like papyrus it is fibrous and therefore more structurally robust.
This is my first blog post. It is also a special date – my daughter Elsie is 18 years old today.
Happy Birthday Elsie.