Swans, Indeed!
Well, I am quite happy; the "paper towel" did transform under pressure and overnight where it lay beneath approximately 125 lbs of clay :) The weight helped to flatten out the waffle pattern left by the frame screen, and it no longer looks like paper towel! I am quite happy with the results, even if they are a bit more "crafty" than I anticipated. The next test will be to use ink on them (Angus!). Right now, however, I am enjoying their mere existence.
I thought I was done for the night, but as I was cleaning up, I came across a bowl of cardboard packing material that I had torn up and soaked in water. Inspired, I threw a handful in to the blender with some water and some left over flower petals and added this mix to the slurry.... this is the result! More Swans :)
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| Augmented slurry with cardboard and petal mixture. |
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| Petal Paper! |
I am pleased with the overall quality of the sheets, but Angus' comments about making paper that is "writeable" is stuck in my mind. I don't see this type of paper being particularly user friendly in this regard, so what to do?? Why make a bowl of course!
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| Wet paper moulded into bowl. |
I am using one of my own bowls made in my glaze testing class for the mould. It was reasonably simple to pat it into shape and any little tears were easily patched as the paper was still quite wet.
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| Bowl o'rice. |
I filled the bowl with rice for two reasons: to absorb moisture and to help the paper retain its shape as it dries. We will see if my theory holds any water, er rice, but in the meantime, I have been inspired (yet again) to make rag paper from an old pair of jeans. Stay tuned!
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| Paper samples thus far. Rag paper to come :) |
