One Thing Leads to Another

Have you ever worked with hand made paper ? It's just a wonderful material for all sorts of mixed media art. Just a few years ago I really knew nothing about it I just thought of it as something you used to make cards.

But there happened to be a unique shop in my town run by a couple of artists who sold hand made papers. I had browsed through a few times just to enjoy the beauty and serenity of the shop and meet the owners. I was intrigued by the stuff but didn't really see how it related to any of my work.

It wasn't long before I returned on a quest for something I could use for back drops for my window displays. And that began my journey of discovery of hand made papers. Working with them to create banners I learned to love the wonderful textures. And they are so versatile because you can paint on them, sew on them and bead them and more. I hand painted three banners with trees and beaded them with sequins for an award winning Christmas window for a gift shop. And I went on to create many unique banners for other display accounts. They were certainly getting peoples attention too because the store owners kept telling me people were wanting to buy them

Well one thing lead to another and before I knew it I was not just using them for my store displays I was sewing them into my wall hangings. And then I was ripping them for collage on canvas in my paintings. They created such unique textures, colors and layers that you just can't achieve with paint. I was officially hooked !

Hand made papers were not love at first sight for me but it's definitely a love affair now. I have storage drawers over flowing with them and have to restrain myself from buying more and more. So if you haven't experimented with hand made papers give it a try and see what you have been missing!