Most of my work lately has been centered around learning and experimenting with new materials. One piece that I am particularly interested in involves handmade paper infused with string as well as a stained glass frame.

To do this, I worked with wet paper pulp, building up layers of carefully placed string. To ensure the string was infused in the sheet and also create more dimension, I added layers of indigo dyed pulp and un-dyed pulp.

I enjoy the process of expressive continuous line drawings in ink, which was interesting to transfer into a physical line of a string infused in the paper, making the drawing permanent from the creation of the paper rather than born a machine cut blank sheet and acted on later. At its core it is also entirely recycled material, which is also an important aspect of art making to me and a practice I wish to pursue.

The texture and line weight of the string is also an invaluable product of this process which warrants more exploration.

When deciding how to present this piece, I knew it had to be framed. I was set on making my own frame but I wasn’t quite sure how.

Around this time I was also framing finished stained glass pieces with lead came. So, with this new skill I thought I’d see if I could merge my handmade paper and stained glass.

I had a larger sheet of a beautiful opaque blue, which I cut to set behind the paper. It demands that attention be paid to the edges. The smoothness, bold even color, and uniformity of the glass also accentuates the handmade nature of the paper and the texture of the string.