This
is definitely not the traditional "Mould and deckle approach
to papermaking!
Peter
had been experimenting once again - this time with handmade paper and
mounts and what the framing trade refers to as "slips" which are narrow
frames that slip inside the main frame to provide the equivalent of a
mount (more commonly employed when watercolours and drawings are placed
under glass).
Paper.
But not just any paper. By way of courage, discipline, passion, perseverance,
energy, enthusiasm, emotion, intelligence, inventiveness, patience
(and how!) skill, sweat, savvy and tenacity he is fully growing into
his role as a "self-published" artist who uses innovative
materials and ways of creating the handmade publications he is so
successful with.
As
a result of all this endevour we now have a number of picture display
enhancementsthat range from the smooth and elegant to rough and elegant,
in many colours and shades derived from mixing paper pulp with all
sorts of other items and materials to render the paper useful in enhancing
the handmade frames and artworks.
Papers
of custom colours and textures - a rural green, an aviation
beige (edged with gold and silver linear strands) usie of 22 carat
Gold, and silver, and metal recycled materials, dotted with strips
of carefully torn gold metal.
Others
are thicker mounts of a lovely hand-mixed brown to compliment his
watercolours and drawings - all created in a unique distinctive style.
In
the early stages of this "line of product" he has developed
not all experiments (as is the nature of experimentation) succeeded.
There were many efforts and risks that did not work. But through these
failures he learned, eventually, to completely dispose of a mould
and deckle and find a way of creating paper without it, and all the
buckets of water that methods demands. The difficulty of evolving
this now very successful method (it took about 2 years to perfect)
makes it all the more fun to use and have as part of his self-published
stable of products. He's VERY happy with the final affair and not
unhappy (now) with the sheer extent of development time it required
to get it right. Being original is not always an easy route . . .
.
I
watch him, mixing and matching paper to print, paper to art and it
is obvious he finds enthusiasm and joy in the process which, as you
may imagine, is very confidence educing!
though
basically, what one needs is paper pulp, some pigment, perhaps some
other ingredients (tea leaves make a wonderful speckled effect!) and
to mix it all up and match it all to the chroma of one's painting
or print there's the "talent" bit to add, and it is his
judgment of how all these materials come together that makes the papers
what they are - exquisite and as far as I know, utterly unique.
Of
course, there are other aspects to the technique, tools that are used
to texture the papers and all sorts of ways to influence the final
appearance of them.
All
in all, the studio is a bustling place of experimentation, production,
imagination and innovation leading to final artworks and products
that are handmade directly by him, not "workshop" made by
a team of artist-copiers as is so frequently the case when big companies
talk about "handmade" and "embellished".
It
truly is, really, ALL handmade by the Artist.
That's
what PETER ANDREW JONES PUBLISHING does!
