making paste papers

my corner in the foreground with Rhonda to my left
look at all that cool stuff in the background

the patio, actually the left side of the patio, with drying papers

Boy oh boy was this ever fun. I'd never even heard of paste papers until Maria announced a paste paper day at her studio. Paste paper? Say what?? 

my corner of the huge table, looking over at Beth and Elizab

I pretty much had no idea what paste papers were and had visions of lumpy coarse designs, but of course the reality is far from that, and one of the women was kind enough to send me some small pieces beforehand so I could begin to get a clue.

I've mentioned Maria's studio but never got around to writing about that first wonderful time in December that Rhonda and I went. So when she put out the invite, I RSVP'd ASAP how many acronyms can I fit in a sentence LOL??

these are most of my papers

There were 5 of us and we made a *bunch* of papers. I did 27 on various papers - watercolor, deli paper, a page from a large old book, a sheet of brown paper from between the cartons of paper towels at Costco. At first I just sort of did what I knew to do - spread colored paste on the paper and make marks. But it really started to get interesting after the first layer was dry and I put on the second layer. As in gelli printing, layers are the key to a successful piece, at least for me. 

some of Maria's papers on the right

these are mostly Rhonda's papers

And so, on a Sunday in June, in the small historic town of Niles, from a little before 10am to around 430, the 5 of us made gorgeous papers. Her studio is on the ground floor of an historic building and has a large concrete patio just outside the side door. She strung a sting across a corner of the fence and we hung our pieces to dry from clothespins and lay them on the concrete. No telling what passersby thought of the laughing aproned women going to and fro with wildly colored papers waving in the breeze. 

lovely piece by Maria, using a large stencil

I'll scan many of my papers and post them later today, but for now here's a bunch of pics from the day. 

don't know whose this is but love it

a great one by Rhonda