So Buy Handmade Paper
But, if you discover that the purchase of handmade paper is beyond your means, what, if anything, can you do about it?
Doing It Yourself
As in other areas of life, there are those who believe that producing paper for their own artistic purposes would be so time-consuming, so expensive, so enervating, so super-specialized, as to preclude the primal concerns of the artist.
Simon Barcham Green, proprietor of the Hayle Mill in England and “a ninth generation papermaker with a degree in paper science” offers this sober judgment:
“…a professional outlook is essential. The handmade paper mill is a small craft industry. It serves other craftsmen by providing an important material. There is room for artistic papermaking-but not a great deal. So beware of the artycrafty approach; it should not be allowed to obscure the true role of handmade paper: that of a means and not an end in itself. This view will not coincide with that of some good friends making paper by hand in the U.S.A. It is a personal one, but sincerely held, and I hope the implications will cause no offense.” — Green, “Making Paper by Hand at the Hayle Mill in England.” Fine Print, Vol. 2, NO.2. April, 1976, p.18.
This attitude (which I respect) if held by all, would have long since removed certain basic, artistic freedoms from humanity, including the freedom to fall flat on your face when trying something just beyond your reach. It could also have removed the freedom to flounder, and the freedom to succeed. It may seem, at first blush, that I am trying to reinvent the wheel, to fly in the face of generations of knowhow, super-professionalism, technology, and the forward march of the machine. Yet, I firmly believe that an indescribable satisfaction will be yours, can be yours, if you master the simple (of course, it is complex) process of making handmade paper.
Numbers of us, and our little band grows daily in geometric leaps, prefer to manufacture our own materials-when we can-for diverse reasons, including the obvious one of financial savings. We delight in pitting our human resources against, and combining them with, those offered by nature and man to produce that which will serve our needs and standards to meet our various goals. The pleasures derived from making, building, and preparing your equipment, tools, materials, and supplies are truly satisfying.
