More Nepalese Mountain Paper

Nepalese Mountain paper is one of the most popular papers in my paper supplies store on etsy;  Probably down to the colour variety, and the fact that it's reasonably priced, which means it's 'safe' to buy as a gift for other people.

Delicious colours of Nepalese Mountain Paper

currently available~ Deep Saffron, Fuschia, Turquoise, Lime

Nepalese mountain paper is made from the bark fibre of lokta, a plant which grows above 3000 metres in the Himalayan foothills. This is a renewable resource and the fibre collection and paper manufacture create valuable employment in the hill areas. The dyeing is done in the Kathmandu valley using dyes which meet current EU standards on effluence and toxicology.

 The paper has a lovely soft feel & although it feels delicate, it really is quite a robust paper... 

it gives a crisp fold & the natural plant fibres show up gorgeously along the torn edges! 

Also available in Natural!

These papers are not absorbent and can be used with pen and ink for calligraphy, for collage or for wrapping.... if your ink should bleed, a fixative can be used but most are fine.

One of the questions that is quite regularly asked is, "Can I print on Nepalese Mountain Paper?".

Well, I have written in a variety of inks & paint but I've not printed on it. 

I was really pleased when one of my customers reported back to say that it prints beautifully and shared a photograph to prove it!

"Death Spell" by Natalie Ricciardi

part of a series called "Harmonic Decomposition"

More of Natalie's work can be seen at http://ladysilvermountain.tumblr.com

I make no apologies for showing more torn edges... it's not hard to guess why I chose the name Torn Edge Paper... I can't get enough of them! 

Lunamoth by Diane Etherton-Watt

I do like to see how people use the paper they buy from me. 

Diane made a lovely 'Luna' series of collages…

~ Luna Moth ~

~ Moon Flower ~

images copyright of Diane Etherton-Watt

Although she is having a bit of a break from blogging & selling, 

Diane blogs at Naturally Through My Eyes & her Etsy shop is Inspire to Inspire

The paper she used was Nepalese Mountain paper (available here). It's made from the bark fibre of lokta, which grows above 3000 metres in the Himalayan foothills. It's a renewable source & the collection & paper making provides valuable employment in the hill areas.

Work by Yves Leterme

Just noticed an update from Yves Leterme at Animal Scribax…. he's just had some of his work printed into a rather tasty looking set of 24 cards. Latin quotations rendered in fabulous calligraphy, complete with translations in English and Dutch and an accompanying booklet written by Yves about the Roman authors & his calligraphic interpretation. 

more information is here> http://www.yleterme.be

Whispers of inspiration...

Just came across a great blog honor yourself written by Terri of Bonesigh arts… actually I think I found her shop first, but no matter. Love her artwork, love her words, love her whole outlook…

it was when she first dared

to see her truth

that the winds howled.

after a time,

it strengthened her

and she spoke her truth

and the earth shook.

and when finally

 she believed her truth

the stars rejoiced,

the universe opened,

and even her bones

sang her song:

I matter!

~ Terri St. Cloud

Considering how much I love colour on black, I do precious little of it. I have a whole workshop worked out for playing with colour & lettering on black paper, but still i rarely play myself. 

A few from my sketch book… all brush letters… just playin' with colours….

Seeing Terri's site has also given another reminder that i need to get on & do more work with my own words… the image i 'borrowed' reminded of me of this i wrote at new year. 

She heard the faintest whispers between the old moon and the new

she felt the breath of winter graze her naked skin

and sometime in the night the old year became the new...

I promised myself then, to put together a series of works involving my moon photographs & words… to pull them together into something totally different to work I have done to date. I keep visiting the idea in my mind & turning it over. I haven't put pen to paper but the idea has evolved considerably as i think of different aspects. Perhaps it's time. There comes a point when thinking has to give way to doing…. 

And as I was turning this over earlier, Fiona shared this: 

"A lot of good things don't get made because of too much thinking" 

Agnes Martin

I had to smile… quite often, just resolving an idea in my mind is enough… but, all these little signs are pointing in the same direction! It is time… and maybe "the stars will rejoice" as Terri wrote!

Gorgeous, Bright Mountain Paper

Before Christmas, a lovely lady bought several packs of the Himalyan Mountain paper which comes from Nepal. It's a gorgeous paper, that comes in 10 colours as well as natural.

We had a lovely correspondence, from her first order to her receiving the paper, 

then to news of the creations made with it.

She must have spent many happy hours spent in creative bliss with her young daughter over the Christmas holidays! I asked her if she would be happy to share some photographs here...

… and I'm so pleased that she did! I absolutely adore this tree with the little bits of text mingled in amongst the branches.

I would never have thought of doing anything like these, and I'm so thrilled at what these talented ladies have created…. each one is so different… I love them.

Thank you for sharing Mahsheed, 

I hope you & your daughter enjoy this mini exhibition of your work!! 

Snow art... sand art.... sand calligraphy

Someone shared a link to this fabulous 'snow art' created by Simon Beck>> here

& here's his facebook page. Aren't they fabulous?

They are huge, and so intricate...

Looking at these made me think of sand calligraphy by Andrew van der Merwe which had me gazing open mouthed when I first saw them. 

 his 'beachscriber' site is here

he says "The work is usually very temporal, often lasting no more than an hour before it is taken by the wind or the tide. I carve the letters in the sand using various instruments and then photograph them with my Nikon D700. I leave no footprints and the tide leaves me with a clean slate.

"Most of the forms used here draw their inspiration from African writing systems, but in some instances, I have moved on from there and found myself playing with variations of a particular movement - pretty much like a musician might play with variations on a theme.

"I have 20 years experience as a calligrapher but the most difficult aspect of the work remains the calligraphy. Any calligrapher worth his or her salt will understand this. Even wordless writing must have a logic, a system of movement, a poetry."

Actually I still gaze open mouthed....

and so, I was led to Tony Plant's sand drawings>> here

his website is http://www.tonyplant.co.uk

To create each drawing, Plant spends hours on the coastline, using a rake to form lines and circles in the sand. The geometric designs do not last long, very quickly getting washed away by the waves or walked across by surfers and beach-goers. Each fleeting artwork is a site-specific project that the artist has no control over and he says, "I just think of them as non-precious things. Some people get confused about why I do it, when there's nothing left after the tide has washed everything away, but I just see it as a new blank canvas for me to work with."

*sigh*

Foxnest

Sometimes you just stumble across something that really resonates, don't you? One of my photographs shared a treasury with the image below recently....

Flying Dreams

The name of this artist is Flora McLachlan & she has a shop on etsy called 'Foxnest'

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Foxnest 

~I loved it even before I looked any further!

Foxfire

It just keeps getting better... look closely at that central seed-head below....

Shelter from Grey Weather

Flora says,

"In my prints, wild creatures are guarded by thorns and nestled in undergrowth;

 the forest is cage and sanctuary. The moon shines silver between the dark trees, 

and the scent of leaf-mould contains life and death."

The White Hart

"I have been printing, mostly etching, for thirteen years. 

I make pictures of visions I would like to see, using memories and sketchbook studies of familiar woodlands. I'm on a quest for the white hart..."

Winter Moon

All photographs © Flora McLachlan 

You can find Flora's fabulous etchings at 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Foxnest