Papermaking at AP3!
A couple weeks ago and even this past Tuesday, we showed you how, after students in my History of Books & Printing class (INFOST 603) read about the invention of type and letterpress in Europe, we went down to Team Nerd Letterpress, set wood type, and printed a poster. Last week, after reading about the history and technique of hand papermaking, we took a field trip to Anchor Press, Paper, and Print (AP3) in the Riverwest section of Milwaukee to engage in some papermaking.
First, AP3 president Marilyn Propp demonstrated hogging the vat, using the deckle, dipping the screen, pulling a form, and couching the paper onto felts (here's a glossary) -- top three images. Then Miria tried their hands at the process, with much success (next three images). Afterwards, it was a free-for-all, with everyone making paper for the next hour and a half; here in succession are Anna, Caring, Adam, Georgia, and Catherine (with Taj in the background).
The last image is of some still-wet paper forms on felts (actually, synthetic pellons), with attempts at inclusions and paper lamination. The students were clearly exhilarated, and everyone went home exhausted and happy!
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-- MAX, Head of Special Collections
