pcastcvr.qxd 1/10/02 1:35 PM Page 1 Cast With Confidence! Arnold Grummer’s A r n o Are you intrigued by the look of dimensional paper but you’re not ld sure where to begin? Unlock the mystery of this centuries old art G ru C G T form with the most comprehensive book available! This guide m OMPLETE UIDE O m Paper Casting takes you from the very basics of paper casting to choosing the e r ’s best pulp, molds, and release agents for your needs, so you’ll be C o creating your own stunning paper-cast pieces in no time. m p le t e This Essential Resource Includes G u id • Simple instructions for making pulp, adding e T o botanicals, enhancing your creations with P a glitter and paint, and making molds from p e r everyday items like rubber stamps and brass C a plaques s t in • A dozen unique g projects you’ll be proud to display • Clear step-by-step photographs and easy-to- follow instructions A • Inspirational r n o examples of paper-cast l d artwork, from scrapbook an d pages and greeting cards M a to bowls and framed b e l calligraphy G r u m m e About the Authors r Arnold Grummer has spent most of his life doing what he loves—making paper. He has written three best-selling papermaking books, including Arnold Grummer’s Complete Guide to Easy Papermaking, and produced three papermaking videos. Arnold is a former editor and faculty member of The Institute of Paper Chemistry and served as the curator of the Dard Hunter Paper Museum. Mabel is a former elementary-school teacher and an expert on making molds for paper casting. Arnold and Mabel currently reside in Appleton, Wisconsin. PCAST ean ISBN:0-87349-425-3 $16.95 U.S. 51695 K R A C U P S U E Arnold and Mabel Grummer 0 4608100425 4 9 780873494250 1PP1-11 1/9/02 12:32 AM Page 1 Arnold Grummer’s Complete Guide to aper P asting C Arnold and Mabel Grummer 1PP1-11 1/9/02 12:32 AM Page 2 ©2002 by Arnold and Mabel Grummer All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and re- trieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a critical article or review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper, or electronically transmitted on radio or television. Published by Please call or write for our free catalog of publications. Our toll-free number to place an order or obtain a free catalog is 800-258-0929 or please use our regular business telephone 715-445- 2214 for editorial comment and further information. Library of Congress Catalog Number 2001099521 ISBN 0-87349-425-3 1PP1-11 1/9/02 12:32 AM Page 3 D edication This book is dedicated to Kim, our daughter, who conceived the book, and whose energy and counsel led it from nothing to something wonderful. A cknowledgments Aspects of this book, and the general environment that accompanied its de- velopment, owe a debt of gratitude to the artistic and technical, and seemingly endless, creative resources of Spencer Rotzel. May his graphic world be always available in our moments of crisis. 1PP1-11 1/9/02 12:32 AM Page 4 i ntroduction to Paper Casting: The World of Non-sheet Forms Among other things, non-sheet forms of paper are not a new thought. w hen I was Curator of the Dard Hunter A more recent and much larger non-sheet Paper Museum (now the Robert C. paper form was the “paper house,” developed Williams American Museum of Papermaking), and built at the former Institute of Paper we had a stunningly beautifully decorated Chemistry in Appleton, paper coffin in one of our huge display cases of Wisconsin, as part of Eastern artifacts. It was only large enough to WWII research. It accommodate a small mummified falcon, was designed to which lay partially within it. Such accommoda- house four peo- tion of the bird was, as I remember, the whim ple, could be of a Persian Nobleman with equal amounts of packaged in 2 affection for the bird and discretionary cash. At by 4 by 8 feet my time of association with it as curator, the for mass air coffin was centuries old. shipment, and could be erected by one man without tools. Its purpose was to help pro- vide shelter for European The first paper:a WWII refugees. It was wasp’s nest. erected on the Institute campus in 1944 and disassembled in 1952 to make way for a new building. For eight years, it withstood Wisconsin winter blizzards and summer storms. Obviously, then, non-sheet forms of paper Two-part paper casket for a favorite falcon. The foreground are actually “old hat.” In fact, paper’s past is section containing the mummified falcon fits into the background dotted with exciting and amazing non-sheet section. The attached museum card reads, “This decorated casket is formed of many sheets of paper laminated together in the same forms, which include paper wheels for train manner as modern wallboard. The casket dates from a remote cars, a paper church in Sweden, racing punts period and contains a mummified falcon.” From the collection of for Ivy League colleges, paper coffins for peo- the Robert C. Williams American Museum of Papermaking. ple, and many more. Some are cataloged in Dard Hunter’s master book of paper history, Papermaking: The History and Technique of an Ancient Craft. Further, the first recognized “paper” was a wasp’s nest, not a flat sheet. So indeed, don’t be stalled in the flat sheet syndrome. Let your imagination roam and soar into all kinds of shapes, forms, and contours as small as a delicate earring or as big as a church in Sweden. Institute of Paper Chemistry paper house. 1PP1-11 1/9/02 12:32 AM Page 5 T able of Contents Chapter 1 What Is Paper Casting? • 6 Chapter 2 Make a Paper Cast in Minutes! • 9 Chapter 3 Paper Casting Basics • 12 Chapter 4 Pulp Application Methods • 22 Chapter 5 Paper Casting With Everyday Objects • 26 Chapter 6 Paper Pottery: Paper-cast Bowls • 40 Chapter 7 Enhancing Paper Casts 50 Chapter 8 Making and Using Your Own Molds • 66 Chapter 9 Inspiration • 84 About the Authors • 94 Glossary • 94 Resources • 95 Index • 96 1PP1-11 1/9/02 12:32 AM Page 6 Chapter One W hat is Paper Casting? y. e bl m o Tr a ar b ar B y b er glitt e n a-fi ultr h wit d e h ellis b m e er p Chapter pa ast C 1 6 The Complete Guide to Paper Casting 1PP1-11 1/9/02 12:32 AM Page 7 N on-sheet paper forms can be struc- Many of these are tured in several ways. One of the eas- quite ornamental, iest, most versatile, delicate, and delightful is as well as use- paper casting, particularly with cotton linters. ful, when By definition, paper casting is piling up, or by rendered as a other means arranging, soaking wet fibers paper casting. into a desired shape or form and keeping The possibilities them there until dry. are endless! But in- Working or getting the soaking wet fibers dustry has beaten into a form or shape might not be all you to many of that difficult, but it can be tricky to them: egg cartons, Fast food tray; an industry keep them in that shape or form while food trays, carriers for paper casting. they dry and become strongly enough multiple drinks, and so on. bonded to stay that way. The whole The shape or form to which pulp is to process is simplified by having a form or be applied is generally referred to as a shape of rigid, waterproof material to put “mold” (either commercial or home- the mass of wet fibers (pulp) in, on, or made, as described on page around. The form then supports and 13); however, the word keeps the wet mass in the proper “mold” generally does shape as, and until, it dries. Ul- not bring to mind a timately then, by paper cast- whole host of items ing you can duplicate in of which, or from “paper” (cellulose fibers, which, paper castings that is) any shape or form can be made. To iden- on the face of the earth, or tify these things not any you can yourself create normally associated in a proper material. with “mold,” this book All kinds of ready-made sought some other name. craft-to-high-art shapes are readily The word “armature” has Paper-cast desk art. at hand in the form of cookie cutters, been applied to large, complex boxes, dimensional art, carvings, dimensional forms upon which paper castings have been surfaces, botanicals such as the gingko leaf, based, but the word seems a bit overblown and so forth. A huge number of utilitarian shapes and forms can be found in a variety of packaging and packaging components, as well as a whole array of fast food containers and compartmental trays, from fluted sundae containers and take-home sandwich boxes to plastic packag- ing from grocery store delis and bakeries. Then there are bowls from your kitchen or china shelves. Bowl matrix and resulting paper cast bowl. What Is Paper Casting? 7 1PP1-11 1/9/02 12:32 AM Page 8 and grandiose for smaller, simpler, and more For the ultimate in whiteness and delicacy, common items. Personally, we like “matrix.” you will at some time or other want to buy Its definition in Merriam Webster’s Collegiate and try cotton linters (you will still need the Dictionary, Tenth Edition, includes “Some- blender, water, and 30 seconds of your thing ... from which something else origi- time). But in the matter of waste paper, in- nates, develops, or takes form.” Conse- dustry is beating you again. It is scooping quently, in this book, such non-flat mold up the world’s waste paper by the ton to items as dishes, fast food containers, etc., disperse back into pulp for new paper will be identified as a matrix. products that include the world’s finest For a special look and character, cotton printing papers. linters are readily available from stores or In your casting, as in flat sheet paper- the vendors listed on page 95. But you will making, your merest effort will result in a never run out of free pulp, because all of very adequate final product. More time, ef- the world’s waste paper is pulp (simply laid fort, care, and added creative talent will out and dried in sheet form, the same as move the final product correspondingly new pulp sheets). It’s yours to use for a higher, even to the uppermost realms of “art.” blender, water, and 30 seconds of your time. Go for it! Common matrices for paper castings. 8 The Complete Guide to Paper Casting 1PP1-11 1/9/02 12:33 AM Page 9 Chapter Two M ake a Paper Cast in Minutes! es. kl ar p a s c mi d e h us cr h wit e d a m er p a p Chapter ast C 2 Make a Paper Cast in Minutes! 9