San Francisco Center for the Book

Although known from around 1650, pastepapers were made really popular in the mid 1700s by the Moravian Sisters of Herrnhut in Saxony. Recent study of these papers has sparked a revival of interest in them, and in this workshop the instructor will introduce you to the methods, materials and patterns used on the original pastepapers.

Class will begin by mixing the colors using natural earth pigments, and making the few simple tools used by the Sisters. Students will then reproduce each of their original designs using the same colors, patterns, freehand brush strokes and tooling. Part two of the class will bring us up to date with a wide range of inventive techniques for making modern pastepapers.

The instructor will demonstrate how to make combs, stamps, rollers and other mark-making tools used in pastepaper design, and show a range of techniques he uses to create many different effects, from the simple pulled papers, to the highly regular striped patterns.

This class may be of interest to students interested in historical processes; those who enjoyed the pastepaper process in Bookbinding Core 1 or the Paste Papers & Gift Wrap workshops.

Prerequisite:
None

Tools/materials to bring:

Optional:

• 1 inch and 1-1/2 inch paint brushes
• cellulose sponge
• notebook and pencil
• things to make marks in paper, such as: string or cord, plastic decorator's comb (Artex spreaders), natural materials such as leaves, old credit cards, rubber rollers (brayers), bubble wrap

About the Instructor:
Michael Burke (he/him) studied bookbinding with Dominic Riley and paper conservation with Karen Zukor. Michael lives in England, where he teaches bookbinding as well at events across the UK. Michael researches the structures of ancient and medieval bindings and received his Masters degree in the History of the Book from the University of London in 2011.

Michael is a co-founder of Book Camp, an immersive residential bookbinding experience which aims to teach new generations of binders.