May 16, 2021

To start this day, I started the beating process of the Chinese Mitsumata at around 5pm, I know a late day. With the fibers, I added in about two tablespoons worth of sizing in the beater. I think I explained in a previous post about sizing but I will explain it again, it’s an agent you put in with the fibers so that when you are actually ready to make the paper, they hold up better and when you put things on the paper like ink it doesn’t bleed or cause the paper to fall apart. This is something I really knew I needed when I wanted to start making paper, my main focus as an art major is printmaking and if I want to add color to my prints I tend to use watercolor; sizing will really allow me to actually use the paper I make in my craft. Anyways, back to the mitsumata, I had it in the beater for only twenty minutes before checking it and it was already beat into a really nice fine pulp but just to make sure, I kept it in the beater for about an hour.


While the mitsumata was in the beater, I decided that I was going to put the cooked flax into a blender to see if it would make a difference in the fiber. It was absolutely awful and didn’t blend anything, the flax was staying exactly how it was before so I then made the decision that I was going to just put it in the holland beater at a later time.


After that, I tried to make the paper from the kenaf fibers I had previously beaten. It didn’t really work out too well, dipping the mold into the slurry or pouring it into the mold. I think it just needed to be beaten more or very thinly dispersed in the water. It was clumping very easily and not making great workable paper.


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