This week I have been creating some special handmade paper as part of the Redwood Violin Project of violin-maker Andrew Carruthers.  Here is a link for more information about this project: https://theredwoodviolin.org/?fbclid=IwAR1TGwwFFMYxqF6Hb5x7JkDzoNVvSZBhlvFg2xszjUfKAAP52vefaz6SOWM

Andrew Carruthers (https://www.andrewcarruthers.com ) is creating a new violin that will celebrate Sonoma County and be made with local materials and the help of local artists and craftspeople.  I was asked to create some locally-sourced handmade paper for the label that will go inside the redwood violin, made of redwood and apple wood and other materials also sourced locally.  Andrew visited my studio in Santa Rosa, CA, yesterday, and I showed him my papermaking process using some mulberry bark paper pulp that I had prepared using the bark from trimmed branches of the fruitless mulberry tree in my front yard.  

Here’s a photo of my mulberry tree taken last summer and also a photo showing me stripping bark off the mulberry tree branches to cook, beat and prepare for hand papermaking.  The bark of mulberry trees is used all over the world for papermaking, and it produces a strong paper in an off-white color.  Local calligrapher Sherrie Lovier (https://www.inkmonkey.com/pages/bio.html) will do the lettering on my handmade paper for this special label.  It is great to be a part of this exciting project.  This unique violin made locally with local materials will be featured in concerts next month that will be uploaded for virtual listening.  You can also see videos of the process of creating this violin on the website: https://theredwoodiolin.org

Also, this week it is great to see that my art installation “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa,” is beginning to bloom again for the third season at Rincon Ridge Park in Santa Rosa, CA.  This artwork was a public artwork supported by a grant from the City of Santa Rosa, and it was created with community participation as a response to the devastating October 2017 wildfires in Santa Rosa, CA.  “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” was installed on Nov. 21, 2018, and it consisted of a raised bed with a handwoven headboard and footboard made of local branches and a handmade paper quilt that I made in the “flying geese” pattern with seeds for wildflowers in the pulp. Over time the handmade paper dissolved as mulch, and the wildflowers grew.  The “quilt” has bloomed with colorful wildflowers each spring, and promises to continue.  I recently repaired the footboard which had blown over during the last severe windstorms we had in northern California.  In a few more weeks we should also see California golden poppies and other wildflowers blooming at this site.  

This photo shows the artwork as it appeared at the installation ceremony in November 2018.  Rincon Ridge Park is a small city park at Rincon Ridge Drive, in the Fountaingrove area of Santa Rosa, CA.  Parks are open now for public viewing with masks and social distancing, so come out and enjoy the wildflowers.