I am happy to be selected as the National Artist this year for the Susan Cooley-Gilliom (SCG) Artist in Residence and Teaching Program at Blue Line Arts Center in Roseville, California. I’ve been in Roseville almost a week now putting up an exhibition of my recent work with handmade paper and getting started with Open Studio times from 12-2 pm on Thursdays and Fridays and preparing for a hands-on community workshop this weekend to make handmade paper from local plant waste materials such as leaves and bark.

Here are some photos of my exhibition in the Education Gallery at Blue Line Arts Center in downtown Roseville (https://www.bluelinearts.org/scg-national-2025). The exhibition is open to the public Tues. through Saturday, 11 – 5, now through Sept. 26, 2025. The photos were taken by my husband Timothy S. Allen; Tim is with me in Roseville for this project. My exhibition contains 16 handmade paper and mixed media installation artworks I created in 2024 and 2025 that focus on fire and water and use plant fibers and natural threads with holes and controlled burning.

The public is invited to come in to see more of the process during the Open Studio times on Thursdays and Fridays 12 Noon to 2 PM, and attend the artist’s talk on Sept. 20, 4-5 pm, with reception following 5-7 pm at Blue Line Arts, 405 Vernon Street, Roseville, CA.

I will be teaching a workshop “Plant to Paper” using local plant materials on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 13 and 14, 10am to 4pm at the Blue Line Arts Center. I’ve been busy locating possible plants to use and gathering the materials with the help of my brother and sister-in-law, John and Tina Ingram, who live in nearby Sacramento, CA. Here are some photos taken by my husband Tim showing some of the plants we will be using for hand papermaking in Roseville. The Blue Line Arts Center has an excellent studio space for the artist in residence and also an alley just outside the studio space that works great for cooking and beating the plant materials to a pulp to make paper. Participants in this 2-day workshop will learn the whole process starting from the gathered plant waste materials and ending up with unique place and nature connected handmade paper artworks.

Here are some photos taken by my husband Tim of some of the plants we will be using for hand papermaking in Roseville. Check out more of the photography of Timothy S. Allen at (https://allentimphotos2.wordpress.com)

More photos will be posted soon from the Plants to Paper workshop and also of the new artworks I will be making during my 3-week residency in Roseville, CA at Blue Line Arts Center.