I am an artist-in-residency now in Uvita, Costa Rica, at le Diamante Vert (the Green Diamond) hosted by Marie M’Ayala Saurat, a dancer/choreographer originally from France but now settled in Costa Rica to make a place for artists and creative people to experience the beautiful nature and culture of Costa Rica. Marie also offers classes in yoga and natural healing as well as creating original dance and videos and other art. For more about Marie and her work see her website at https://cieartevivi.wixsite.com/accueil/marie-saurat

During this artist-in-residency I will be using natural materials from Costa Rica for my work with handmade paper and creating mixed media eco art installations. I will also collaborate with Marie to make some props, costumes and an installation of handmade paper to be used in an outdoor dance performance that Marie will present next year in Havana, Cuba, at a performance art festival. This work will also be used for Marie’s performances at other festivals in different countries around the world, so it has to be easily portable. I am committed to using natural materials with nature as a partner and eventually the work will return to the earth as mulch. Our focus in this collaborative project is water, and I will be making many shades of blue and natural colored paper. The blue pulp is cotton fiber colored with indigo a natural plant dye used all over the world. I will also be using other natural fiber plant materials and perhaps some other plant dyes I find from Costa Rica. I also plan to use natural fiber string to connect the handmade paper and make flexible suspended panels, referencing rain, waves and waterfalls.

Costa Rica is warm and tropical with many interesting plants and fruits to try. The local farmer’s market is fantastic. There is also a beautiful waterfall near here that we will go to see. Every day Marie collects leaves, flowers, seed pods, strange fruits and other natural materials from Costa Rica and brings them to me for sharing and inspiration. Today I will incorporate some natural weaving from the many coconut trees growing nearby and use it in some of my handmade paper. I have also eaten some coconut meat and drank coconut milk directly from a coconut growing here at Marie’s place. There are also many banana trees here, and I gathered some Costa Rica banana leaves to make handmade paper. I used ones that were drying so as not to damage the plants. This photo shows me taking the leaves off the long stem and tearing them up to put in the cooking pot. The photos are all taken by my husband Timothy S. Allen (allentimphotos2.wordpress.com) who is here with me in Costa Rica to document this project and also take his own photos of Costa Rica birds and other things that catch his eye.

I have collected banana leaves growing near Marie’s house and cooked them and prepared by hand for making paper. The leaves are very strong, and I cooked them all day (maybe 6-8 hours) in 12 tbs. of soda ash. Then I rinsed the cooked leaves and beat the plant material with a wooden hammer. Then the fibers were cut with scissors and put into my electric blender for a few minutes to make the pulp. I formed the sheets using a modified Japanese technique on a Western style mold and deckle. The size was 4 x 6 inches as I only finished beating a small amount so I could quickly try it! The finished and dried banana leaf paper from Costa Rica is interesting paper that has high shrinkage creating a sculptural form naturally as it dries. The color is a rich brown and the texture grainy. For some later sheets of banana leaf paper I added a little Abaca (a sheet pulp I brought in my suitcase that is from Musa textilis – also in the banana family), and this mixture of pulp made paper that is stronger and easier to work with but still having some nice color and texture from the Costa Rica banana leaves.

Today, I will be finishing the processing of shell ginger leaves that are also growing outside Marie’s house in Uvita. I have used this plant before and know it makes a good rich brown colored paper. The flowers of this plant are beautiful and a shell pink color. I will keep posting my other experiments with papermaking from plants of Costa Rica. Uvita is in the Pacific Coastal tropical forest in the south of Costa Rica and famous for whale watching and the great beach that is in the shape of a whale’s tail. Maybe my husband Tim and I will go on a whale watching boat tour this weekend.

This photo shows the garden at Marie’s house where I have set up a table with a hot plate for cooking gathered plant materials outdoors. One end of the table is also used for the hand beating of the cooked and washed fibers. In the background you can see some of the many red hibiscus bushes growing around Marie’s place. I also plan to use some bark from the hibiscus bush to make handmade paper. I know hibiscus family plants make paper, and I have used many different hibiscus bark fibers in other countries.

I will continue to post weekly, or maybe more, updates about my residency in Costa Rica. Email me at info@janeingramallen.com if you want more information about this residency.