My art installation “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” is blooming again for the 4th season, 5 years after the devastating Tubbs wildfire swept through this area in Santa Rosa, CA. It is great to see the golden poppies and blue bachelor buttons blooming at the same time when this photo was taken on May 27, 2023. The white alyssum flowers have already bloomed earlier in the Spring this year. The handmade paper quilt was made with dyed handmade paper pulp containing seeds for wildflowers in the same colors and pattern. The quilt pattern used was a traditional one called “Flying Geese” and the geese were in blue pulp with seeds for bachelor buttons and the white background had seeds for alyssum flowers. The borders for this strip quilt were made with paper pulp dyed the bright yellow-orange of California poppies and had seeds for poppies in the pulp.

This artwork was installed on Nov. 29, 2018, the year after the devastating wildfire (Tubbs Fire) that severely affected the Fountain Grove area as well as other parts of Santa Rosa, California. This artwork was done with the support of a grant from the City of Santa Rosa that asked artists to respond to the fire. I created “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” with community participation and installed it at Rincon Ridge Park, Rincon Ridge Drive and Fountaingrove Parkway in northeast Santa Rosa, CA. When we installed this work and made the headboard and footboard with volunteers, we were all wearing masks due to the smoke still in the air and the polluted soil. There was also not any water in the park since the underground pipes had all melted with the heat of the wildfires that moved through this area. You can see the skeletons of burned trees and almost no houses still standing in the 2018 photo. In the 2023 photo there are many new houses that have been rebuilt on the hill behind the installation, and many bushes and trees are green again since water pipes have been replaced, and this year there has been lots of rain in California. The headboard for the “bed” fell down and was recycled into the earth after about three years, and the footboard is also starting to decompose and leaning heavily. The flowers continue to reseed and come back each year as the “living quilt” lives on.

These photos were taken by my husband Timothy S. Allen, and it is great to be able to continue documenting my art installation as it changes over time.

Jane was invited by Helen Hiebert, artist, author, teacher and papermaker, to appear on her monthly podcast called “Paper Talk”. Jane is the featured artist for April 2023. You can listen to the Podcast at this link: https://helenhiebertstudio.com/podcast/episode-106-jane-ingram-allen/

Here is an excerpt from the Notes that accompany the podcast with some images of Jane’s work:

Jane Ingram Allen is a sculptor and installation artist who uses hand papermaking with natural materials and collaborative processes to create  indoor and outdoor artworks that raise public awareness about environmental issues.  Jane has received numerous awards for residencies and community public art projects in the USA, the Philippines, Japan, Nepal, Brazil, China, Tanzania, Taiwan, Turkey, Indonesia and other countries.  She was a Fulbright Scholar artist-in-residence in Taiwan in 2004 and 2005 and a Fulbright Specialist in Turkey in 2015.  Jane is a former college art instructor and currently teaches workshops and writes about art for SCULPTURE and other art magazines as well as doing independent curating.  She was born and raised in Alabama and has lived in 7 different states and in Taiwan for 8 years. Since 2012 she has been based in Santa Rosa, CA, and continues showing her work in the US and internationally.

We talked about how she got into environmental art, which is so well suited for handmade paper. And we discussed several of her environmental installations.

Allen works often with seeds and paper, and her first project with seeds in the pulp was titled Earth Quilt, created in 1995 (the 25th anniversary of Earth Day). You can see the progression of Allen’s work with students installing the piece on Earth Day 1995 at SUNY Morrisville in Morrisville, NY; the wildflowers starting to come up; and the field in full bloom several months after the quilt was planted.

Happy Earth Day 2023!

Jane Ingram Allen just received an Educator Grant from the Surface Design Association (https://www.surfacedesign.org) to help with equipment for teaching workshops in papermaking art, and in particular to make a large size papermaking mold and deckle for teaching her workshops at Sitka Center for Art & Ecology August 5-6, 2023, in Oregon.  The papermaking equipment will be constructed by Jane to fit into a normal car so she can use it for other workshops teaching how to make really BIG handmade paper.  For more information about Jane’s papermaking art workshops: https://jiaclasses.wordpress.com

Here’s the Updated Schedule for Spring and Summer Papermaking Workshops 

Saturday, April 1, 10 am to 4 pm – Open Papermaking Workshop – Class Fee: $160 (includes materials and use of equipment)

Description: This workshop could be an introduction to hand papermaking for some, but I decided to make it an Open Workshop so that each participant can focus on whatever aspect of papermaking they are really interested in.  I will work with each participant to help them individually on specific aspects of papermaking art.  The emphasis will be on creative use of local supplies and improvising to find what you need and create the paper you want for art and other uses. Participants will come away with many new ideas about handmade paper as well as an array of handmade papers in natural and dyed colors that can be used for drawing, painting, collage, printmaking, sculpture, mixed media and fiber works. Papermaking is an exciting way of using natural plant fibers and combines well with many other techniques. This workshop is for beginners and experienced papermakers who want to learn more about making handmade paper. 

Saturday, May 6, 10 am – 4 pm – Sculptural Hand Papermaking – Class Fee: $160 (includes most materials and use of equipment)

Description: This workshop will expand your papermaking into three dimensions by introducing various ways to make handmade paper sculptural forms, including use of molds, drying on 3-D surfaces, construction techniques, modeling with pulp and using armatures. Participants will create small sculptural works and come away with many new ideas for handmade paper sculpture and can continue using handmade paper to create sculptures and installation art. This workshop is for beginning and experienced papermakers and will stretch your imagination and skills into the 3rd dimension and beyond.

Saturday, June 3, 10am – 4 pm – EXTREME Papermaking – Class Fee – $160 (includes materials and use of equipment)

Description: In this workshop we will do some indoor and outdoor EXTREME and Experimental Papermaking using a variety of pulps such as kozo (paper mulberry bark), cotton blue jeans, sisal, flax and abaca as well as at least one plant fiber gathered locally.  We will do such things as make really big paper using pouring methods, make really thin but strong paper using Japanese techniques, make thick sculptural cast paper, burn handmade paper using a flame retardant, make holes, tear and shred paper, make paper that moves and produces sounds and blend some strange and exotic pulps for special effects.  Come prepared for some extreme experimental papermaking to produce unique handmade paper for artwork of all kinds.  This workshop is suitable for beginning and experienced papermakers and promises to challenge you to stretch and expand your ideas about papermaking.  

Additional Spring & Summer Workshops in other places:

Papermaking from Scratch using local plant fibers, at Fibershed Learning Center, Pt. Reyes Station, CA,
2-day workshop: Saturday & Sunday, March 11 & 12, 10 am to 4 pm each day.
eventbrite.com/e/473025982447 or contact Fibershed Learning Center at learningcenter@fibershed.org – Cost $320 (includes supplies).  

Note:  This workshop was great in spite of the two days of rain, and we made handmade paper from 7 different local plants! 

EXTREME Papermaking, at Sitka Center for Art & Ecology, Otis, Oregon, 2-day workshop: Saturday & Sunday, August 5 & 6, 9am – 4pm each day. Register at http://www.sitkacenter.org/workshops – Cost $240 (includes supplies).

To register for a Workshop:  Send check for class fee by mail to Jane Ingram Allen, 5017 Maiden Lane, Santa Rosa, CA, or pay with PayPal using a credit card at www.paypal.com.  Click on Send Payment and send class fee to info@janeingramallen.com  I will contact you by email when I receive your registration.  Classes are filling up fast and enrollment is limited to no more than 5 people in each workshop.

Hope to see you in an upcoming workshop!  Would love to hear from you, and thanks for your interest in my work.  See more of my work on my site at https://janeingramallen.wordpress.com and my older work at www.janeingramallen.com