Site Botanical – Banana, 2006, Handmade paper from Taiwan banana leaves, collage with real banana leaves, acrylic paint and gel, digital photo of banana display in local market by Timothy S. Allen, 72 x 25 inches, two sided suspended work.
Jane will also be at NY2CA Gallery in Benicia for the Benicia Arts Festival on Saturday, June 6, 2026, to conduct a public participatory art activity to make over 100 handmade paper “houses” for an outdoor public art installation in the area behind the gallery. People are invited to come make their own handmade paper “house” during the public activity from 11 am – 4 pm on June 6.
Jane’s 1998 installation of 200 handmade paper birds on a barn in New York State. There will be a “Bird Watching in Benicia” installation of flying and standing “birds” in NY2CA Gallery’s storefront window area as part of Jane’s 2026 exhibition, “The Work of Earth and Hand”, May 14 – June 21, 2026.“House” example for public art installation “Houses – Building Community” at NY2CA Gallery, Benicia, public participation activity on June 6, 11-4 pm“Chiayi Houses”, 2005, mixed media installation of hundreds of handmade paper and wire mesh “houses” for public art installation for Chiayi Lantern Festival, sited on unused railway platform in downtown Chaiyi City, Taiwan, each “house 6″ x 4″ x 4”, handmade paper pulp, wire hardware cloth, wire, tea candles.
My exhibition of 80+ handmade paper artworks created in Santa Rosa and at artist residencies around the world are on view at Spring Lake Village Art Gallery, 5555 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa, CA, till May 30, 2025. The show is open every day for viewing, and visitors should contact Spring Lake Village Art Committee Member, Les Saldanha, saldanhales@hotmail.com or cell phone 707-367-1874.
The opening reception is Saturday, April 12, 3:45 to 5PM with an Artist Talk in the Auditorium and reception in the Art Room immediately following.
Here are some photos of the exhibition at Spring Lake Village taken by my husband Timothy S. Allen.
My Solo Exhibition in Santa Rosa, CA, continues through April 30, 2025, and a new date has been set for the Artist Lecture and Opening Reception.
Jane Ingram Allen – Handmade Paper Art
March 3 – MAY 30, 2025 (THIS EXHIBITION IS NOW EXTENDED TILL MAY 30, 2025)
Spring Lake Village Art Gallery
5555 Montgomery Drive
Santa Rosa, CA 95409
Opening Reception & Artist Lecture:
New Date, Saturday April 12, 3:45 – 5 pm
This solo exhibition is a survey of selected works I created with my handmade paper over the past 25 years. It includes works from my travels as an artist to many different countries and parts of the US as well as works made since moving to California in 2012 to the present.
One of 80+ handmade paper artworks in this exhibition, Fire and Water 6, 36 x 24 inches, handmade kozo and abaca paper, dye, thread, acrylic gel, holes and controlled burning, made in Santa Rosa, CA, 2025.
Hope to see you at the Reception on April 12, 2025! Or, contact me at info@janeingramallen.com or by cell phone: 857-234-2432 to view the exhibition at another time before it closes on April 30, 2025.
Spring 2025 Papermaking Art Classes in Santa Rosa, CA, are all Full!
Contact me at info@janeingramallen.com if you want to receive my Fall 2025 Schedule of Papermaking Classes at my studio in Santa Rosa, CA.
Workshop Participant making paper with Kozo fibers.
Exhibition Announcement:
Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback, In Deep Water – Confluenc
Opening reception and Gallery Talk: June 28, 4-6pm
This exhibition will be the 2nd exhibition on the East Coast of our “In Deep Water” project about water and climate change. This collaborative project with printmaking artist Jami Taback began in 2020 and has also been presented at 3 venues in Northern California and in Taiwan. The presentation in Narrowsburg is happening at the same time as the community’s annual Riverfest that celebrates the Delaware River. For more information: https://delawarevalleyartsalliance.org/exhibition/jane-ingram-allen-jami-taback-in-deep-water/?back=ago
Jane Ingram Allen & Jami Taback, In Deep Water – Taiwan, installation of 36 panels of handmade paper and printmaking joined with threads, Live Forever Foundation Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan, 2023-24
The WEAD (Women Eco-Artists Dialog www.weadartists.org) juried online member exhibition “Lands and Symbiotic Futures” has concluded.
I had one work selected for this online exhibition, “Living Leaf for Pepperwood Preserve”, an outdoor installation consisting of a large handmade paper leaf in the shape of a Pepperwood tree leaf with seeds for native grasses in the pulp to grow over time in symbiotic relationship with the land.
Jane Ingram Allen, Living Leaf for Pepperwood Preserve, 3 x 10 x 1 feet, handmade paper, dye, soil, seeds for native grasses, wood boards, 2023-24, installed at Pepperwood Preserve, Santa Rosa, CA
“In Deep Water – Rising” an installation about water and climate change utilizing hand papermaking and printmaking by artists Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback opens Saturday, Oct. 8, 3-5pm, at Gallery Route One, Point Reyes Station, CA. There will be Artists Talks in the gallery at 3pm. The exhibition remains on view at Gallery Route One’s Project Space through Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022. There will also be closing remarks by the artists at 4pm on Sunday, Nov. 13. Gallery Route One is open 11am to 5pm, Thursday through Monday.
Here’s a photo of the installation at Gallery Route One, Pt. Reyes Station, CA, taken after installing on Oct. 5.
Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback, In Deep Water – Rising, 2022 (detail of installation), 2022, mixed media installation with hand papermaking and printmaking, thread, dye, ink, multiple suspended panels, dimensions variable.
Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback, In Deep Water – Rising, 2022, Gallery Route One, view, mixed media installation, hand papermaking, printmaking, thread, burning, multiple suspended panels, each about 1-2 feet wide and 8-10 feet long.
My outdoor public art installation in Steckborn, Switzerland, that was installed on April 14, 2021, with Haus zur Glocke Art Center in the town of Steckborn on the shores of Lake Constance, is beginning to bloom! The handmade paper quilt had seeds for wildflowers in the pulp in the same colors and patterns. Tiny white flowers (maybe Baby’s Breath) are showing up now, and there is a lot of lush green foliage for other wildflowers. The different colors of the other wildflowers in this “living quilt” should start to bloom soon. I am happy to post these photos sent by Haus zur Glocke Director and Curator Judit Villliger on June 7, 2021.
I plan to make a slide show that will show the process of the “living quilt” in more detail after all the flowers bloom, maybe by mid summer. I will post the complete slide show on YouTube with a link from this Blog. Also, I will continue posting photos sent by Judit in coming weeks. A very big thank you to Judit and the staff at Haus zur Glocke for taking such good care of the Living Quilt and sending all of this great documentation.
Hope everyone is having a good summer. Now it is very hot and dry here in Northern California, and it looks like my “living quilt” installations in California are maybe finished for this year. They should come back again with blooms and new growth next Spring after our Winter rains.
“Bed” made and filled with dirt on April 12, 2021 for “Living Quilt for Steckborn”Installation of Living Quilt for Steckborn, on April 14, 2021Living Quilt for Steckborn on April 19, 2021Plants starting to grow and paper pulp disappearing as mulch on May 14, 2021Plants growing on May 23, 2021, and all the paper pulp has dissolved into the earth.Tiny white flowers starting to appear on June 7, 2021. Hope to see other blooms soon!
This photo shows the huge mulberry tree in my front yard that I have used for my hand papermaking art during the pandemic.
Large Mulberry tree used for papermaking located in my front yard, Santa Rosa, California
I was invited for this international forum as a result of being selected for an invited artist-in-residency project at Cour Commune (www.courcommune.org). My residency at Cour Commune in Voulx, is now planned for Spring 2021. I will post more information here soon about my residency in France next year.
I also wanted to let everyone know that my home and studio in Santa Rosa, CA, are okay for now. We are located in an evacuation warning zone for the current wildfires in Sonoma County that affected the northeast section of Santa Rosa. My family and I are all fine, and we are watching the news updates carefully and remain packed and ready to evacuate again if needed. The smoke and ash from the nearby fires make the air outside unsafe and hazardous, and we are staying indoors for now.
I am able to work indoors on art for my upcoming projects in November. My exhibition at Haus zur Glocke in Steckborn, Switzerland (www.hauszurglocke.ch) opens on November 25, 2020. I am creating a “Lake Constance Site Map” now with internet resources and a few things that artist friends in Switzerland, Germany and Austria have mailed to me here in California. Lake Constance is a large lake in Europe that lies between Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Here is a photo of my Lake Constance handmade paper artwork in progress:
Lake Constance Site Map (in progress)
I will post more about the exhibition at Haus zur Glocke and my “Lake Constance Site Map” soon. The exhibition at Haus ur Glocke titled “Labor-Natur” will feature artworks by 3 artists who use nature as a laboratory to create their art. I will be showing a selection of my handmade paper site maps that are created from plant materials collected at each site. The Lake Constance Site Map is the first one I have made remotely since I was not able to go to Switzerland this year because of the pandemic.
I will also be working in my Santa Rosa studio during October and November to create another “living quilt” installation for the City of Sacramento’s artist in residency program. I will be making some live Zoom programs to show how the handmade paper quilt with seeds for wildflowers in the pulp is designed and made. I will go to Sacramento for one week in November to install my art project “Living Quilt for Sojourner Truth” at Sojourner Truth Community Garden in the Pocket-Greenhaven area of Sacramento, California.
This photo shows one square of the “Living Quilt for Sojourner Truth”.
one quilt square for my “Living Quilt for Sojourner Truth” installation in Sacramento, CA
I am using the North Star quilt pattern to refer to how quilts may have been used to show escaping slaves the direction north to freedom. Sojourner Truth was a former slave and famous as a leader in the abolitionist and women’s suffrage movements. Keep watching this Blog to see more about my public art project in Sacramento.
Wishing everyone good health and good air to breathe!
Here are some of the art projects I am currently participating in and some that are coming up soon, as we venture forth from the pandemic and quarantine.
Hello World is an international online art exhibition and art project by TransCultural Exchange in Boston, MA. This international art project was conceived and curated by artist/curator Mary Sherman. This pandemic art project was conceived as a way to bring together artists from various countries around the world to share what they are doing and continue international cultural exchange travel during this time of the pandemic. This art project will be online indefinitely, and here is a link to my contribution for this project (click on the far-right photo in the second line): https://transculturalexchange.org/activities/hw/projects.htm
California Petals is a public art installation I created in August 2020 for a downtown storefront window in Santa Rosa, CA, and it can be viewed at any time from now to October 15, 2020. My installation is part of the Santa Rosa Downtown Chamber’s “Open and Out” program of cultural activities in the downtown area to encourage people to stroll around in the “pedestrians only” blocks of Fourth Street where many restaurants and stores are now open for outdoor dining and limited in-person shopping. My art installation is in a vacant storefront window at 620 Fourth Street, and it consists of many giant handmade paper flower petals with seeds for California wildflowers in the pulp. After the installation comes down on October 15, I plan to “plant” these petals in Santa Rosa so that they will change over time, sprout and bloom in colorful wildflowers. Here is a link to my Blog that has more information about “California Petals”: https://www.openandoutsr.com/art/art1-cbcmw
public art installation California Petals in downtown Santa Rosa, CA
Falling Open: On & Off the Page, Themes of Our Time is a group exhibition at Gallery Route One, Point Reyes Station, CA, that will be online as well as open for appointment viewing from September 18 to October 15, 2020. This is an invitational exhibition of artworks selected by curator Renee Owen that includes handmade artist books, installations and other works that relate to current environmental, social and pandemic issues. For this exhibition I will be showing a new work titled “Daily Scrolls” created during my first months of pandemic quarantine. This artwork has 91 handmade paper scrolls each with unique text and images that reflect my daily thoughts and experiences during this time. For more information about this exhibition: https://galleryrouteone.org/upcoming-events/
Daily Scrolls paper sculpture
Upcoming Art Projects and Activities
2020 Lucid Art Foundation Alumni Exhibition is an online exhibition of selected works by past artists in residence at the Lucid Art Foundation in Inverness, CA. I was an artist in residence at the Lucid Art Foundation in 2013, and for this exhibition one handmade paper sculpture I made during my 2013 residency and another handmade paper sculpture created this year will be included. The first piece made in 2013 is titled “Feather Duster” and makes use of branches from a local olive tree and handmade paper “feathers” I created from local plants. My other paper sculpture in this exhibition created in 2020 is titled “Paper Poppy” and depicts a giant California golden poppy like those blooming in my yard during the pandemic this Spring. Here is a link to this online exhibition: http://www.lucidart.org/exhibitions#current-exhibitions
Paper Poppy
Living Quilt for Sojourner Truth, Artist in Residency Project, Sacramento, CA is a public art project that will be completed in November 2020 at the Sojourner Truth Community Garden, Sacramento, CA. I was selected for the City of Sacramento’s Artist in Residency Program to create a site-specific art installation at a community garden in the Pocket-Greenhaven area of Sacramento. For this project I had planned public participation activities and workshops, but this has not been possible because of the pandemic. I will create the handmade paper “quilt” in a traditional “North Star” pattern with seeds in the pulp and bring it to Sacramento in November to create a “bed” for the “quilt” and install it at the Sojourner Truth Community Garden where it will transform over time. I will be making Zoom programs for online public participation. For information about the City of Sacramento Artist in Residency program: https://arts.cityofsacramento.org/Programs/Sacramento-AIR See my Blog for updates about this project and the upcoming Zoom programs: https://janeingramallen.wordpress.com
quilt block in “North Star” pattern for Living Quilt for Sojourner Truth in Sacramento, CA
Labor Natur, Haus zur Glocke, Steckborn, Switzerland is an exhibition curated by Judit Villager of works by three international artists who explore connections between art and science and use nature as a laboratory. This exhibition is open to the public in Switzerland from November 21, to December 12, 2020. For this exhibition I will be shipping some of my handmade paper “site maps” made in residencies around the world to Switzerland and also creating a new “site map” of the Lake Constance area encompassing Switzerland, Germany and Austria in my Santa Rosa, California, studio. I am doing online research gathering photos and information about plants that are common to northern California and the Steckborn area. Also, Judit Villager is sending me some materials by mail from Switzerland that I can put into the mixed media handmade paper site map. I hope to be able to travel to Switzerland in Spring 2021 for an artist in residency public art project at Haus zur Glocke. For more information about this exhibition in German only: https://www.hauszurglocke.ch/agenda/ausstellung//labor-natur1/ Or see this link in English at my Blog: https://janeingramallen.wordpress.com
Lake Constance Site Map in progress
Papermaking Art Workshops and art consulting sessions in my new Santa Rosa studio will be starting again in 2021. Contact me at info@janeingramallen.com to get the latest information about upcoming classes and individual consulting appointment.
papermaking in my Santa Rosa studio – creating “California Petals”
Hope you can come to the opening of this group exhibition in Woodland, CA, where I will have two installations featured: One is an indoor site specific installation of my “California Delta Rivers” first created in 2013 and re-configured to make a wall drawing installation for this exhibition focused on the water resources in northern CA. The work is made with handmade paper and cotton threads and pulp is dyed with fiber reactive dyes. Here is a photo of California Delta Rivers as installed at the Barn Gallery in Woodland.
I also have an outdoor installation in this exhibition. My “Flower Power” installation consists of many handmade paper “guns” with seeds for wildflowers in the pulp that will transform the “guns” over time into living blooming wildflowers. This installation is place in a prepared raised bed just outside the Barn Gallery, and focuses on using nature as a partner and the regenerative power of nature. The handmade paper will dissolve as mulch to nourish the earth and the seeds sprout and grow into blooming wildflowers. Here is a photo of “Flower Power” when it was first installed outside the Barn Gallery in Woodland.
My works are part of the group exhibition Women Eco Artists Dialog: The Legacy of Jo Hanson, at Yolo Arts, the Barn Gallery 512 Gibson Rd., Woodland, CA. The exhibition will be on view through June 18, 2020 and features works about environmental issues by selected WEAD artists: Jane Ingram Allen, Krista Anandakuttan, Angela Gonzalez, Maria Paz Gutierrez, Cynthia Jensen, Elizabeth Kenneday-Corathers, Judith Selby Lang, Isabella La Rocca, Linda MacDonald, Carol Newborg, Lisa Reindorf, Lorna Stevens, Michelle Waters, Melissa West, Tammy West, and Mary Bayard White. See the Yolo Arts website at http://www.yoloarts.org for more information and gallery hours.
Happy New Year and Happy New Decade to all of you! I am happy to be in a new house in Santa Rosa and to have a new studio space in our garage at 5017 Maiden Lane, Santa Rosa, CA 95409. Look for announcements in a few weeks about workshops and classes in hand papermaking at my new studio.
I am also happy to announce the following upcoming exhibitions in 2020:
Exhibition Title: Assemblage, 20 Years of Environmental Art at the Schuylkill Center, an invitational exhibition of works by former Artists-in-Residence and artists who have exhibited at Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, Philadelphia, PA, curated by Christina Catanese, Director of Environmental Art. I was the first artist-in-residence at the Schuylkill Center in 2001 with a grant from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, and I will exhibit “Schuylkill Center Trail Map” made with handmade paper from plants of Schuylkill during the residency and also documentation of my recent work “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” 2018 that was influenced by the work I did at Schuylkill using paper pulp with seeds for wildlfowers in the pulp to change and grow over time. Check these sites for more information about the exhibition: http://www.schuylkillcenter.org/art?ha_exhibit=assemblage and http://www.schuylkillcenter.org/blog/event/20-years-of-environmental-art-at-the-schuylkill-center-opening-reception/
Dates: January 30 – March 21, 2020, Opening Reception Jan. 30, 7-9 pm
Where: Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, 8480 Hagy’s Mill Rd., Philadelphia, PA 19120
Exhibition Title: Women’s Eco Artist Dialog: The Legacy of Jo Hanson, an invitational group exhibition of environmental artworks by members of WEAD (www.weadartists.org), curated by Janice Purnell, Creative Director, Yolo Arts. I will exhibit a new site-specific configuration of my installation “California Delta Rivers” made of handmade paper, seeds and string that highlights the importance of Northern California’s water resources.
Exhibition Title: A Conversation with Paper, an invitational exhibition of handmade paper artworks by 18 selected members of IAPMA, international association of hand papermaking artists, curated by Jacqueline Mallegni and Deborah Fritz. I will exhibit a selection of my mixed media suspended two-sided handmade paper “site maps” created at various residencies in the US and other countries and made from materials collected in that place and time.
Exhibition title: Labor-Natur (Laboratory of Nature), an invitational 3-person exhibition of artworks reflecting an artistic approach to scientific methods and examining questions about nature and the confrontation with our planet Earth at Haus zur Glocke, Steckborn, Switzerland, curated by Judit Villager, Curator, Haus zur Glocke (https://www.hauszurglocke.ch/home/). I will exhibit a selection of my handmade paper “site maps” created with handmade paper from plants of each place and reflecting my experimentation with over 200 plants for hand papermaking in projects around the world.
Dates: Nov. 21 – Dec. 12, 2020. Opening Reception Nov. 21, 5-8pm. Jane will attend the opening and give a talk about her work. Jane will be in Steckborn, Switzerland, from Nov 15 – 22, 2020, to install her works and to plan for an artist in residency project with Haus zur Glocke and a public art installation in Spring 2021.
I started working as a visiting artist in residence on Monday, Feb. 25, at Natomas Charter School in Sacramento, CA. I am creating an outdoor public art installation titled “Guns into Flowers” with the students to raise awareness about gun violence in our schools and communities. We are making a handmade paper quilt with a gun motif and seeds for wildflowers in the pulp to transform the guns into flowers over time as the paper pulp dissolves into compost, and the seeds begin to sprout and grow into blooming flowers. Here is a photo of some of the students learning about papermaking and getting introduced to the project at Natomas Charter School Academy of Performing and Fine Arts. Photos to document the project are by Timothy S. Allen. Keep watching this Blog to see more photos and follow the progress as we continue with papermaking workshops this week and next to make the quilt squares. The official opening ceremony and laying down of the “quilt” will be on Saturday, March 16 at 2PM in the park at South Natomas Community Center, Sacramento, CA.
Jane Ingram Allen Art Projects 