refined artisanal papers from local plants
HAND MADE PAPER FROM INVASIVE MASSACHUSETTS PLANTS
After a decade of working in solitude, Donna Lilborn, of WhiteLeaf Paper, is stepping out into the light and offering to the public her unique papers and paper art, made from locally foraged invasive plants.
SILVERGRASS PLANT BECOMES WHITE PAPER INCISED WITH HOSTA LEAVES.
ORIGAMI LANTERNS MADE FROM MULBERRY TREE STUCK IN FENCE
" I ask myself, how do I make paper that connects me to my community? I collect plants as close to home as I can, limiting myself to invasive plants on the prohibited plant list or to agricultural byproducts, like corn husks," Lilborn said. She puts out calls for materials on neighborhood Facebook groups. In response, she regularly receives cannabis stalks, which produce excellent hemp fibers, and even the occasional mulberry tree which had fallen during a storm. She collects invasive plants around town from the side of the road, from neglected parking lots, and from private property and farm stands where she has cultivated relationships with owners. Everyone who gives her plant material is thrilled that it is going to such and interesting and beautiful use.
THIS LITTLE BOOK HAS BITTERSWEET END PAPERS, HEMP PAGES AND COVERS OF JAPANESE KNOTWEED INCISED WITH LIVING LINDEN LEAFS.
She will not only be getting her papers into the hands of people who would enjoy owning them, but is also seeking collaborators for making art together: be it prints, books, sculptural pieces, wall art or indefinable art. Lilborn makes paper that reflects the use to which it will be put, the place in which it was made and the themes collaborators intend to articulate. Perhaps ou are one of those possible collaborators?
Abstracting forms from nature, Lilborn considers her process to be fluid and creative. " If you think for a minute about how artists work, and artist will tend to just make what they feel like making, what they've been thinking a lot about lately. That's how my process is with paper making. I'm doing manufacturing, but I'm doing it like an artist."
White Leaf: locally grown, small batch paper.
A person who never saw paper before could easily be forgiven for thinking it was
the white leaf of some foreign tree.
Donna Lilborn makes White Leaves. Her paper is built from the leaves and stems of the plants in her garden, on her street, in her neighborhood. Friends and neighbors give her leaves from their gardens, and point her to stands of wild plants for harvest.
