What is Pulp Painting?

Many people think Eden is just painting her images on top of hand –made paper.  Eden actually makes the pulp (paper).  She beats cotton fibers in a beater, called a Hollander Beater.  She beats the cotton for two different lengths of time so that some fibers come out thicker and some thinner.  The thicker fibers are used for the base and give the artwork a certain amount of rigidity.  The thinner fibers, beat for 6 plus hours, come out with a consistency similar to soup.  These “soupy” fibers are separated and colored.  The rigid fibers are spread first on top of a mold and deckle, basically a mesh screen that allows the liquid to pass through while holding the cotton fibers in place.  As these fibers are drying, the soupy colored fibers are added.  The soupy fibers are in essence the paint and the longer fibers are the canvas.  Therefore, when the fibers dry and all the water has either been drained or evaporated, you are left with a painting in paper, not upon it.

How pulp paper is made in 5 steps

1. Cotton fibers are placed into a high powered beater, called a Hollander Beater, and beaten for several hours to obtain two desired consistencies.
2. The first consistency of hydrated fibers is poured on to a screen called a mold and deckle, forming the strong first layer.  The second is beat for a longer period and is then separated.
3. Artist coloring is added to these separated over-beaten cotton fibers.
4. The colored fibers are then applied over the first set of fibers, while still wet.  The application is done with syringes and ketchup bottles.  This is when I do the “painting”.
5. Once the paper has dried and been removed from the screen, the image is complete.  But, occasionally I will add superimposed images, woodcuts, or other embellishments to the paper.