Arnold Grummer's Complete Guide to Paper Casting

98 Pages·2002·9.3 MB·English

by  Arnold Grummer

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Cast With Confidence!
Arnold Grummer’s
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Are you intrigued by the look of dimensional paper but you’re not ld

sure where to begin? Unlock the mystery of this centuries old art G
ru C G T
form with the most comprehensive book available! This guide m OMPLETE UIDE O
m Paper Casting
takes you from the very basics of paper casting to choosing the e
r
’s
best pulp, molds, and release agents for your needs, so you’ll be
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creating your own stunning paper-cast pieces in no time. m
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This Essential Resource Includes G
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id
• Simple instructions for making pulp, adding e
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botanicals, enhancing your creations with
P
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glitter and paint, and making molds from p
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everyday items like rubber stamps and brass
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plaques s
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• A dozen unique g
projects you’ll be proud
to display
• Clear step-by-step
photographs and easy-to-
follow instructions
A
• Inspirational r
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o
examples of paper-cast l
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artwork, from scrapbook an
d
pages and greeting cards M
a
to bowls and framed b
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l
calligraphy
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e
About the Authors r
Arnold Grummer has spent most of his life doing what he
loves—making paper. He has written three best-selling
papermaking books, including Arnold Grummer’s Complete
Guide to Easy Papermaking, and produced three papermaking
videos. Arnold is a former editor and faculty member of
The Institute of Paper Chemistry and served as the curator
of the Dard Hunter Paper Museum. Mabel is a former
elementary-school teacher and an expert on making molds
for paper casting. Arnold and Mabel currently reside in
Appleton, Wisconsin.
PCAST ean
ISBN:0-87349-425-3 $16.95 U.S.
51695 K
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A
C U
P S
U E
Arnold and Mabel Grummer

0 4608100425 4 9 780873494250
1PP1-11 1/9/02 12:32 AM Page 1
Arnold Grummer’s Complete Guide to
aper
P
asting
C
Arnold and Mabel Grummer
1PP1-11 1/9/02 12:32 AM Page 2
©2002 by Arnold and Mabel Grummer
All rights reserved.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and re-
trieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may
quote brief passages in a critical article or review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper, or
electronically transmitted on radio or television.
Published by
Please call or write for our free catalog of publications. Our toll-free number to place an order
or obtain a free catalog is 800-258-0929 or please use our regular business telephone 715-445-
2214 for editorial comment and further information.
Library of Congress Catalog Number 2001099521
ISBN 0-87349-425-3
1PP1-11 1/9/02 12:32 AM Page 3
D
edication
This book is dedicated to Kim, our daughter, who conceived the book, and
whose energy and counsel led it from nothing to something wonderful.
A
cknowledgments
Aspects of this book, and the general environment that accompanied its de-
velopment, owe a debt of gratitude to the artistic and technical, and seemingly
endless, creative resources of Spencer Rotzel. May his graphic world be always
available in our moments of crisis.
1PP1-11 1/9/02 12:32 AM Page 4
i
ntroduction to Paper Casting:
The World of Non-sheet Forms
Among other things, non-sheet forms of paper are not a new thought.
w
hen I was Curator of the Dard Hunter A more recent and much larger non-sheet
Paper Museum (now the Robert C. paper form was the “paper house,” developed
Williams American Museum of Papermaking), and built at the former Institute of Paper
we had a stunningly beautifully decorated Chemistry in Appleton,
paper coffin in one of our huge display cases of Wisconsin, as part of
Eastern artifacts. It was only large enough to WWII research. It
accommodate a small mummified falcon, was designed to
which lay partially within it. Such accommoda- house four peo-
tion of the bird was, as I remember, the whim ple, could be
of a Persian Nobleman with equal amounts of packaged in 2
affection for the bird and discretionary cash. At by 4 by 8 feet
my time of association with it as curator, the for mass air
coffin was centuries old. shipment, and
could be erected by
one man without tools. Its
purpose was to help pro-
vide shelter for European The first paper:a
WWII refugees. It was wasp’s nest.
erected on the Institute campus in 1944 and
disassembled in 1952 to make way for a
new building. For eight years, it withstood
Wisconsin winter blizzards and summer
storms.
Obviously, then, non-sheet forms of paper
Two-part paper casket for a favorite falcon. The foreground
are actually “old hat.” In fact, paper’s past is
section containing the mummified falcon fits into the background
dotted with exciting and amazing non-sheet
section. The attached museum card reads, “This decorated casket
is formed of many sheets of paper laminated together in the same forms, which include paper wheels for train
manner as modern wallboard. The casket dates from a remote cars, a paper church in Sweden, racing punts
period and contains a mummified falcon.” From the collection of
for Ivy League colleges, paper coffins for peo-
the Robert C. Williams American Museum of Papermaking.
ple, and many more. Some are cataloged in
Dard Hunter’s master book of paper history,
Papermaking: The History and Technique of an
Ancient Craft. Further, the first recognized
“paper” was a wasp’s nest, not a flat sheet.
So indeed, don’t be stalled in the flat sheet
syndrome. Let your imagination roam and soar
into all kinds of shapes, forms, and contours
as small as a delicate earring or as big as a
church in Sweden.
Institute of Paper Chemistry paper house.
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T
able of Contents
Chapter 1
What Is Paper Casting? • 6
Chapter 2
Make a Paper Cast in Minutes! • 9
Chapter 3
Paper Casting Basics • 12
Chapter 4
Pulp Application Methods • 22
Chapter 5
Paper Casting With Everyday Objects • 26
Chapter 6
Paper Pottery: Paper-cast Bowls • 40
Chapter 7
Enhancing Paper Casts 50
Chapter 8
Making and Using Your Own Molds • 66
Chapter 9
Inspiration • 84
About the Authors • 94
Glossary • 94
Resources • 95
Index • 96
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Chapter One
W
hat is
Paper Casting?
y.
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Chapter pa
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1
6 The Complete Guide to Paper Casting
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N
on-sheet paper forms can be struc- Many of these are
tured in several ways. One of the eas- quite ornamental,
iest, most versatile, delicate, and delightful is as well as use-
paper casting, particularly with cotton linters. ful, when
By definition, paper casting is piling up, or by rendered as a
other means arranging, soaking wet fibers paper casting.
into a desired shape or form and keeping The possibilities
them there until dry. are endless! But in-
Working or getting the soaking wet fibers dustry has beaten
into a form or shape might not be all you to many of
that difficult, but it can be tricky to them: egg cartons, Fast food tray;
an industry
keep them in that shape or form while food trays, carriers for
paper casting.
they dry and become strongly enough multiple drinks, and so on.
bonded to stay that way. The whole The shape or form to which pulp is to
process is simplified by having a form or be applied is generally referred to as a
shape of rigid, waterproof material to put “mold” (either commercial or home-
the mass of wet fibers (pulp) in, on, or made, as described on page
around. The form then supports and 13); however, the word
keeps the wet mass in the proper “mold” generally does
shape as, and until, it dries. Ul- not bring to mind a
timately then, by paper cast- whole host of items
ing you can duplicate in of which, or from
“paper” (cellulose fibers, which, paper castings
that is) any shape or form can be made. To iden-
on the face of the earth, or tify these things not
any you can yourself create normally associated
in a proper material. with “mold,” this book
All kinds of ready-made sought some other name.
craft-to-high-art shapes are readily The word “armature” has
Paper-cast desk art.
at hand in the form of cookie cutters, been applied to large, complex
boxes, dimensional art, carvings, dimensional forms upon which paper castings have been
surfaces, botanicals such as the gingko leaf, based, but the word seems a bit overblown
and so forth. A huge number of utilitarian
shapes and forms can be found in a
variety of packaging
and packaging
components, as
well as a whole
array of fast food
containers and
compartmental
trays, from fluted
sundae containers and
take-home sandwich
boxes to plastic packag-
ing from grocery store
delis and bakeries. Then
there are bowls from your
kitchen or china shelves. Bowl matrix and resulting paper cast bowl.
What Is Paper Casting? 7
1PP1-11 1/9/02 12:32 AM Page 8
and grandiose for smaller, simpler, and more For the ultimate in whiteness and delicacy,
common items. Personally, we like “matrix.” you will at some time or other want to buy
Its definition in Merriam Webster’s Collegiate and try cotton linters (you will still need the
Dictionary, Tenth Edition, includes “Some- blender, water, and 30 seconds of your
thing ... from which something else origi- time). But in the matter of waste paper, in-
nates, develops, or takes form.” Conse- dustry is beating you again. It is scooping
quently, in this book, such non-flat mold up the world’s waste paper by the ton to
items as dishes, fast food containers, etc., disperse back into pulp for new paper
will be identified as a matrix. products that include the world’s finest
For a special look and character, cotton printing papers.
linters are readily available from stores or In your casting, as in flat sheet paper-
the vendors listed on page 95. But you will making, your merest effort will result in a
never run out of free pulp, because all of very adequate final product. More time, ef-
the world’s waste paper is pulp (simply laid fort, care, and added creative talent will
out and dried in sheet form, the same as move the final product correspondingly
new pulp sheets). It’s yours to use for a higher, even to the uppermost realms of “art.”
blender, water, and 30 seconds of your time. Go for it!
Common matrices for paper castings.
8 The Complete Guide to Paper Casting
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Chapter Two
M
ake a Paper Cast
in Minutes!
es.
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wit
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Make a Paper Cast in Minutes! 9