paper and print making

Paper making unit is going well! I have decided to go on a much purer path than making paper from paper pulp, to make it from plant fibres! I'm still in the research part of the process but I have tried a few basic things out so far, and here are some of them! Onion paper - made from the dry skins of onions

I made one using a mix of paper pulp and onion pulp (above), they turned a very earthy grey/brown colour I then decided to try a pure onion paper, these turned a beautiful purple colour due to using red onions but were very delicate and flakey. I then went on to use leeks, using the layers of leeks to create the paper. then I printed the leek patters using a gelatine printing technique and cut up bits of leek like this

I then was able to produced these

The first one was printed using the end of the leek, which looked spiral like and very pretty, The other pattern was created cutting the leek in half so you can see the layers of the leek in long lines I think they weren't too bad as I wasn't sure how my paper would pick up the ink. The only complaint came from the smell of onions and leeks in the class... but they better get used to it..! more to come!