Making Plant Paper From Wild Fall Grass... and Making Art Out of It
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Published 2022-12-01
Although I go in depth in this video, the breakdown of the process looks something like this: Gather grass and cut it into 1 inch pieces. (I wash the grass and cold soak it next, but this is optional). Then, boil the grass for about 2 hours with washing soda/soda ash. After boiling, strain and beat the grass into a thick pulp. Once the grass is a thick pulp, blend it in a blender (about a 1 part grass, 2 part water ratio) until it turns into a thinner slurry pulp. Meanwhile, boil some okra. The remaining thick liquid is a formation aide (also optional). In a vat of water, add the pulp and okra (my ratio here is about 1:3 or 1:4, 1 being pulp, and 3 or 4 being water). Mix the water and using a deckle and mould, pull a layer of pulp out. Let it sit for a minute and then take the mould off. Bring the screen to a couching station to press it into fabric (the texture of the fabric will determine the texture of the paper). Flip the screen, wet paper side down, onto a piece of fabric. Use a sponge, paint roller, and/or microfiber towel to press the paper into the fabric. Carefully, pull the screen away from the paper. Let the paper dry, either in the open or under weight (the paper does shrink as it dries which can cause warping and wrinkles — using weight helps with this). Once dry, pull the fabric away from the paper. If it's still a bit wrinkled and warped, let it sit under heavy weight for a day or two. Now you can use the paper to make art or anything else you can think of!
For me, the papermaking process is a way of connecting to my local nature. I often think of the spaces I'm in while making paper (and making art from paper!) and I mediate on ideas of past, present, and future environments as well as our role in the natural world. This project was a fun challenge that I'm glad turned out successfully!
Thanks so much for watching and reading and I hope you look at the nature around you just a little differently now. Feel free to ask me questions and give me feedback (or roast my art) in the comments!
Here's a list of most of the materials I used just incase you want to tackle a similar project:
Wild grass
Shears
Gloves
Okra (I use frozen)
Washing soda
Deckle and mould ( • Making a Mould and Deckle... for Futu... )
Tub/vat
Towels and fabrics (I used old tees this time)
Water
Wooden pole
Concrete pavers
Blender
Paint roller, sponge, microfiber towel
Portable stove (definitely don't cook grass inside!)
Hardware bucket
Various old kitchen pots and utensils
and its always good to have some extra bowls around (preferably not plastic during steps with hot water!)
Artists I mentioned in this video that provided inspiration were Mark Rothko and Richard Long.
If you want to check out some more images of this artwork and more you can check out my social media and website here:
Artist Instagram:
www.instagram.com/corym.art/
My website:
corymorrisonart.com/
All Comments (21)
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So awesome best non asmr asmr content
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As a middle school student who watch this for a half year,it is an idea of science project,thank you
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Rice flour is also great as a binder - as are Potatoe or corn starch. Clean egg shells whole or ground help prevent fouling of the mix, as will natural fruit citric acid. 😊
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From what I've read many plants for cloth are retted before fibre extraction. Maybe it would help if you intentionally left the grass to soak for a few days and gave it a change of water before the next stage?
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God bless the peaceful paper makers of the world.
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I'm all late! But instead after the stick, using another, smaller flat stone in a circular motion would help grind it down more easily. Anyway, I love this!
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This guy deserves more likes, more views and more subscribers
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Oh my god is this where the term “beat to a pulp” comes from!?
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Watching your process was so fascinating and I loved it. The final piece that ended up in the gallery is amazing!
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Damn started as an interest in how to make paper of everything cellulose, but was amazed by the artististic end of it. LOVED it visually and also what makes it art; a true and honnest impression of the person whom made it
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I really like your content and the calm manner in which you explain everything you do. Thank you! Here's an idea: Make digital textures of all your papers that people can then use as an overlay or such. :) Thanks again!
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I really appreciate your respect for nature, even the dead grass, I wish more people would hold even a modicum of the value for our earth in their hearts that you seem to have! <3
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The "cotton" parachute for dandelion seeds at the end of the season would probably make a decent paper, it's already white, so bleaching chemicals wouldn't be needed. There are also cottonwood trees that produce a similar substance and milkweed.
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i wonder if you could use 2 paver stones on top of eachother to use as an improvised mill stone. Love your experiments! It may be worthwhile to have a bucket of water with grass fully submerged under water for a longer period of time(a week or maybe longer), in ye olden days ropemakers and textile makers did that with flax to make it easier to release the fibers for use, i think it's called "retting".
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Biggest grass on Earth is bamboo. This project is more the same as papper made from bamboo fiber. Thank you for sharing. Exellent art 🌱💚
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I've just watched your videos on making Leaf paper and ink. You could have a really killer youtube shorts video series if you made paper from different types of leaves, made ink from them, and then stamp an image of the leave the paper is made from onto the leave using the ink made from the leave. Like how that guy made a map using wood from each state and got millions of views for each vid. Something to try at least.
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Beautiful work! I love the process and the final moments as you peel the cloth from the paper.
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I get a creative block when I think about how much work (and money) goes into art supplies. This papermaking is a cool hobby though. Any art you make with it must feel even more special.
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Hey Cory! Very interested in your paper making and as I am watching, I was wondering why you can't just throw it in the blender. I sometimes make nettle powder from boiled nettle leaves as food for my shrimp, and I just throw them into a coffee bean blender and sieve out the remaining big particles.
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I have been making paper for many many years. This is over complicated. Sheets must be stacked with a piece fo cloth between them. You just need to press the frame and lift it. No need for pressing with a paint roller or a sponge. First layers are of lower quality as the stack is too flat, but as you build it up it is getting better and better. Place the stack in a print press or between planks pressed with lots of G clamps to extract water and wait until the stack is completely dry, tightening the press our the G clamps every day. The sheets of paper will be perfectly flat.
