2022: HOW IT STARTED + HOW IT’S GOING

Things don't always go according to plan. Sometimes that’s for the best, and other times it isn’t. The ups and downs are part of life, and as small business owners it’s also part of our business. As always, thank you for your continued support and interest as we adapt.

Let’s start off with some updates on the ups - AKA good news! 

• As of this month we have a mobile studio again. YAY!!! If you didn’t see our social media updates about our custom made trailer, here’s the scoop. The trailer was built by Dub Box, has electrical hookups, a small water tank, and a roof that raises and lowers. Having the mobile studio means we can bring our Hollander Beater + Hydraulic Press for making paper pulp from recycled fabrics (like worn out t-shirts) and locally harvested plant materials (like blackberry canes) on site to locations all over the Portland metro region. Thanks to all of you who have donated to help us purchase the trailer, we couldn’t have done it without you!!!

 

• Prior to getting the mobile studio we taught 4 guest workshops this spring/summer. One with the Weaver’s Wheel program at Rewild Portland, one with the Vanport Mosaic Project (and many partners) at the Expo Center, one with the Independent Publishing Resource Center, and one with Wild Diversity and Metro at Howell Territorial Park. At these events we lead participants through making Japanese knotweed paper, recycled paper with varied inclusions, and blackberry seed paper (blackberry plant paper embedded with native plant seeds like camas.) Are you interested in hosting us for a workshop, demo, or talk in 2023? Get in touch! We loved participating in each of these events and hope to do more community building of this kind.

 

• This fall and next spring we are looking forward to our studio co-owner Jenn working with artists in residence through her work with the non-profit org Stelo. She’ll work with a total of 4 artists who will make new handmade paper based art that will be exhibited at Stelo in fall/winter 2023. This is the seventh year of residencies and is a program near and dear to us. 

 

• We’ve made several custom orders of pulp and paper for artists, including cotton rag paper for Emily Kepulis, and kozo pulp for Mami Takahashi, amongst others. We’re about to dive into making palm frond pulp for Jenene Nagy. We’ll continue offering limited custom orders through September, prioritizing orders from artists. Email us at studio@pulpanddeckle.com if you’d like to discuss a potential order of pulp and/or paper. 

 

• Registration is now open for our upcoming workshops focusing on Papermaking for Journals on August 7, and a 2-day Paper from Plants Intensive September 10-11. Both of these classes will be held outdoors at our home in Oregon City, OR and class size is limited. Get all the details at the links.

Now it’s time to relay a few of the challenges we’ve navigated.

• We were very much looking forward to being at the Oregon City First City Celebration this month, and sadly had to cancel due to both Gary and Jenn having covid. We both experienced symptoms and were ill. Thankfully we are recovering and have our fingers crossed that all will work out for us to participate in the 2023 Celebration.

 

• Because of production delays we did not get our mobile trailer as soon as we had hoped this year. This means we’re reducing the amount of workshops we’re hosting for the remainder of 2022. Looking ahead, we’ve decided to focus on workshops as a seasonal offering May through September.​

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• Our online video series has been put on hold. We’ve filmed some pieces of new demos and need to wrap up production. The goal is to share more videos during the winter season when we’re not able to teach workshops. Our mobile studio isn’t fully enclosed when in use and making paper outdoors in the cold rainy weather of an Oregon winter doesn’t work well - we’ve tried it!

Before we go we also want to share our plans to offer a Day of Paper event outdoors at our home on Saturday August 27 from 1-6pm. We’ll have more details about this drop-in event in a few weeks, but wanted to go ahead and get it on your calendars. Attendance will be free with a suggested $10 donation if you participate in  activities like making paper that you can take home. The vibe of the day will be a celebration of paper with mobile studio tours, demos, plant walk, and a general open house feeling. Save the date!

We are so grateful for all of the community support and interest that has kept our studio going. This fall marks our 10 year anniversary. It’s been an amazing journey and we are excited to see what the future holds.