Making Plant Paper From Wild Fall Grass... and Making Art Out of It

Hi, my name is Cory and I am an artist who makes environmental and ecological inspired artwork. Almost a year ago I made a video about making DIY homemade plant paper from green spring grass. In this video, I get a bit more detailed with the process (especially as I've gotten more practice making paper!), this time using the dry, dead, and golden-yellow grass that decorates California's hills during the Fall season. If you're interested in making similar grass paper, I hope this video can act as a guide to help you out! This video is also a glimpse into my artistic process. The paper I make in this video became the primary medium I used in an art project that I was lucky enough to show in a local group exhibition!

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 Future Pa...  )
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:
  / corym.art  

My website:
https://corymorrisonart.com/