Recycled & Handmade Paper

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In a way to be more environmentally friendly in the way I work, and to become aware of the amount of leftover paper off-cuts that go to waste after each project, I decided to experiment with different ways of recycling my unused paper.

Going back to the traditional roots of paper and the main reason I started working with this medium all those years ago: to create something truly bespoke and handmade.
I started testing out ways of making my own recycled paper, using only offcuts from paper that was leftover from previous projects, adding no more waste to the process, but simply giving it a new life. The aim was to create something beautiful and organic, that celebrates the craft of traditional hand-made art.

After my first little test piece in blue as a simple start, I decided to push the boundaries a bit and made a bigger piece with a multitude of hand-mixed colours, almost ‘painting’ a landscape scene with the paper pulp. White and orange papers became baby pink – green, yellow and gold flakes became guacamole (?) – orange, neon yellow and green became mustard – and brown, purple, green, blue and red became forest green! No dyes or colouring was used, just paper and water.

The third Mondrian-esque one is made up of the left over colours of the landscape piece, playing with composition and abstract colourful shapes a bit more. The blue piece was the initial little experiment to test out the process. This one is made up of over 7 different shades of blue paper, creating a completely new shade.