Working at Dieu Donné Papermill — a Look at my Process.

Yesterday I was making large sheets of paper using cotton base sheets, stencils with charcoal dust, pulp drawing, embedding photographs and laying on sheets of abaca at Dieu Donné paper mill. Working this large requires requires collaboration. I spent the day working with Amy Jacobs, Studio Collaborator extrodinaire  and Danae Lagoy, my fantastic studio assistant. 

The focus of Dieu Donné’s studio mission is to work with artists. Dieu Donné is a non-profit organization dedicated to the creation, promotion, and preservation of new contemporary art utilizing the hand paper making process. The organization’s primary services and programs are devoted to working with mid-career and emerging artists to develop new, innovative methods of paper making within the medium and the greater world of contemporary art.  

Many significant artists have worked with Dieu Donné artistic staff and paper, including: Richard Artschwager, Mel Bochner, Louise Bourgeois, Chuck Close, Anne Hamilton, Jane Hammond, Mel Kendrick William Kentridge, Glenn Ligon, Robert Ryman, James Sienna, Kiki Smith, Richard Tuttle,  Chuck Webster and many others. 

Dieu Donné offers unique opportunities to produce individual works and editions through collaborative artists’ projects. Artistic staff consult with artists to develop innovative methods.

  

It certainly works for me!

Family photo

Artist Susan Shaw at work.

Painting with linen pulp

Danae Lagoy

Amy Jacobs

Photography by Charles Chessler.

Missing Edward Winkleman

The thing about gallery wandering through Chelsea is that you intersect with lots of people. At the openings you expect it. In fact, I recently introduced myself to Chuck Close, a personal hero because he has that renaissance touch in multiple media, at a Pace opening. But the sweetest moments are fleeting. At the instant I was taking the photograph above, Edward Winkleman walked by. He saw me and turned his head to see what I was seeing and kept striding. By the time I gathered my wits to say hello, he was gone. For the rest of the day I felt an odd kinship, every photo a mapping of that oh so slender event.