Handmade paper

A hand-crafted support used for drawing, printmaking and water-based painting, it has become popular among 20th-Century American artists including Roland Poska, Mary Judge and Raquel Rabinovich. Each sheet of paper is unique and has slight variations of thickness, color and texture. The best quality Handmade Paper is a European invention made from pure linen rag pulp. The process begins by dipping individual screens or moulds into vats of the pulp. Removed, the screens are manipulated so the pulp is evenly spread across the mesh; excess water is removed and the pulp is dried with the screen's edges being framed by a deckle, a screenless frame resting above the mold. The removal of the deckle creates a ragged edge on the paper---an identifying characteristic of Handmade Paper although the ragged-edge effect is replicated commercially. Source: Kimberley Reynolds & Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"; AskART database (LPD)