subject: How To Make Your Own Rice Paper For Stationary And Art Projects [print this page] Rice paper, which is also called washi, is made from parts of the rice paper plant or other plants materials such as hemp, bamboo and mulberry. Rice paper has been used for centuries for writing, drawing and gyotaku fish prints. It is also a useful medium for making kites, lanterns, surfboards, collages, shoji screens and artificial flowers.
In Europe during the 1900s, this paper originally became known as rice paper, because people believed it was made from rice. The paper is actually made from the pith of a small tree, Tetrapanax papyrifer, the rice paper plant. This plant grows in the swampy forests of Taiwan, and is also cultivated locally as an ornamental plant for its large, exotic leaves.
Many scholars believe that rice paper was created during the Shang dynasty in China, which was discovered to be a very influential time in history. In 1928 archeologist found and excavated the last capital of the Shang, and found to be quite an advanced civilization. The excavation unearthed city walls, palaces, temples, sacrificial pits, work houses, storage quarters, and cemeteries. The people during the Shang period were very advanced, in fact they created bronze vessels as advanced as humans have ever used. They also learned acupuncture, observed eclipses and stars, organized army troops by decimal scale unit, and of course created the now world famous rice paper (which was known then as Xuancheng after the location it was produced in).
Today most rice paper is made using the rice plant straw, bamboo, hemp, mulberry, wingceltis and gampi. Traditionally this paper (washi) was made of Japanese mulberry tree called "Kozo" or shrubs called "Mitsumata" and "Ganpi". The paper was scarce and valuable because it was all natural and hand-made, until the manufacturing of this paper began in late 1800s. Traditionally rice paper has been used for artistic purposes, such as calligraphy, sumi-e painting and gyotaku fish prints. Today this medium is being utilized for a variety of other useful purposes.
Making your own rice paper is a fun and relatively easy task. To make your own rice paper, you will need about one and half pounds of bamboo leaves, two and a half pounds of wood ash (such as from a fireplace), a big pot, a basin, water, a couple of towels, some mesh for straining, a mortar and a pestle for grinding, a wooden spoon, a frame used made for paper-making, any decorations you'd like in the paper (such as flowers/leaves), and some heavy books for pressing your paper.
Begin by shredding the bamboo leaves. Prepare your ash by mixing them with water in the pot. Boil this mixture for half an hour, then let it sit overnight. The next day you can strain the mixture through your wire mesh. Next combine your bamboo and ash mixture in the pot, then cook for about five hours. When it's finished cooking, strain the mixture once again, and wrap the fiber that's left in a towel.
Rinse the towel out with fresh water and squeeze out the excess water. Empty the fibers from the towel into your mortar, then grind it into a paper pulp with your pestle. Next, fill your basin up with water and pour in your pulp. You should have about four parts of water to one part pulp. Stir it well with your spoon. Be sure to remove any lumps that you can see. Try to make your paper-paste as smooth as you can.
If you plan to use ink on your paper you will need to treat it prevent the ink from soaking into the paper. To do this add two teaspoons of liquid starch into your paste mix and stir it well. For the next step you will want to immerse your preparation frame into the paper-paste, with the screen on the bottom. When the screen is covered with the pulp, make it as level as possible, and slowly move the frame back and forth until there is an even layer of pulp covering the top of the screen.
Once you have this layer, slowly pick up the frame, until it is hovering just above the sink. This is the time to smooth out any areas that are still lumpy or uneven. Next allow the screen to drip over the basin; once the water is drained, your new paper will begin to form! At this beginning stage, it is still possible to remove from or add to your paper-paste mixture to create the thickness you want.
Once the frame is dry, place a piece of soft fabric on top of the newly-formed paper and press down to release any water still in it. When your paper is completely dry, it is ready to be taken out of the frame. To do this begin by removing the fabric; your paper should stay attached to the fabric and not the screen. Leaving the fabric on the paper, lay it out on a flat surface to dry. Make sure not to remove the fabric until the paper is completely dry, then you can gently peel off the fabric. If you desire to flatten the paper, simply lay it underneath some heavy books. Now you have homemade paper, perfect for a variety of art and stationary projects!
