This topic was discussed recently with some retailers who sell printmaking papers. I was warned to expect a big jump in the price of fine art printmaking papers in early part of 2011 due to a sharp rise in the price of cotton.
Here is an item I found recently online related to this:
LAHORE: World cotton prices continued rising trend during January, nearing the two-dollar-per-pound territory, a statement said.
According to the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), cotton rates increased between December 31, 2010 and January 28 by 25.5 cents per pound to 197.5 cents per pound.
“Very low world stocks of cotton, limited supply, robust demand and depreciation in the dollar value may have caused surge in prices during 2010/11,” the statement said.
Another more recent factor that may also influence the cost of cotton has been the floods and Cyclone that recently hit in the northeast of Australia. Cotton is an export from that country and the weather may certainly have made an impact with growing and production there this year.
Another Enviromentally Friendly Alternative to Cotton paper to consider
Anyhow this got me thinking about possible alternatives to using papers that do not use cotton in their makeup.
One that I discovered was bamboo. Awagami is a company from Japan who make paper in the traditional sense of washi papers. They are manufacturing a ph neutral 250 gsm weight paper made from bamboo and mixed recycled content. Here is an excerpt from their website.
TOKUSHIMA, JAPAN, November 07, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Bamboo is deeply rooted in Japanese culture and has touched every aspect of daily life from art and literature, to design, food and crafts for many centuries. Bamboo utensils dating from the Jomon Period (ca. 10,000 B.C.-300 B.C.) have been discovered in both Honshu and Kyushu indicating that bamboo has been used in Japan ever since the earliest years of its civilization. In keeping in line with Japans rich and time honored bamboo legacy, Awagami Factory has now proudly created Awagami Bamboo Paper.
Awagami Bamboo Paper is a fine organic choice for artist and designer alike exhibiting notable benefits and advantages over cotton based papers. Awagami Bamboo papers' luxurious texture is similar to silk while softer than cotton making it an excellent choice for both letterpress and relief printmaking. Available in sized sheets, Awagami Bamboo paper contains 70% bamboo fiber and 30% mixed recycled* content and sheets are available in a standard basis weight of 250gsm.
About bamboo:
Known as the fastest growing timber plant on earth, bamboo is found in abundance throughout Asia and has numerous environmental benefits. Bamboo is biodegradable, requires little attention during its growing cycle and (unlike cotton) does not require fertilizers or pesticides for a successful crop. Furthermore, bamboo produces 35% more oxygen and consumes four times the CO2 than trees. Bamboo is truly a sustainable and renewable resource; a self-replenishing "miracle plant" which grow exceedingly fast and will continue to do so through many seasonal harvests.
For further information about Awagami Bamboo Paper or about any of our other fine washi papers, kindly visit our website at http://www.awagami.or.jp/
*The recycled content may be a mix of hemp and bagasse (sugar cane and/or sorghum stalk fiber).
For those of you from Canada you can purchase the Awagami bamboo paper from the following retailers:
Woolfitts (Toronto Canada - http://www.woolfitts.com/fulfill/ )
Island Blue Art Store (Victoria, British Columbia - http://www.islandblue.com/store/ )
If you live outside of Canada you might have to perform a Goggle search to see if any retailers in your respective countries sell this product.
There is a European manufacturer producing a line of bamboo based paper for the US market under the company name Smock. However I think this is mainly aimend at use for the Letterpress market.
Here is an item I found recently online related to this:
LAHORE: World cotton prices continued rising trend during January, nearing the two-dollar-per-pound territory, a statement said.
According to the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), cotton rates increased between December 31, 2010 and January 28 by 25.5 cents per pound to 197.5 cents per pound.
“Very low world stocks of cotton, limited supply, robust demand and depreciation in the dollar value may have caused surge in prices during 2010/11,” the statement said.
Another more recent factor that may also influence the cost of cotton has been the floods and Cyclone that recently hit in the northeast of Australia. Cotton is an export from that country and the weather may certainly have made an impact with growing and production there this year.
Another Enviromentally Friendly Alternative to Cotton paper to consider
Anyhow this got me thinking about possible alternatives to using papers that do not use cotton in their makeup.
TOKUSHIMA, JAPAN, November 07, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Bamboo is deeply rooted in Japanese culture and has touched every aspect of daily life from art and literature, to design, food and crafts for many centuries. Bamboo utensils dating from the Jomon Period (ca. 10,000 B.C.-300 B.C.) have been discovered in both Honshu and Kyushu indicating that bamboo has been used in Japan ever since the earliest years of its civilization. In keeping in line with Japans rich and time honored bamboo legacy, Awagami Factory has now proudly created Awagami Bamboo Paper.
Awagami Bamboo Paper is a fine organic choice for artist and designer alike exhibiting notable benefits and advantages over cotton based papers. Awagami Bamboo papers' luxurious texture is similar to silk while softer than cotton making it an excellent choice for both letterpress and relief printmaking. Available in sized sheets, Awagami Bamboo paper contains 70% bamboo fiber and 30% mixed recycled* content and sheets are available in a standard basis weight of 250gsm.
About bamboo:
Known as the fastest growing timber plant on earth, bamboo is found in abundance throughout Asia and has numerous environmental benefits. Bamboo is biodegradable, requires little attention during its growing cycle and (unlike cotton) does not require fertilizers or pesticides for a successful crop. Furthermore, bamboo produces 35% more oxygen and consumes four times the CO2 than trees. Bamboo is truly a sustainable and renewable resource; a self-replenishing "miracle plant" which grow exceedingly fast and will continue to do so through many seasonal harvests.
For further information about Awagami Bamboo Paper or about any of our other fine washi papers, kindly visit our website at http://www.awagami.or.jp/
*The recycled content may be a mix of hemp and bagasse (sugar cane and/or sorghum stalk fiber).
For those of you from Canada you can purchase the Awagami bamboo paper from the following retailers:
Woolfitts (Toronto Canada - http://www.woolfitts.com/fulfill/ )
Island Blue Art Store (Victoria, British Columbia - http://www.islandblue.com/store/ )
If you live outside of Canada you might have to perform a Goggle search to see if any retailers in your respective countries sell this product.
There is a European manufacturer producing a line of bamboo based paper for the US market under the company name Smock. However I think this is mainly aimend at use for the Letterpress market.
Hi guys,,
ReplyDeleteThis post is very useful and very interesting to read, Really this Post is providing nice information, Keep it up.
Bamboo Sheets
Thanks for the heads up - Awagami makes beautiful printmaking papers and if anyone is going to make a good bamboo paper its going to be he Japanese....I also learned that they make a bamboo paper for digital printing (Giclee) too!!
ReplyDelete