The art of papermaking has been cultivated for centuries by the inhabitants of Nepal and Bhutan. High up in the hills, peasants take the bark of a shrub - Lokta or Daphnae Papyracea which grows between 2500 and 4500 meters above sea level - and process it into the Lokta paper you see in the Great Art catalogue. Lokta's long fibres, its texture, and its amazing resistance make for longevity and splendour of this superb support to work on.
At the beginning of time, man was in search of a space for expression that would enable him to materialize his ideas. Over the centuries many means of doing so came and went, cave man used stone, the walls of the caves and the bones of his food to engrave signs and to paint drawing to communicate with others. The Romans wrote on 'tabellas' (wooden boards covered with wax) and the Greeks on pieces of terra cotta, So many great mediums but how much effort! The Egyptians found an alternative lighter and handier method 'the Papyrus' and thus marked the beginning of the great history of paper.
How many times have you thought 'I'd like to make my own paper' ? With this kit and the instructions below now you can. Every year we throw away tonnes of paper, of which the majority is recyclable. So grab those old newspapers and yesterday's junk mail and let's see how to make it back into useable paper.
The voyage of paper through time has been a long one, originating in China in 105 AD when it was first made by Marquis Cai Lun. His paper although based on bramble, hemp, and bamboo, led a long path through history and across many continents.
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