Curtin Springs Handmade paperHandmade paper has always been of great interest to me, so you can imagine I was very excited when I visited Curtin Springs in the Northern Territory recently, and found out they had embarked on a new venture, totally different, but in addition to the beef farming they started out with.  Curtin Springs is over 1 million acres in size, and home to the Severin family since 1956.

Their paper making business begin in 2014 and is now in full swing, being produced in what once was the abattoir on the station, and you can now even participate in paper making tours and workshops.  The paper is made with native grasses such as spinifex, oat grass, woollybutt, kangaroo or kerosene grass, which grow on the vast property of Curtin Spring.  The grasses are harvested, soaked, dyed and dried to produce a variety of colours and textures.  More texture is added to the paper during the process by using  plants, flowers, bark, clay, sand and poo as well as other things like the bangtails from the cattle.  The paper can be used for all sorts of things – letter writing, scrap booking, cards, and more, and each sheet of paper is unique and individually made.

Many thanks to Lyndee Severin, who showed me through the paper making working workshop and showroom, and explained the process step by step.  It was so interesting and I couldn’t resist buying a pack of different papers to try out with my watercolours.  Stay tuned for pictures of the paintings I create on the paper……

In the meantime, if you’re interested in learning more about Curtin Springs and their paper making workshops, have a look on their website:  Curtin Springs

 

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