Making Harakeke Paper (NZ Flax)

During June I had a marvelous time enrolled on Fibre Arts Take 2 course Focus and Flow with Canadian tutor Karen Olsen. I always enjoy being able to use natural resources and this course did not disappoint. I spent the earlier part of the month boiling up various fibres to make into paper. I have harakeke growing in my garden so it was easy for me to access the flax. I made sure I harvested the flax in the approved Maori manner, taking only the outer growths of each form. These I cut into small pieces and boiled in soda ash for nearly three hours before beating them in a special craft mixer and then using the sugeta screen and deckle to form the paper. This was one of my earlier attempts and the paper is relatively thick. I have mounted the paper in a free form of pine needle weaving