Pencil on Mitsumata

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I adore this paper.

It is Mitsumata, a Japanese paper made from the plant of the same name.  The paper is delicate and translucent yet extremely strong; it is difficult to tear by hand.  I came across it at the Kurashiki Folkcraft Museum during a two month visit to Japan in late 2019.  As part of the trip I undertook a two week residency on Matsushima Isalnd, the smallest inhabited island in the Seta Inland Sea where the population is just two. 

For the time that I was on the island  I became one third of the community.

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