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Rainforest is shaded green area

BRAZIL 

These handmade papers from Brazil are made using unique materials that impart a different look and feel. Not only do they use materials indigenous to the area, but they recycle fibers that otherwise would be considered waste products.

Garlic and onion peel lend a delicate translucency and sheen to the papers and make use of common household waste. On a grander scale, the tough banana fibers not only create a strong, durable sheet, but help to maintain ecological stability of the forest floor where those fibers, in over abundance because of the ever growing banana industry, are usually left to decay - choking out tender undergrowth that the forest and forest animals depend upon.

All papers are neutral pH with 4 deckles.

BANANA - handmade of 100% recycled banana fiber. Crisp sheet with a mottled appearance; 4 deckles; neutral pH.

Colors:

MIXED FIBERS * limited quantities available

CASCA DE ALHO - handmade, 100% garlic peel. Very thin, crisp, translucent sheet with a mottled appearance. 4 deckles, neutral pH.

Colors:

CASCA DE CEBOLA - handmade recycled onion skin. Heavyweight sheet in assorted solid colors, incorporating pieces of red onion skin. 4 deckles.

Colors:

MARCELA GREEN PETALS - handmade 100% chamomile flower petals. 4 deckles; neutral pH.

PLATANERO - handmade, 100% banana fiber colored with red soil, which gives the paper its color. 4 deckles; neutral pH.

PLATANERO PEELINGS - handmade of white cotton with dark strips of banana peelings. 4 deckles.

MACHADO MARBLES - unusual patterns and colors make these hand marbles from Brazil distinctive. Made by Luis Fernando Machado. Acrylic on paper; one-of-a-kind.

COLOMBIA

COLOMBIAN HANDMADES* limited quantities available - papers handmade from cotton rag with natural, indigenous inclusions. All are neutral pH with 4 deckles.

Algodón y Cascarillas de Café - white cotton rag with coffee shells; very rough

Algodón y Escoba - off-white cotton rag with broomstick fibers

Algodón y Caña Verde - light green cotton rag wtih sugar cane fibers

Algodón y Piña - cotton rag with pineapple fibers. Woven texture.

click on thumbnails for description

Acrylic by Lil Mena

COSTA RICA

These unusual and beautiful handmade papers utilize waste materials from the farming industry in Costa Rica. The government encourages the use of these materials because without the recycling of these overly abundant, natural wastes, the ecological balance of the forests and the animals that depend on them are threatened.  When we refer to the banana fiber, we are talking about the fiber found inside the pith of the banana stalk, which behaves like most bast fibers: strong, shiny, and inherently acid free. All papers have 4 deckles and are neutral pH.

The photo to the right is an acrylic by Lil Mena, the papermaker, on Matambú.

photo © Victoria Paper

MEZCLA OSCURA - made from a mixture of banana pith fiber and recycled cartons. Visible flecks of black bark.

PAZ - made from a mixture of  and recycled newspaper and banana pith fiber.

NEW  PAPERS

CAFE CREMA -  this paper is the successor to Brosas de Café and is very similar in composition, except that it is somewhat lighter in color. Coffee shells are introduced into the banana pulp during the papermaking process and contribute to the extra rough surface of the paper. Neutral pH.

CIRCULOS -  meaning "circles", this is Lil Mena's latest creation which is very labor intensive. The pulp is 100% pure banana bast fiber taken from the pith of the stalk. It is sun dyed to this blond color. The difficulty lies in maintaining the integrity of the circles without haivng a "break" in the pulp. Neutral pH.

click on thumbnails to enlarge