Collaborating artists Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback have received the 2nd Place 2024 Creative Arts Award from the San Francisco Estuary Partnership for their art project “In Deep Water” that is about climate change and water. The Award is to recognize creative arts and their importance in raising public awareness about environmental issues. The Award will be presented to the artists on March 13 at the 2024 Conference on the State of the S. F. Estuary at Kaiser Center, Oakland, CA. The “In Deep Water” installation, incorporating hand papermaking and printmaking, is now on display at Live Forever Foundation Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan, and has been extended through March 10. Other versions of “In Deep Water” utilizing hand papermaking and printmaking have been shown in San Francisco, Pt. Reyes Station and Sonoma, California, and at Discovery Hall, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, in 2022 and 2023.
Here are some photos of the installation in Taiwan at Live Forever Foundation Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan, until March 10, 2024.
“In Deep Water – We’re In This Together” (view of right side of gallery), 2023-24, 36 panels, each about 1-2 ft. wide and 9-16 ft. long, mixed media installation of handmade paper, printmaking, thread, burning, holes, gel.“In Deep Water – We’re in This Together (left side), installed at Live Forever Foundation Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan, Dec. 2, 2023 – March 10, 2024.In Deep Water – We’re in This Together, gallery view, Live Forever Foundation Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan, 2023-24.
Jane making handmade paper Pepperwood tree leaves for installation at Pepperwood Preserveapermaking workshop, Santa Rosa, CA
Location of Classes: Jane Ingram Allen’s studio at 5017 Maiden Lane, Santa Rosa, CA 95409, phone 857-234-2432, email: info@janeingramallen.com
Registration: To insure your place in a class, send a check made out to Jane Ingram Allen for the class fee by mail to the address above, or use PayPal to “send money” to info@janeingramallen.com with a credit card. Class size is limited to 5 people, and registration is confirmed after receipt of the class fee. If you need more information call or email me.
Schedule of Classes
Celebrating Kozo – Japanese Papermaking Techniques and Materials
Dates: March 16, 10 am to 4 pm
Class Fee: $150 (materials and equipment provided)
Learn to make paper with Japanese Kozo (paper mulberry bark) and other plant fibers in the Japanese way to make unique handmade paper that can be super thin but still very strong and used for everything from clothing to sculpture. This class will use some of the recent Kozo fiber I ordered from Mino City, Japan, where I was an artist in residence for 3 months in 1999 and returned in 2009. We will use an authentic sugeta (wooden frame and bamboo woven screen) as well as Western molds & deckles (wooden frame and nylon screening) and formation aid from powdered polyethylene oxide and from okra juice. The class will cover preparing fiber, preparing the vat, adding formation aid, various ways of sheet forming and drying handmade papers as well as creative and unique ways to use the long fibers of the paper mulberry and other plants. Information about getting kozo fibers and a Japanese-style sugeta as well as growing your own fibers for Japanese papermaking will be shared in this workshop. No experience required, but some papermaking experience will be helpful.
Going Wild with Color in Hand Papermaking
Date: April 20, 10 am to 4 pm
Class Feet: $150 (includes materials and use of equipment)
This one-day class will be an introduction to using color in 2 and 3-dimensional hand papermaking art. Learn to use non-toxic fiber reactive dyes and natural dyes from local plants and purchased sources to color paper pulps such as abaca, kozo, cotton and local plant fibers. Learn about the advantages of using dye for paper pulp as well as pigments. Also, use papermaking fibers from local plants that have their own beautiful natural colors. Go wild with color and explore using pulp painting, stenciling and other unique ways to introduce more color into your handmade paper art. No experience necessary, though experienced papermakers will also learn many new and original coloring methods and techniques. If you are a painter or like color in your work, this is the workshop for you.
EXTREME Papermaking !!/ More EXTREME Papermaking
May 4 and 5, 2024, 10 am to 4 pm each day
Class Fee: $300 (materials and equipment provided)
This two-day class is open only to those who have taken my EXTREME Papermaking class already and want to do more! This class will cover more and different EXTREME papermaking techniques including burning, hole making, stitching, and other really BIG paper methods and other techniques to enrich and enliven your handmade paper art. Enjoy this time with others who have taken the EXTREME Papermaking workshop at Sitka Center for Art & Ecology in Summer 2023 or who have taken the EXTREME Papermaking class at my home studio in Santa Rosa in 2023. If you can think it, we will do it!
Plants for Papermaking
Dates: May 18 & 19, 10 am to 4 pm each day
Cost: $300 (includes materials and use of equipment)
Class Fee: $300 (includes materials and use of equipment)
This will be a two-day class to go from plant to handmade paper and learn to control the whole process of making paper “from scratch” using ordinary household equipment and supplies. Learn how to collect, what to collect, and how to prepare leaves, bark and stems of certain plants to make great handmade paper for 2 and 3-dimensional projects. We will make handmade paper all from materials that we prepare in this class from local plant materials. We will collect, cook, beat and make paper from at least two different plants we gather near my house and use several others I have already prepared that are found in Northern California. Learn about plants and useful fibers and create beautiful site-specific handmade papers for use in your own artwork. For beginners and experienced papermakers who want to learn to make unique paper from local sources.
Design Your Own Private Papermaking Class
Dates: one day or two-day class to be arranged for private individual work with me, 10 am to 4 pm each day
Class Fee: $500 for one day or $800 for two consecutive days
Contact me to design and schedule your own unique class to work in my studio on your next project. This will be one-on-one learning in my studio using the equipment and supplies and pulps that you want to use from my stock, such as abaca, kozo, cotton blue jean pulp, specific local plant pulps that I can prepare or other materials you want to bring. I will offer advice, encouragement, give suggestions and teach you ways of doing what you want for specific projects and works that you have in mind. This will be more of a collaborative process and good for those who know what they want to achieve but don’t have a studio space or the equipment or the knowledge at this time to work entirely on their own. Two days are recommended, but one-day private workshops can also be arranged.
About the Instructor:
Jane Ingram Allen is a multi-media artist who does art projects around the world using hand papermaking with natural materials and collaborative processes to raise public awareness about environmental and social issues. Jane has received numerous awards for artist-in-residencies and community public art projects in the USA, the Philippines, Japan, Nepal, Brazil, China, Tanzania, Taiwan, Turkey, Thailand, Indonesia, Switzerland, England and Costa Rica. She was a Fulbright Scholar artist-in-residence in Taiwan in 2004 and 2005 and a Fulbright Specialist in Turkey in 2015. She received Puffin Foundation Grants in 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2022 to support her art installations in New York and MA. She has also received grants from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Ruth & Harold Chenven Foundation, NYFA, NEA, City of Sacramento, City of Santa Rosa, Sonoma Creates and other organizations around the world to support her work. Jane begins her artwork by making handmade paper from local plant waste and using materials and techniques that contribute to sustainable living and improve the environment. Jane is a former college art instructor and writes about art for SCULPTURE, Fiber Art Now and other art magazines as well as doing independent curating. She also teaches workshops in papermaking and other arts and has taught at Women’s Studio Workshop, Sitka Center for Art & Ecology, Peter’s Valley School of Craft, Brookfield Craft Center, and Morgan Paper Conservatory as well as at colleges and universities, museums and art centers in the US and other countries. Since 2012 she has been based in Santa Rosa, CA, and continues her work in the US and internationally.
The exhibition of “In Deep Water – We’re in This Together” at Live Forever Foundation Gallery in Taichung, Taiwan, opened on Saturday Dec. 2 and will continue on display till March 2, 2024. The work is part of “Water Says” curated by Iris Hong and includes the installation by Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback about water and climate change and works also about water from two Taiwanese contemporary artists. The opening reception offered a great chance for Jane and her husband Tim to meet many old friends again and for Jami and her husband Steve to experience Taiwan for the first time. Jane and Jami also conducted a one-day workshop on Sunday Dec. 3 at the Foundation to present their techniques in papermaking and printmaking used in this installation. These photos include some of the opening reception and some from the workshop. All photos are by Timothy S. Allen
Jane and Jami speaking at the opening reception.Dancer performing at the opening reception.View of “In Deep Water – We’re in This TogetherView of papermaking workshop at Live Forever Foundation Gallery showing paper drying on windows.Student making handmade paper at workshop.Students doing printmaking on handmade paper at the workshop.Burning holes in handmade paper at the workshop.“In Deep Water – We’re in This Together” by Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback at Live Forever Foundation Gallery, Taichung Taiwan.
The installation titled “In Deep Water – We’re in This Together” opens Dec. 2, 2023 at Live Forever Foundation Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan. https://www.live-forever.com.tw/foundation-news-content.php?page=1&index_id=75 The installation of handmade paper and printmaking by Santa Rosa, California, artists Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback, consists of 36 panels presented as a site-specific installation in the magnificent gallery space at Live Forever Foundation Gallery and aims to initiate some international dialogue about our global climate crisis and its effects on the water situation in countries around the world. Taiwan and California have different problems with water, too little most of the time in California and too much sometimes in Taiwan. Everywhere we are experiencing rising waters and temperatures, increased I’ve severity of storms and other effects of climate change. The installation is part of the exhibition “Water Says” curated by Taiwanese curator Iris Hung. Jane and Jami and their husbands are in Taiwan for 10 days to do the site-specific installation and attend the opening reception, present public programs and a hands-on workshop in papermaking and printmaking related to the environment and water. Thanks to the Live Forever Foundation for their support and enthusiasm for environmental art and how it can contribute to raising public awareness around the world about our current global environmental crisis. Here are a few photos of our “In Deep Water” installation in Taiwan. The Foundation also engaged a Taiwanese modern dancer to create a performance with our installation!
Taiwanese Dancer performing for the opening reception of “Water Says” exhibition and interacting with the “In Deep Water” installation by artists Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback.Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback speaking with journalists about their “In Deep Water” installation at Live Forever Foundation Gallery in Taichung, Taiwan, on Nov. 30, 2023. “In Deep Water – We’re in This Together” view of one side of the installation by Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback, at Live Forever Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan.
More photos will be posted on this Blog and other sites soon. All photos are by Jane’s husband Timothy S. Allen.
The collaborative art project of Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback opens Saturday, Dec. 2, 3-5 pm at Live Forever Foundation Vital Space Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan. The site-specific installation about water and climate change is on display until March 2, 2024, at the gallery in Taichung. The installation in Taiwan is part of the exhibition titled “Water Says” curated by Iris Hung, and also featuring work by two Taiwanese artists about water and the environment. The two artists from Santa Rosa, CA will be in Taiwan until Dec. 5, when they return to CA. Jane and Jami and their husbands Tim and Steve are enjoying touring around Taiwan and meeting interesting people, eating great food and sharing their art. Here are a few photos of “In Deep Water” being installed at Live Forever Foundation in Taichung. The photos are by Timothy S. Allen. Follow this link for more info about the Live Forever Foundation: https://www.live-forever.com.tw/foundation.php
Jane Ingram Allenand collaborating artist Jami Taback will exhibit their installation titled In “Deep Water – We’re All in This Together” at Live Forever Foundation’s Vital Space Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan, Dec. 2, 2023 – April 2, 2024. The two Northern California artists began collaborating on this project in August 2021 and have continued to add to the installation, exhibiting it at 4 different galleries in the US in 2022 and 2023. This will be its first international presentation. The Taiwan exhibition of “In Deep Water” is part of a group show titled “Water Says” curated by independent curator Iris (Ping-chi) Hung). Jane and Jami have received support from the Live Forever Foundation for travel to Taiwan and to teach a workshop on hand papermaking and printmaking and to share their process and ideas about our current global climate crisis. The artists will be in Taiwan doing a site-specific installation and related public programs, Nov. 23 – Dec. 4, 2023. Public Opening Reception and Gallery Talk, Dec. 2, 2023; Workshop, Dec. 3, 2023.
“In Deep Water” installation at Sonoma Community Center Gallery, Sonoma, CA, January-February 2022“In Deep Water” installation at Discovery Hall, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, April – August 2022“In Deep Water – Rising” installation at Gallery Route One, Pt. Reyes Station, CA, Oct. 2022“In Deep Water” installation Nov. 2022 – April 2023 at Tides Converge Gallery, the Presidio, San Francisco, CA
Photos of the California “In Deep Water” installations are by Timothy S. Allen. The photo of the Rowan University installation is courtesy of Rowan University Art Gallery Director, Mary Salvante.
View of “Jane Ingram Allen – Papermaking Around the World” exhibition at Mountain View Performing Arts Center
Solo Exhibition in Mountain View, CA: “Jane Ingram Allen – Papermaking Around the World” at Mountain View Performing Arts Center Lobby Gallery, August 15 – Oct. 2, 2023. For more information: https://www.mvcpa.com/events/lobby-art.
This exhibition features a selection of handmade paper “site map” works Jane has created as an artist-in-residence in countries around the world including Taiwan, Japan, Costa Rica, Brazil, Tanzania, Indonesia (Bali) and the USA. Jane was one of 10 artists selected by the City of Mountain View Visual Art Committee for an exhibition in 2023. The mixed-media works are all made with handmade paper, thread and other materials Jane collected in each place and reflect her experience of the time and place. Exhibit hours are Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 12 p.m. – 1 pm, and one hour prior to every public performance. See the Calendar of Events for performance dates and times: https://www.mvcpa.com/events/calendar The lobby is also open during Box Office hours for the Mountain View Performing Arts Center, and most of the work can also be viewed through the many large windows in this interesting building at 500 Castro Street in downtown Mountain View, CA, next to City Hall. The show is up through Oct. 2, 2023.
Summer so far has been very busy! It has also gotten very hot after a rather cool June. I have been making new works and building a new papermaking mold and deckle for creating really BIG sheets of paper as well as having family visits and getting ready for teaching workshops and installing new exhibitions.
Educator Grant from Surface Design Association: I received a 2023 Educator grant from the Surface Design Association to make a Portable Large Papermaking Mold and Deckle. I needed a large papermaking mold that could be transported in our car for the EXTREME Papermaking Workshop I am teaching at Sitka Center for Art & Ecology(www.sitkacenter.org), in Otis, Oregon, August 5 and 6. The workshop is already full, and I am looking forward to working with these students at this beautiful place on the central Oregon coast.
Here is a photo of the new portable folding papermaking mold that can make sheets of paper 7 feet x 3 feet using a pouring method. This should be fun to use in the workshop – just one of the many papermaking techniques I will cover in this workshop that includes all sorts of inventive and EXTREME ways of making paper that I have discovered in my papermaking travels around the world. I will now be able to use this foldable large papermaking mold and deckle for other papermaking workshops I will be teaching in Santa Rosa and surrounding areas.
Article in Summer 2023 FiberArts Magazine: Speaking of travel around the world my article “Papermaking Around the World” was just published in the Summer 2023 issue of FiberArt Now. Here is a link for a summary of the article: https://www.fiberartnow.net/summer-2023/
Scroll down to my article “Papermaking Around the World” and see an image of my Izmir, Turkey Site Map and read about my papermaking adventures as an artist in residence in 5 countries: Costa Rica, Tanzania, Turkey, Bali and Taiwan. The Summer 2023 issue can be ordered at www.fiberartnow.net
Izmir Site Map (front view), 2015, mixed media on handmade paper from plants of Izmir, Turkey, created during Fulbright Specialist Artist in Residency at Ege University Museum of Book and Paper Arts, Izmir, Turkey, 60″ x 48″ two-sided suspended installation.
Upcoming Exhibitions:
Solo Exhibition in Mountain View, CA: “Jane Ingram Allen – Papermaking Around the World” at Mountain View Performing Arts Center Lobby Gallery, August 15 – Oct. 2, 2023. For more information: https://www.mvcpa.com/events/lobby-art.
This exhibition features a selection of handmade paper “site map” works I have made as an artist-in-residencies in countries around the world including Taiwan, Japan, Costa Rica, Brazil, Tanzania, Indonesia, Thailand, and the USA. Exhibit hours are Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 12 p.m. – 1 pm, and one hour prior to every public performance. See the Calendar of Events for performance dates and times: https://www.mvcpa.com/events/calendar
“Turning Over a New Leaf” (detail), 2000, mixed media participatory installation of 2000 handmade paper kozo fiber leaves made during artist in residency at Mino Paper Art Village Project, Mino City, Japan, 6 feet x 24 feet x 3 inches deep.
Exhibition in Taichung, Taiwan, Dec. 2, 2023 – April 2, 2024: “Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback – In Deep Water – We’re In This Together” will be a site-specific installation of collaborative work utilizing Handmade Paper and Printmaking by the two artists created in response to our present climate crisis and relating to water. The exhibition will be in the Live Forever Foundation Vital Space Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan, and is curated by Iris Hung. The show also includes works on water and the climate crisis by two Taiwanese artists. Jane and Jami will travel to Taiwan in late November and stay for 10 days to create this installation of the ‘In Deep Water” project emphasizing that water and climate change are global problems. The artists will present a Gallery Talk at the opening on Saturday, Dec. 2, and the public is invited. The artists will also teach a hands-on workshop in Taiwan about papermaking and printmaking and their process for creating the 36 suspended panels of printed-on handmade paper joined with threads.
In Deep Water collaborative installation by Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback (detail), 2022-23, mixed media installation of handmade paper, thread, printmaking, ink, gel, burning and other materials, 36 panels each about 2 feet wide and 12-18 feet long, suspended site installation shown here at Sonoma Community Center in January 2022.
Wishing you a Happy 4th of July! I am sharing one of the many American Flag pieces I have made using hand papermaking and mixed media techniques. This one is Rainbow Flag, made in 2002, dimensions 4′ x 6′, handmade paper created by the artist from abaca and cotton pulp, acrylic paint, thread, mylar, photo by Timothy S. Allen.
Jane Ingram Allen Art Projects 