Workshops for 2023
Jane is one of only a few artist-papermakers in the UK and a member of IAPMA, the International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists. She exhibits nationally and has taught papermaking in a variety of settings ranging from The British Museum to galleries and out in the landscape with organisations such as Surrey Hills Arts, West Dean College and Stroud International Textiles / Select Festival and more recently Hole & Corner Magazine.
Hole & Corner Workshops: Papermaking & Sculptural Forms with Jane Ponsford
Sat, 25 February 2023,
The Hole & Corner Shop 50 High Street Bruton BA10 0A
10:00 am – 4:00 pm
£150
Paper is a material full of meaning, it has always been used as something to communicate with; it’s never a neutral surface – it is something that absorbs the essence.’ says Jane Ponsford. An artist and papermaker, Ponsford teaches paper-making in settings from museums to galleries to schools, and has exhibited her work nationally and internationally.
She makes her paper using the materials she finds on walks, such as chalk, clay, bark, charcoal, tannin dyes and sometimes volcanic ash. In this one – day course you will learn how to make paper and sculpt your own organic paper forms then explore this medium creatively by making a paper vessel or other sculptural form. Materials and tools will be provided.
Read the interview with Jane on the Hole & Corner website or in full in Issue 18: Details.
Papermaking and Sculptural Paper Forms inspired by Shoji Hamada
Ditchling Museum of Art & Craft
Sat 18 March 2023
10:30 am – 4:30 pm
£90
Enjoy making and embellishing handmade paper bowls inspired by the beautiful forms and marks of the work of Shoji Hamada in this one-day papermaking workshop.
Participants will experiment with Eastern and Western styles of papermaking and will try out couching sheets of mitsumata and cotton rag paper before moving on to casting paper bowls.
This workshop is being held as part of a season of events connected to the exhibition Shōji Hamada: A Japanese Potter in Ditchling which runs from Sat 22 October 2022 – Sun 16 April 2023 in which Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft marks Japanese master potter Shōji Hamada’s first visit to Ditchling. We will start the day with a walk round the exhibition.
The exhibition captures a key moment in early 20th-century art and craft – a collaboration and consolidation between East and West, and the emergence of the studio pottery movement. It brings together significant works from 5 public UK collections by Shōji Hamada, Bernard Leach, William Staite Murray, Martin Brothers, O Kenzan VI, Katharine Pleydell-Bouverie and many more eminent figures in both the Mingei and studio pottery movements.
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Earthed: Papermaking inspired by place
Monday 28 June 2021
11 am – 3 pm
Three Storeys
Old Bristol Road
Nailsworth
GL6
About this event
One Day Workshop
Jane Ponsford will talk about how she uses paper making to describe and explore landscape. She will reflect on some of the ways she and ceramicist Kim Norton worked during their 9 month project, Earthbound and share approaches and techniques. You can also find out a little about the history and traditions of papermaking, and learn how to transform cotton rag pulp into small sheets of paper or into different forms, colour and stain them with natural inks and locally gathered pigments. Explore the medium through a practical workshop with demonstrations and individual attention.
1. Use of vat, mould and deckle and sheet forming using cotton rag pulp
2. Building other materials into the paper.
3. Colour: stain newly formed paper with inks and pigments.
4. Shape / texture: simple embossing and making and using improvised moulds.
Participants will go home with sample sheets of paper and some experimental 2D and 3D pieces. You will also have had an introduction to the medium allowing you to take your papermaking further using various methods. All materials will be supplied. Please bring an apron or similar as the process is wet. There is a cafe next door but do bring lunch. A coffee or tea to welcome.
A handout includes lists of materials, equipment and suppliers
Tickets: £60.00 includes materials CANCELLED
This papermaking workshop is related to a collaborative project, exhibition and talk with ceramicist, Kim Norton at Three Storeys Nailsworth Gallery as part of Ground Works project, Select Festival 2021.
About the Tutor
Jane runs workshops in papermaking in a variety of settings from schools and galleries to museums and out in the landscape. She has a strong interest in working in response to particular places or landscapes and using materials from the local environment or exploring recycling by making paper from cotton or linen rags. For workshops Jane Ponsford often uses a transportable Hollander beater (handmade by New Zealander, Mark Lander) to run professional level paper-making sessions where participants can learn about and take part in the whole process of papermaking from fibre to artwork. The Hollander beater (named ‘The Critter’ by its maker) can handle cotton and linen fibres and long strings and strips of plant material to make unique, beautiful and very definitely local paper.
Recent workshops have included ‘Creative Papermaking with Colour and Thread’ at West Dean, workshops with Stroud International Textiles as part of Select 2014, ‘People, Places and Papermaking’ with The Heart of Teesdale Landscape Partnership at Barnard Castle and Winston in Teesdale and papermaking workshops and demonstrations at The British Museum, London, in response to their ‘Renaissance Drawing’ exhibition. She has also run art and papermaking workshops with participants of all ages at Guildford House Gallery, Guildford, Riverhouse Barn, Walton and Farnham Maltings. As part of longer projects and residencies she has worked with schools including: ACS International School, Cobham, Hurst Park Primary, St Albans, Cardinal Newman, and Esher Church Schools in Surrey and Teddington School in Middlesex and run Inset sessions with primary school teachers in Richmond-upon-Thames.
To enquire about workshops varying from short half hour drop-in sessions through to one day or longer projects please email: janeponsford@btinternet.com or phone on: 01372 467720
She has up-to-date CRB and public liability insurance of £5 Million.
Workshops from early 2020 and 2019
Papermaking unearthed – artworks informed by landscape
16 to 20 February 2020
Suitable for all
SOLD OUT
Explore the landscape through papermaking using natural dyes, iron, clay and chalk. Develop your skills and use traditional and experimental papermaking techniques to make beautiful artworks and bookforms inspired and coloured by the earth.
In this enjoyable course we aim to investigate the creative possibilities of papermaking using colours from the landscape as our starting point, both in terms of raw material as well as inspiration. We will be incorporating colour using dyed pulps, plant and bark dyes, iron, clay and chalk. After an initial practical workshop session in which we run through traditional Western papermaking techniques using moulds and deckles with cotton rag pulp, we will begin to experiment with making and using coloured pulps and working with other fibres to form sheets and casting paper into three-dimensional forms before moving on to incorporate inclusions and foraged materials in response the the beautiful local landscape and gardens of West Dean.
The course will be taught by means of demonstrations and practical work as well as individual attention to support your project. There will be information and handouts to allow you to take these skills further independently after the course. We will be making paper traditionally and will also explore both more easily accessible and more experimental techniques. The core teaching hours are 9.15 – 5pm though by arrangement students can use the workshop after dinner.
By the end of the course you will have experimented with making and colouring pulps, dip-dyeing sheets of paper, casting (couching) sheets of paper using a range of techniques including laminating, embossing, pressing and building in insertions and you will have gained and build upon skills which you will be able to take further in your own work.
Materials Week: Earth Matters
This course is part of a themed week, Earth Matters. This set of six courses explore sustainable, natural or re-purposed materials, ranging from raw materials, local clays, natural pigments, foraged dye sources and eco-jewellery. The courses start on Sunday evening and finish on Thursday afternoon. You are encouraged to engage with those on other courses.
On Monday evening, tutors will each give a short illustrated presentation on their practice, 5.15-6.30 pm and on Wednesday morning, 9.00-10.30 am, will be a swapover session where you can sign up to a different course subject and explore a different material or technique.
Papermaking – Transformations: Pulp to Paper at Offshoot Gallery
16 November 2019
£32.93 SOLD OUT
The workshop is part of the public programme of From the Book to the Book, an exhibition at Offshoot which explores the book as container, guardian and symbol.
Exhibiting artists
Eliza Bennett
Sion Head
Anastasia Mina & Maria Ikonomopoulou
Catrin Morgan
Kasper Pincis
Nick Scammell
Joanna Vestey
Duncan Wooldridge
Rahel Zoller
Paper is never a neutral surface. It is so connected with communication that its various forms are synonymous with content. Even the blank sheet implies its future use. Does paper ever stop referring to some kind of message, or is it always a vessel?
In this workshop led by artist Jane Ponsford, learn a little about the history and traditions of papermaking, transform cotton rag pulp into a sheet, recycle the page of a book back into a page again – or into a different form. Explore the medium through a practical workshop with demonstrations and individual attention.
1. Use of vat, mould and deckle.
2. Sheet forming using cotton rag and other pulp.
3. Build other materials into the paper.
4. Colour: stain newly formed paper with inks, or work with previously dyed pulp.
5. Shape / texture: simple embossing and making and using improvised moulds.
Participants will go home with several sample sheets of paper and some experimental 2D and 3D pieces. You will also have had an introduction to the medium, allowing you to take your papermaking further using various methods. Suitable for all ages and abilities. A handout includes lists of materials, equipment and suppliers.
Offshoot
162 High Road
East Finchley
London, N2 9AS
Offshoot offers high-quality exhibition space to emerging artistic and curatorial practitioners across all media. We also offer workshop and studio space which is available to a range of creative talent.
Offshoot is to be an arts hub: a place where young and old – locals and visitors – go to experience contemporary art and also to make it.
www.offshootartspace.com
Creative Papermaking with Natural Colours at West Dean
3 days Monday 15 – Thursday 18 July 2019
£381 SOLD OUT
Explore colour in papermaking using natural dyes and pigments including some from the gardens at West Dean. Use traditional papermaking techniques with cotton pulp, and other accessible methods, then dye and stain your papers, to make simple books or hand-made paper artworks.
Jane Ponsford will lead an exploration of colour in papermaking using natural dyes and pigments including some from the beautiful gardens at West Dean. After an initial practical session running through traditional papermaking techniques we will take a short walk to draw inspiration and materials from the gardens.
The course will be taught by means of demonstrations and practical work as well as individual attention to support your project. There will be information and handouts to allow you to take these skills further independently after the course. We will make paper traditionally using a Hollander beater and professional equipment making and using cotton pulp to form sheets but will also explore more easily accessible techniques before experimenting with dyeing and dip-dyeing and making natural inks to mark and stain our paper.
At the end of the course you will have made some beautiful zig-zag books and other two- and three- dimensional handmade paper artworks. You will have experimented with papermaking and making and using natural dyes using a range of techniques and you will have gained and built upon skills to take further in your own work.
This course is suitable particularly for those with an interest in papermaking and fibre crafts.
All levels
Paper making at Port Eliot Festival with Hole & Corner: 2 hour short workshops
July 2019
Friday 26 July 10.00 – 12.00
Saturday 27 July 10.00 – 12.00
Sunday 28 July 10.00 – 12.00
Venue: Hole & Corner SOLD OUT
Get hands-on and learn the ancient skill of paper making from artist and papermaker Jane Ponsford.
Paper making by hand is now an endangered craft in Britain, with Jane amongst a select few artists that continue to work with the traditional methods. A member of IAPMA (International Association of Paper Makers and Artists), her work is exhibited nationally and she teaches throughout the year to connect students and enthusiasts with a craft that is as much about form as it is about beauty.
The workshops will enable participants to learn the method of paper making with a ‘mold and deckle’ whilst also encouraging experimentation and creativity to create unique and personal works.
Short Papermaking workshop sessions at West Dean Arts & Crafts Festival 2019
Sunday 2 June 2019 SOLD OUT
11.00 – 12.30, 13.30 – 15.00, 15.30 – 17.00
£ 14
Learn about papermaking and find out how to make beautiful sheets of paper and embellished bowls in this hands-on workshop experimenting with a variety of materials from cotton rag pulp to shredded paper.
During the rest of the day you can browse and buy unique handmade items and artworks from outstanding makers and designers, get hands-on in a creative workshop and learn a new skill, watch demonstrations in a variety of crafts, enjoy the rare opportunity to explore West Dean House, explore the award-winning West Dean Gardens and take a break with a selection of food and drink options.
Short Papermaking workshops at Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft
4 May 2019 SOLD OUT
Colour Journeys: Natural Dye Demonstrations & Workshops – Saturday 4 May
10.30am-4pm
Drop-in
A mixture of free and charged for activities
The dye garden at Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft
Join artists and makers from the Colour Journeys exhibition in a lively day of workshops and demonstrations including weaving, paper activities and indigo dyeing on both days. Paper making, book binding, brush making, and spinning will also take place.
May 4
Indigo/shibori dyeing tote bags and scarfs
Hand stitching techniques
Weaving demonstrations and weaving cards to take away
Brush & ink making
Papermaking
Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft, Lodge Hill Lane, Ditchling, East Sussex, BN6 8SP
Experimental Papermaking at West Dean
4 days Monday 21 – Friday 25 January 2019 SOLD OUT
£496
This course is part of the wonderful programme at West Dean College and benefits from its facilities and beautiful setting.
Explore papermaking using cotton and other paper pulps and incorporate colour and structure using thread and dyed pulps. Develop your skills and use traditional and experimental western-style papermaking techniques, with laminating, embossing, pressing and building in insertions to make a sequence of two- or three- dimensional artworks.
After an initial practical session running through basic papermaking techniques making and using cotton and other pulps to form sheets, we will move on to marking, embossing our paper, thinking about how this alters the structure of the paper. Over the following days we will respond to this to develop more work, experimenting with incorporating thread or wires and joining, layering and collaging paper. Referring back to the pieces made in the first session, we will investigate working with dyed pulps and pigments to overlay marks. We will also think about how drying and pressing the paper can alter it, which can be used in a creative way to enhance the structure and shape of the paper.
At the end of the course you will have made a series of beautiful handmade 2D and 3D paper artworks. You will have experimented with making and dyeing pulps and casting (couching) sheets of paper using a range of techniques including laminating, embossing, pressing, building in insertions and you will have gained and built upon skills to take further in your own work.
LEVEL: SUITABLE FOR ALL
A subject-focused course that is delivered to suit any level of experience from beginner to advanced practitioner. A structured start is followed by guided independent practice.
Create Connect Craft: Papermaking at Heckfield Place with Hole & Corner
Thursday 4 April 2019 SOLD OUT
We’ll be exploring the grounds of Heckfield Place on Thursday 4 April and foraging for materials to add to our handmade paper. Join us and cast sheets of paper coloured and patterned with natural materials from the beautiful landscape of Heckfield Place. Jane is running two half-day papermaking workshops with Hole and Corner alongside rush weaver, Felicity Irons.
Participants will learn about both of these ancient skills and make some beautiful sheets of paper to take home after an enjoyable and hands-on day.
Hole & Corner writes:
Introducing ‘Create Connect Craft’ – a new event format from Hole & Corner that will see us partnering with special venues and likeminded collaborators across the land to offer personal and immersive experiences like never before.
We are delighted to announce the first in the series will be in collaboration with Heckfield Place in Hampshire on April 4th & 5th 2019. Our shared ethos and approach to provenance, sustainability and craftsmanship will unite to create the perfect setting for two days of discovery.
The essence of ‘Create Connect Craft’ is to offer fulfilling and meaningful experiences, combining learning and making – working directly with some of the most talented and respected craftspeople in the country – with delicious food and drink, likeminded company and inspiring surroundings.
Taking place on Thursday 4th and Friday 5th April, each day will provide the opportunity to experience two entirely different practices, working within small groups whilst using materials foraged from the estate. As well as the making workshops, you will be able to join guided walks and talks of the beautiful grounds, whilst also enjoying a specially prepared lunch menu from Heckfield Place’s acclaimed Culinary Director, Skye Gyngell.
Workshops from 2018
Papermaking with colours from the Dye Garden at Ditchling
Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft
Lodge Hill Lane
Ditchling
Hassocks
BN6 8SP
As part of the celebrations to mark Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft‘s 5th anniversary in the new buildings on Saturday 22 September, I’ll be running drop-in papermaking workshops using colours from the dye garden at Ditchling.
Between 10.30am and 6pm.
Free entry
These will be short drop-in, hands-on, papermaking sessions where participants can find out about and have a go at making cotton rag paper dyed with colours from the Ditchling dye garden. People will be able to make one or more beautiful sheets of coloured and petal filled paper to take home with them.
Suitable for all ages and all materials will be supplied.
Introduction to Papermaking
The Lightbox, Woking
Saturday 21 April 10.30 – 1pm
Max 15 people
Enjoy a practical, interesting and hands-on, introduction to papermaking. Learn about the basic techniques and processes of papermaking through demonstrations then try out couching and casting sheets of paper. Suitable for all.
LEVEL: Adults
COST: £25 / £22 Friend of the Lightbox
Advance booking required: Here
All materials included
The Lightbox
Chobham Road
Woking
GU21 4AA
Typical / Recent Papermaking Workshops
Short introduction to Papermaking
Enjoy a short (2 hours 30 mins), hands-on introduction to papermaking. Find out about the differences between Eastern and Western papermaking and try out casting sheets of paper using a variety of different fibres from cotton rag to Lokta. By the end of the session you will have made some beautiful sheets of paper which could be used for cards or gift tags or as artworks in their own right.
Jane teaches by demonstration as well as by individual attention and provides a useful resource sheet to help you source materials to use at home.
Suitable for 16 years and above. Advance booking required. All materials included.
Experimental papermaking: Material Journeys
Four days
In this course we will investigate the creative possibilities of papermaking using found objects as our inspiration and starting point. The aim is to go on a ‘Material Journey’ taking the materials provided to generate a sequence of related pieces. After an initial practical session running through basic western papermaking techniques making and using cotton and linen pulps to form sheets, we will move on to using our found objects to mark, emboss or alter our paper, thinking about how this alters the structure of the paper. Over the following days we will respond to this to develop more work, experimenting with incorporating thread or wires and joining, layering and collaging paper. Referring back to the pieces made in the first session, we will investigate working with dyed pulps and pigments to overlay marks. We will also think about how drying and pressing the paper can alter it, which can be used in a creative way to enhance the structure and shape of the paper.
The course will be taught by means of demonstrations and practical work as well as individual attention to support your project. There will be information and handouts to allow you to take these skills further independently after the course. We will be making paper traditionally using a Hollander beater and professional equipment but will also explore more easily accessible and more experimental techniques.
At the end of the course you will have made a series of beautiful handmade paper artworks. You will have experimented with making and dying pulps and casting (couching) sheets of paper using a range of techniques including laminating, embossing, pressing, building in insertions and you will have gained and built upon skills to take further in your own work.
LEVEL: Intermediate / advanced
REQUIRED PREPARATION:
Please bring one or two small found objects to act as a starting point. These could include twigs, a key, a piece of rusty wire. Nothing precious. There will be an opportunity to go outside to find other bits and pieces if necessary during the course. We will be working with wet material and sometimes with inks and dyestuffs so be prepared with older clothing. It would be useful to have pencils, black ink and a sketchbook. A camera might be useful.
MATERIALS:
The course fee includes: general materials, thread, string, some inks, simple dyestuffs, use of papermaking equipment and moulds and deckles, felts, and a pack of J type cloths per student, cotton and linen pulp and fabric or cotton linters for pulping. Though if you are contemplating extremely large work in size and quantity you may be charged extra. All other or additional materials will be purchased individually.
Creative Papermaking
Three days
Join artist and papermaker, Jane Ponsford for two hands-on and enjoyable days exploring landscape through papermaking. After an initial practical session running through traditional papermaking techniques we will experiment with making and using cotton pulps to form sheets before moving on to embossing, layering, marking and collaging the paper. Our first project will be to make a zig-zag book and during the first day we will take a short walk to draw inspiration from the landscape so please have suitable footwear. We will develop our natural landscape theme by referring to textures and colours derived from the landscape.
The course will be taught by means of demonstrations and practical work as well as individual attention to support your project. There will be information and handouts to allow you to take these skills further independently after the course. We will be making paper traditionally using a Hollander beater and professional equipment but will also explore more easily accessible and more experimental techniques.
At the end of the course you will have made some beautiful textured zig-zag books and other handmade paper artworks. You will have experimented with papermaking using a range of techniques and you will have gained and built upon skills to take further in your own work.
LEVEL: SUITABLE FOR ALL:
A subject-focused course that is delivered to suit any level of experience from beginner to advanced practitioner. A structured start is followed by guided independent practice.
Papermaking at Art in Action
Enjoy a practical, interesting and hands-on, introduction to papermaking. Learn about the basic techniques and processes of papermaking through demonstrations then try out couching and casting sheets of paper and experiment with pressing and embossing different kinds of paper pulp from cotton rag pulp to recycled five pound notes! During the course of the workshop you’ll work using a vat and a mould and deckle to make your own beautiful custom sheets of paper and artworks. In the session you will be introduced to a range of techniques which you will be able to continue to use at home for your own projects. Jane provides a useful resource sheet with information about where to source materials and equipment.
LEVEL: Suitable for all
DATES/TIMES OF WORKSHOPS: Saturday 16 July 2016 10.30 – 12.00 and 1.30 – 3.00 Sunday 17 July 2016 10.30 – 12.00
Creative papermaking with colour and thread: West Dean
Sunday 15 February – Thursday 19 February 2015 
This course was in a week of courses linked by a theme of Cloth and Thread. Each course explored this versatile material in two and three dimensions and various scales. The week included a short cross-over session to work with a different tutor, and illustrated talks by other tutors in the series of courses.
The course was taught by demonstrations and practical work as well as individual attention. There was information and also handouts to allow students to take these skills further independently after the course. We made paper traditionally using a Hollander beater and professional equipment but also explored more easily accessible and more experimental techniques.
‘Critter’ Hollander beater in action pulping cotton at West Dean
At the end of the course students made a selection of beautiful handmade paper and unique artworks and experimented with making and dying pulps and casting (couching) sheets of paper using a range of techniques including laminating, embossing, pressing, building in insertions. Students also gained and built upon skills to take further in their own work.
Two-day Papermaking Workshop: Stroud International Textiles: Selected 2014
Saturday, May 10, 2014 10.00-5.00 and Sunday, May 11, 2014 10.00-5.00 
As an artist and papermaker I am inspired by the landscape around us. I invited participants to join me for two hands-on and enjoyable days exploring their landscape through papermaking.
The workshop included making pulps using cotton and linen rag, casting and couching, laminating and embossing. We used a Hollander beater (a ‘Critter’) and also explored processes that can be used at home. On the first day we took a short walk to draw inspiration from the local landscape.
Suitable for all.
The workshop was part of the Select Festival 2014 organised by Lizzi Walton of Stroud International Textiles. I had work in the Newark Park exhibition Select 2014.
Jane Ponsford 