Jane Ponsford & Joe Phillips

We are so pleased to be involved in the One Ash Project. The Ash tree is such an important and threatened part of our local landscape and we want to be able to celebrate its particular beauty.

We are aiming to work together on our contribution to the project.

Jane Ponsford is an artist and papermaker who has worked on all sorts of papermaking and educational projects including a landscape project last year (Surrey Unearthed) where she collected material like clay, chalk and other earth pigments together with plant material like oak galls and brambles to colour handmade paper. Joe Phillips is a skilled wood worker and furniture maker and a graduate of the Building Crafts College.

What we would like to do is to extend Jane’s making in relation to landscape research together with Joe’s woodworking skills in making collaborative pieces using a section of Ash. Jane’s handmade paper will fit into and follow hollows and grooves cut into the surface of the wood rather than using them as frames or bases.

An essential part of this work would explore the idea of working with no waste. Any wood shavings generated while cutting into the wood will be used to dye the handmade paper. Ash wood and bark like other materials rich in tannins can be used as a dye or as a pre-mordant to fix other natural dyes.

We would use various traditional processes in making this work such as greenwood carving, hand papermaking, working with natural dyes etc and would be happy to run demonstrations or taster sessions and Jane can offer outdoor papermaking sessions. We will be posting photos and videos of our progress and the processes involved.

Website: www.janeponsfordstudio.com

Instagram: @janeponsford @j_h_phillips