A new year is a great time for looking forward to what
is to come. At Wet Paint, we get excited about new
product to offer our customers. This is particularly true in our Paper
Department, where new papers are constantly being imported,
especially from Nepal, Thailand and other Asian countries.
The new year often leads us to reflect upon the past. We are doing
this in our Paper Department, too. We have uncovered some papers that,
quite frankly, we had forgotten about. In addition, they are no longer
being made or being imported into the United States.
One of these is Rives Extra Rough. This is a beautiful
white sheet with a deeply bumpy surface. A pastel or charcoal drawing on this sheet would gain a new dimension
on an old sheet created by one of the finest fine art paper mills in
the world. Wet Paint has a limited supply of this sheet, which
has not been made in years.
Richard de Bas is a French mill that makes handmade
paper. Fifteen years ago, their papers were about the only ones with
floral inclusions. Beautifully-made sheets, the cost of these papers
(compared to those coming out of Asia) led to declining interest and
only one popular style is imported into the States today.
The papers are 100% cotton and have four deckled edges.
Wet Paint has a limited supply of floral inclusion papers with tan, light blue and pink backgrounds. Among the sheets no longer
available beyond our instore stock are the Richard de Bas laid/wove
sheets. Beautiful subtle colors of blue, chamois, burgundy,
brown and green, the sheets have speckles
and threads of white throughout. These papers are great for letterpress
and would make wonderful invitations or special edition books. Once
our supply is depleted, it is doubtful we could get these sheets again.
Richard Langdell is an American papermaker, alive
and well and making lots of papers. Each year he adds new designs to
his offerings and at the same time stops making others. His papers are
works of art in themselves, using lots of different materials for inclusions.
They are finely made sheets in the tradition of old mills such as Richard
de Bas. Wet Paint has very small quantities of Langdell’s discontinued
papers. Decorative papers like these you need to see and feel to really
appreciate and the best way to do this is to stop in and visit us at
the Paper Department of Wet Paint.
These papers are treasures of the 20th century that will not
be available again. Take a piece of the past into the future.
