Sally Baldwin
Paper Making in Australia
In 2019 I took part in a papermaking residency at Curtin Springs near Uluru in the Northern Territories of Australia. It was an amazing experience living on a million acre cattle station in such an arid, but stunning landscape. I learned how to make paper from the local grasses, such as spinifex and kangaroo grass, and was awestruck by trips to Mount Connor and to watch the sun set and the moon rise over the salt lake. The antics of the birds in the early morning and at dusk were very entertaining, and inspired some of this work. Many of the pieces were sold at a follow up exhibition at the Art Centre in Alice Springs, and it led me to experiment with more bird collages of both Australian and British birds, as well as incorporating handmade paper from local grasses into more of my work.