The centuries old process of hand papermaking has fascinated Terry Lacy since his first exposure to it. The process was originally an integral part of society providing paper for writing and the printing of information which was essential to the functioning of any developed society. Most paper was white or light colored for practical purposes.

Terry started working with handmade paper over thirty years ago and has continued to explore and fine tune the medium in order to produce his handmade paper landscapes. He and his wife have lived on a farm in the Wabash Valley since 1973. The farm and the surrounding landscape have become the major influence on his work as an artist. Terry’s interest in color and his early training as a graphic designer have given him the vision which allows him to stylize his papermaking skills into the artwork in the gallery.

We normally think of watercolor, oil, or pencil as common mediums artists use to produce their work. Terry uses the medium of pigmented cotton fibers suspended in water to produce his one-of-a-kind handmade paper pieces. Hand papermaking is a liquid medium which allows him to manipulate a variety of possibilities such as: embedding flat items, embossing, contouring the edges of each piece to follow images such as clouds or water and landforms, and creating multiple color variations and gradations to name but a few. The finished paper piece always has a unique mat finish which would be difficult to achieve in other mediums.

When viewing his work remember that all of the color is the result of light fast pigments which have been added to the white cotton pulp while it is wet. These pieces are not pastels which is a common misconception because the papermaking medium is so unusual.

See the collection here.