Tentative April Planner for “Temple”
April 6th - April 11th, 2026
Monday, April 6th, 2026: I had another meeting with Rafael to discuss the logistics of the revised version of “Temple.” Rafael seemed on board with the revision and pointed out some other things to consider. 1) Formatting of the “nesting” pages and the illustrations, 2) Pacing, and 3) Stitching.
Formatting of the “nesting” pages: This will be difficult to explain, so I’ll attach a drawing mock-up of what the pages would look like. The main point to explain is that instead of printing on the standard 5.5” x 9” sheets, I’m folding them in half, which will create two leaves or four pages in a book. Then every page will essentially “rest” on the others. Again, see the mock-up for a better explanation.
Pacing: The idea of pacing came up, and I really liked it! Skipping pages to create a “pause” before moving on to the next “beat.” Pacing is also discussed in the mock-up attached below.
Stitching: During our meeting, Rafael mentioned two stitch types to consider for “Temple”: Coptic binding and Smyth sewn. One of the differences I noticed is that coptic seems to be more common for DIY bookbinding, whereas smyth sewn is commonly used for manufacturing books. However, “Temple” has been scaled down and only requires 4 sheets of paper (more about that below), and, since it's soft-cover, I’ll be doing either a 3- or 5-hole pamphlet stitch.
Tuesday, April 7th, 2026: Today, I worked on creating a proper mock-up to experiment with pacing and understanding how many handmade sheets I would need to pull. After finalizing the mock-up for “Temple,” I used 4 folded sheets of 5.5” x 9”, 1 sheet is the front and the back, which will be fruit/vegetable scraps, and the other 3 sheets are for the actual poem, using plain, handmade paper. 3 sheets of paper per 15 books is 45 sheets of handmade paper that need to be pulled, and 1 sheet per 15 books is 15 sheets of handmade paper WITH produce scraps. Adding all those numbers together for all 15 books of “Temple,” I’m pulling 60 sheets of handmade paper.
60 sheets is… a lot to pull. Which is why I got a head start today to figure out how many sheets I can pull in an hour and account for clean-up as well. In 45 minutes, I was able to pull 12 sheets of paper (using all the pulp in the vat that I prepared), and cleaning took approximately 10 minutes.
Thursday, April 9th, 2026: I continued pulling more sheets. However, today I was short by 1, so only 11 sheets. But that’s still progress! Currently, I have 23 sheets of paper, which is ~7 books. This means my remaining sheets that need to be pulled are 22 for plain handmade paper. I’m hoping to be done Sunday night or Monday morning, and all sheets will be dry. I’ll take them to the print studio to flatten for ~24 hours. That will allow me to pull the remaining sheets of fruit and vegetable paper next week.
Friday, April 10th, 2026: Today, I pulled 12 sheets, meaning there are only 10 sheets remaining that need to be pulled for the plain handmade paper. I also uploaded my April (tentative) calendar of things I hope to complete throughout the week. Of course, they’re subject to change, as things might be extended or shortened depending on schedules and timing. But I’m staying hopeful that the revised project can be done in time for the May 14th show. And I can show a comparison between the first version and the revised one.
March 30th - April 3rd, 2026
Monday, March 30th, 2026, has marked my “first-last day” as an undergrad senior at the University of Denver. Despite convincing myself during Week 8 of the Winter term that I had already graduated, spring break has allowed me to relax and kick senioritis to the curb… I’ll try my best to overcome it as the weeks progress! As a refresher for those rejoining me after my final update regarding my Capstone, my project titled “Temple” combined printmaking and 3D printing to create a series of edition books/zines using 3D printed illustrations and text, along with using handmade paper. While I was happy with what I was able to accomplish within the 10-week timeframe, especially learning a whole new skill of 3D printing (which I barely think I touched the surface of, but I won’t go into a tangent), when I finally stepped back from the project, I realized there’s so much more I want to do. During the winter term, I discussed with my capstone professor, Rafael Fajardo, the possibility of completing an Independent Study to earn a BA with Distinction in Emergent Digital Practices. This involves a more self-directed approach, as there’s no set time or official class date for EDPX 3991, and expanding or creating new bodies of work, along with writing a paper.
As discussed previously, Mondays were set aside for Rafael and me to review the project and ensure I’m on track with the timeline. Today, being our first meeting, we primarily discussed what I’m doing in this Independent Study, expectations and responsibilities, what to consider, what questions to answer, and who to look at! With this Independent Study, I’m looking to expand on my project in two aspects: 1) Create more editions of books/zines and 2) Improve “Temple’s” presentation. Originally, I created only three editions of the fruit/vegetable scrap paper and seven editions on Springhill Digital paper. However, I was prouder of the handmade paper editions. Alongside the books, I hung each page on a whiteboard for people to look at. During the Capstone critique, however, I noticed my peers' hesitancy to examine the work more closely and kept a certain distance.
Below are some highlights from my notes from today’s meeting that stood out to me:
The relationship between paper and work: For me, the fruit-and-vegetable handmade paper with the 3D-printed plates provides a texture I wasn’t able to mimic with the Springhill Digital paper. For example, when printing on the Springhill paper, you could see various filament details on the illustrative plates, like the layer lines, both on non-iron and iron plates. As for the plates with words on them, despite building the layer of ink over time, while legible, some areas come off under-inked and patchy. However, when printing the same text and illustrations on handmade paper, the paper fibers blend with the ink, giving it a smoother appearance. Aside from the technical aspect, the relationship between the handmade paper and the work has a throughline of fruit-and-vegetable imagery.
If I were to make a bigger edition of books with handmade paper, what would be the additional costs, and how sufficient would I be as the "fabricator of the paper”?: While this question was brought up in relation to me continuing my practice once I graduate from DU, these questions still make me wonder about how many editions I can realistically produce leading up to Week 7. Since I’m fortunate to be working in a studio provided by the Art department, I don’t have to factor in the water bill. I’ll primarily focus on the costs of fruit and vegetables, time, and labor. When looking at the prices of the fruits and vegetables I used in my book, here’s what they cost according to the Safeway website (which is subject to change):
Apple: $1.50 per pound
Sweet Potato: $1.49 per pound
Edamame: $2.49 a bag (10-ounce, $0.25 / ounce)
Oranges: $4.99 a bag (2-pounds, $2.50 / pound)
For the apples, I purchased approximately 5 and peeled the skins off, which were used for the paper. Similarly, I purchased 2 sweet potatoes and used the skin of both. As for the edamame and oranges, I used one whole bag of the peels/shells. For the apple and sweet potato, the ratio was 1 part of the produce skin to 2 parts of BFK pulp (from recycled BFK paper from the printmaking studio), yielding ~5-8 sheets of paper. Whereas the edamame and oranges would be 2 parts skin to 3 parts BFK pulp, yielding ~8-10 sheets with leftover pulp for future use. However, this doesn’t take into account the extra prep the edamame and oranges required compared to the other paper, as the oranges needed to be dried out and boiled before blending, while the edamame needed to be separated from the shell and a thick, brittle layer.
In terms of process sufficiency, I can pull ~10, 5.5” x 9” sheets of paper in an hour, with the exception of the occasional “restarts” while pulling paper. With the correct ratio of fruit to paper pulp, I could pull around ~20 - ~30 sheets of paper in a 3-hour block. However, this doesn’t account for the sheets that are doubled in one book (EX: 2 sheets of Apple paper in each book). This also doesn’t account for my sourcing of the BFK paper, as I collected it from the Printmaking Studio in the recycled paper. Especially since I’m using the BFK paper for my Studio Art major, so the supply would continue to dwindle and potentially not “keep up” with the ongoing printmaking class this term.
Considering making my own oil-based ink?: Personally, I never thought to make my own oil-based relief ink. However, the idea enticed me, especially since I remember those “aesthetic” and ASMR videos of artists making watercolors and painting inks using both manufactured pigments and unconventional pigments from leaves, flowers, and eyeshadow, then using a muller to combine the pigment with a water-based binder. When Rafael first brought up the idea, I thought it would be complicated and difficult to find the “perfect” formula for me and my process, especially given the materials and their costs, especially since my relief block isn’t traditional linoleum but 3D printing filament. But while researching, I found a YouTube video by Natural Earth Paint that uses pigment, walnut oil (other recipes use linseed oil), gum arabic, and rice starch. However, I couldn’t find anything on their channel or blog showing the use of leaves, flowers, or vegetables as the pigment source for printing. While I think it would be cool to create my own oil-based inks for printmaking, especially since every other element of “Temple” is created by me (like the paper and the designing stage of the 3D print plates). Unfortunately, I don’t think I’d be able to create my own pigment in this time frame; however, it is an idea I would love to revisit in the future!
How much are we looking to expand and explore?: One thing I mentioned in my last blog from the winter term was wanting to either produce more books or explore on a larger scale with the idea of sewing the pages I printed into a life-size form of my body, similar to the one on “Temple’s” cover. However, Rafael has raised other points to consider regarding the presentation of the work. With the smaller scale, it’s more intimate and allows the viewer to engage “one-on-one” with the artwork. Whereas the display on the wall with the individual pages felt like there was a removal and a disconnect with the engagement of “Temple.” Having it be intimate and in book form provides a tactile response and engages the user's sense of touch and, potentially, smell (with the fruit involved). Rafael has also mentioned ideas about different stitching techniques or folds and brought up the term “origami” (used loosely in this context).
I know that was a lot of information to take in, but it was helpful for me to understand my limits and what’s realistic for me in this time frame. Ideas that still stick out to me the most are expanding the book editions, and also the act of folding and unfolding. However, these ideas might not be able to be combined and might have to live separately. I’ll sit on it more this week and finalize before Saturday…hopefully!
Wednesday, April 1st, 2026
Today I went to my studio to make blueberry paper for one of my Studio Art distinction pieces I’ve been (lazily) calling the “Blending Portraits.” I settled on blueberries because they're a portrait of my dad and his parents and siblings, and the berries have a childhood memory tied to him. While it may not seem relevant to my EDP distinction, I promise it is! I was running low on BFK scraps, so I went to the studio and grabbed some. Following the usual process, I boiled hot water and soaked the paper in it for 30 minutes to soften and allow the fibers to open up. However, when I was blending the paper to make the pulp, I noticed that some of the paper wasn’t properly blending together. I ended up pulling the sheets anyway to see what they would like. The result of the paper is difficult to tell right now, as it’s still drying. Since it’s 6 sheets of wet paper combined into one larger sheet, it won’t be until Friday that the sheets are fully dry, so I won't be able to determine how it looks. But when I was pulling some of the sheets, I found loose BFK chunks that weren’t blended properly, which made the handmade paper look choppy. This could have happened for two reasons: 1) I may have messed up the paper-to-water ratio before blending, adding more paper accidentally, or 2) The BFK scraps used weren’t torn down small enough, which required a longer blending time than it usually does. I bring this up because if it’s not either of those two reasons, something might be up with the blender. And that’s scary! Later tonight or tomorrow, I’ll be back to pull more blueberry paper (as I didn’t get the color I wanted, which may have been because I didn’t freeze and thaw it out to bring out the natural color), so hopefully this incident won’t happen again!
Thursday, April 2nd, 2026
Quick update on the whole blender situation… It’s doing okay! When I pulled the second batch of blueberry paper last night, I just blended the paper for a little longer so the pulp was smoother, not chunky. In the future, when pulling paper, I might let the fibers soak for longer and add less than usual to a regular batch, since the blades might be getting duller the more I use them. Which I’ll look into if there’s a way to “re-sharpen” them. But since the blender was thrifted and is an older model, the blades don’t come off as a separate piece unless I fully disassemble the whole machine. The other thing is that if I am able to obtain the blades separately, how would I go about sharpening them, since traditional knife blades are more straight-edged than V-shaped, like the blender blades? Maybe I’ll wait to pull more paper and decide whether or not it’s necessary.
Friday, April 3rd, 2026
Marinating on ideas for a week now, I’ve decided on two that should be achievable by Week 7 for the May 14th showcase; however, it would be a tentative deadline. Later this weekend, I’ll fully map out an academic calendar that outlines the timeline for what I should be getting done with the Independent Study, so I’m holding myself accountable. But here is an overview of the two ideas:
Edition of 15-20 books: Leading up to Week 7 to Week 10, I’m hoping to complete an edition of 25 printed books on handmade paper. However, I will be tweaking the final product to (hopefully) be more efficient with printing and paper handling. The first change is the paper size. Originally, the book size was roughly 5.5” x 9” (width x length) as that was the size from the paper mold I’ve been using. However, I’m thinking of folding these sheets in half (sandwich-style) and binding them against the folded crease. While this will halve the edition size, I think this leverages “Temple” in several ways. With the smaller scale, it’ll be more intimate for readers, and if I’m distributing the work, it’ll also be easier to carry compared to the original. With the halves, it’ll also let me pull more sheets at once. This leads into the second change, only the book covers of “Temple” will be made of fruit and vegetable scraps, while the rest will be plain paper pulp. It’ll be less time-consuming to pull sheets and worry less about doing the math for the amount of scraps needed to create X amount of sheets per book, depending on the fruit or vegetable.
“Origami” poem: I’m really attached to the idea of the reader unfolding paper to read or look at something. My current solution to maintain this idea, while continuing the “Temple” books, is to create a separate body that is less illustrative and focuses on the poem. One type of fold that I’m familiar with and comfortable with is the “Victorian Letter” fold, and I think this could entice people to want to enact the action of unfolding it to reveal the poem. However, the writing for “Temple” is very short. If I were to continue this idea, I think it would be necessary to continue the poem and add more lines. My main concern is that writing isn’t my strongest suit, let alone personal writing like this, which is why this is an additional body of work, with an edition of 15-20 books. The idea behind these “folded poems” is similar to the book editions that distribute them.
For the rest of this weekend, I’m going to flesh out my deadlines and what I hope to accomplish each week leading up to Week 7 into a calendar format and attach it to next week’s blog post. I’ll also be doing a quick mock-up of the newly edited books to check the scale and layout, and figure out how many sheets need to be pulled for every 15-20 books. Then, I’ll measure the illustrations of the 3D-printed plates to see if they need to be rescaled and reprinted, which they most likely will be. But I still have the files saved on my local drive and TinkerCad, so only minor tweaks would need to be made (hopefully)
~ Olivia