FINE ARTS

STEVE HARTZ

Staff Writer

viva Robinson
has a glass
art collection
that shim-
__
__ mers through-
out her Bloomfield Hills
home.
Hundreds of glass pieces
are displayed in every room
— except the basement,
which doubles as her art
studio.
There, paper — not glass
— is found. But not just any
paper; it's handmade by
Robinson.
In one area of her base-
ment, Robinson mixes paper
pulp, a white vegetable fiber
that is beaten, into a 50-
pound drum filled with
water, pure pigment and —
sometimes to give it an extra
texture — black lint, dryer
lint and metallics.
Then, using a mold and
deckle to form the sheets,
Robinson dips the paper into
the vat with the colored
Pulp-
Next, Robinson flips the
wet sheet onto a vacuum
table and turns on the com-
pressor. In 20 minutes, the
water and air are removed —
and presto, the paper is
formed.
Several weeks later, it
dries, and Robinson is ready
to paint, using watercolors
and acrylic.
"It's fascinating," Robin-
son said. "The process is not
that different from when the
Egyptians beat papyrus
reeds and dried them in the
sun 3,000 years ago — ex-
cept the vacuum table is a
relatively new piece of
equipment." She continued,
"Most traditional paper
makers lay the wet sheets on

Making handmade paper reliefs is a new
and exciting career for award-winning
artist, Aviva Robinson.

felt and then put them in a
press and squeeze the water
out as opposed to using a
vacuum."
Robinson, whose work is
on exhibit at Birmingham's
Robert Kidd Gallery
through July 7, prefers to
use the vacuum table be-
cause it allows her to be
more flexible.
"I can even do three-
dimensional work on the
table," she said. "I'm al-
ready seeing different direc-
tions I can take with it."
She started making the
handmade paper reliefs
nearly two years ago.
"It wasn't that simple; I
mined everything I did for
six months," Robinson said.
For eight years prior to
making paper reliefs, Robin-
son cut paper constructions.
But she developed carpal
tunnel syndrome, which left
her hands numb.
However, Robinson didn't
let this stand between her
and the art she loved to
create.
"Even after I had surgery,
I knew I couldn't go back
into paper cutting," she said.
"But I got a call from the
dean of the art school at the
University of Michigan who
told me I had to take a paper-
making workshop and said
`I've already signed you
up.' " While Robinson was
recuperating from surgery,
she read every book she
could find on paper-making.
Then, she purchased equip-
ment used to make paper.
"By the time my hands
were healed, I knew I want-
ed to make handmade paper
reliefs," she said.
From the time Robinson
was a baby, art was a part of
her life.
"I was also into music, but

