an invitation to all of my shifu students:
i've begun work on an article for Hand Papermaking journal about shifu and healing. i would like to invite you to contribute any thoughts you might have had about just that; if the shifu-making process has in any way facilitated healing in/for you. mina takahashi, the editor of HandPapermaking asked me to write about this after my observation that spinning paper and weaving a textile, especially when the paper has color or words that are deeply rich for the maker, allows an opening for a sort of healing. i made a shifu covered handmade paper book for wendy golden levitt who works with textiles and healing (especially with children) which has become the grief book. i'm curious about why that book and why shifu making has deeply affected and helped people move into healing.
if any of this resonates with your experience of shifu making, i invite you to send me a few sentences about your thoughts, and even a photo of work you’ve made. i would like to incorporate some of these into the article. please email me at vdbolyard at gmail dot com with any words/pictures, and i thank you, now twice over, for being my student and for thinking about this.
