I work with industrial hemp with a focus on hemp fiber. I made 100% hemp paper without using lye or other toxic chemicals. I use food grade enzymes instead when processing hemp bast fibers. All of the hemp I use is grown in Washington State. (I’m the President & Co-founder of LeBlanc CNE, a Seattle-based BIPOP hemp company.)
This paper is made with artists in mind, not laser printers. This is a proof of concept for a workflow I’ve developed as a citizen scientist, backyard and kitchen style. LeBlanc CNE has every intention of making Cascadia, especially the Salish Sea, a center of hemp processing and manufacturing. Artists are our creative visionaries, interpretting the past and/or pointing us to potential futures. What better way to spread hemp’s potential than through the artists. Hence our hashtag: #ArtOnHemp
People go nuts when they first encounter this paper. It’s very much a tactile experience, almost like someone reading Braille. Each piece is unique. I use organic cornstarch as an internal sizing agent so that ink and watercolor won’t run but have sharp, crisp edges.
I’m no artist by any means but my mind does wander, which led me to start making hemp paper mache items. Bowls, lamps, dioramas, even a hemp Mason bee house (hemp stalks not paper, but hey, it’s hemp nevertheless).
Interested? The sheets are 5"x7" and are 3 for $10. All I ask is that you post your creations on Instagram and everywhere else pointing to this page JerryWhiting.com/hemp-paper/ using the our hashtag #ArtOnHemp. TIA
This is just the tip of the iceburg of what LeBlanc CNE doing with fiber hemp: textiles, bioplastic, biochar, graphene, and more. All with hemp grown and processed here in the great PNW.
Now that you’re a regular visitor, you’ll notice that the fortune cookie and rock-paper-scissors in the upper left corner rotates. Reload this page and see for yourself.