Cave’s TOP 3 of 2023
It’s officially 2024, and it’s been cold enough in Tucson to break out the long underwear and warm sweaters. I’m grateful to have had some time recently to reflect on the past year and take stock of how things are going, beyond my frantic day-to-day assessments…
And, before we get into it, an infinite thank-you to everyone who has helped support Cave Paper this last year. Whether you sent a message of encouragement, shared pictures of work you created with our paper, ordered Cave Paper from Talas or Hiromi, or were eager to order from us when we re-opened our web shop, every bit helped us keep moving forward through some particularly challenging moments.
Our to-do lists are always long and always growing. I am still learning how to take a step back now and then to appreciate everything that’s been accomplished. So, let’s start off the new year with a different kind of list — highlights! CAVE’S TOP 3 OF 2023!
NO. 1: THE MOVE
2023 began with the news that the building in which we were leasing space had sold, and the new owner wanted us to relocate. We had 6 months to find a new location and move everything out. It was a jarring way to begin the year, especially since I was just starting to find my groove running Cave Paper after the studio’s big transition to Tucson from Minneapolis in 2020.
Incredibly, with generous support we were able to purchase a commercial building of our own. I could not have dreamed of a more perfect building for Cave Paper, and for everything to come together the way it did was miraculous. As of February 2023, we officially had a new space to make our own.
We closed shop in March to catch up on existing orders and begin packing. A lot of demolition and heavy lifting had to be done just to move out of our original Tucson location.
At the beginning of June we were completely out of the old space, and two months later Cave Paper was easing back into production! Check out my post from July with a progress update with more details of what went into that phase.
At the end of November, our temporary surface treatment and dyeing zone (which involved some creative structuring of old marble racks and an upsetting amount of clothesline) was upgraded with new marble racks and increased capacity to hang and dry paper. Now we can dye ~200 sheets of paper at a time. We also built a separate set of marble racks in the sheet forming area for drying spurs of paper. In the past, paper spurs and dyed sheets were all dried in the same area.
Relocating took a tremendous amount of effort from many people. I’m incredibly grateful for the support that has helped Cave get to this next phase. And I can’t wait to finally have things ready for you to visit our studio! We hope to open our showroom in the next few months.
While all this was going on, there was still time for…
NO. 2: CUSTOM PROJECTS
I’m so delighted by the projects featuring custom Cave Paper in 2023. You can learn more about our custom order process here and view a gallery of selected past projects as well :)
**Edit: this was actually finished at the end of 2022! What is time.. :)** I wrapped up production on a SUNSET paper for Charnel House. Five different pigmented pulps were used to create 250 unique sunsets. These papers were used to bind Charnel House’s numbered edition of Watchers by Dean Koontz.
While we were working on the build-out of our new space this summer, I was also finishing up this DESERT-INSPIRED paper for a special edition of DUNE by Earthling Publications. Using coarse salt in combination with dye made from pomegranate rinds, the surface of the paper is smooth with a visually sandy texture.
Speaking of pomegranate dye…
NO. 3: CAVE PAPER SAMPLE IN HAND PAPERMAKING MAGAZINE
Hand Papermaking magazine featured a sample of our paper, Petrichor, in their summer issue all about color. This paper was added to our production catalog in 2022 along with two others, High Noon and Monsoon, that use dye made from pomegranate rinds.
It is a beautiful issue and an honor to be a part of it. It feels surreal to have something of mine included alongside the artists and papermakers in this issue — very inspiring group.
And now, because no list is spared from my urge to add more and more…
NO. 4: MERCH ! ! !
Y’all, we made hats! This was a treat, envisioned as something fun to have ready to ship for the holidays. It turned out to be the gift that keeps on giving, because every time I get a photo of someone in their Cave Paper hat it fills me up with so much happiness!
These were embroidered here in Tucson by Jets Embroidery and then hand-dyed with indigo in our studio.
What’s Next?
The big push these days is getting ready for CODEX! Come find us in Oakland at the CODEX book fair, February 4 - 7 at the HJK Convention Center. I will be bringing new, updated catalogs along with some big piles of paper! Remaining catalogs will finally be available in our web shop when I return.
Stay tuned for an update on our showroom opening in the coming months. Thank you for your patience as it’s taken longer than I’d hoped to be set up for visitors.
And whatever comes our way in 2024, here’s wishing you a year full of peace, love, health, and happiness. Hope to see you soon :)
