What does a beach and making paper have in common?

FINAL PAPER MAKING PROJECT

Paper an inspirational portfolio Gabrielle Falconer ISBN 0-8230-0304-3

 

I borrowed this little book from the library and found it really inspirational. I was interested in the long paper hangings of Elja Isojarvi and Robbin Ami Silverberg and initially thought of making a long hanging which would incorporate embossing, stitching, printing etc.
As I worked more with paper my idea changed and I could see the possibility of using my paper as an organic substrate to carry some sort of message as in a scroll so it could still hang.
The idea evolved and I decided to use found objects which I could embed in the paper. Joanna Kessel used mud from various sites on The Pennine Way. I thought I would chose a specific walk each day and collect objects on route but this soon changed when one day we went for a walk on the beach and I collected items discarded on the beach either by man, wind or water. This gave me my subject matter and also a message..... pollution and man's effect on the environment.
I made my paper and embedded the items in the pulp on the couching cloths and left them to dry. I then mounted them onto larger contrasting handmade paper. The objects made it impossible to roll the paper so I made a diary which I hand bound with Coptic stitching. The diary now preserved a moment in time on the beach. At this point I decided to leave the images as they were as a visual message to the readers. As the diary is opened and read I hope that it becomes distressed and changes just as the beach landscape changes in response to time and pollution. I hope to raise awareness of the effect man has on our environment and in turn, that viewers respond by making changes and become more environmentally aware. 
I see the diary as a work in progress of which there are many possibilities. I could add text. I could add images. I could return the diary to the beach, like turning back time. I could throw it in the sea and let it disintegrate. I could leave it on another beach. I could record all these in photographs.....and then do it all again.
If I return the diary to the beach then the cycle starts again. If I trawl the beach one year or ten years from now I wonder.... what will I find?