The first batch of paper that Reg Lissel ever made used cat-tails that he surreptitiously harvested from the Expo ’86 site one Sunday morning. The owner of a small used book store in downtown Vancouver at the time, papermaking soon overtook his life (and Chinatown apartment) “because it’s a friendly, low-tech medium to work in,” and he committed to doing it full time. He is especially interested in making papers from plants native to BC and his childhood home in northern Alberta. In recent years he has been increasingly called upon by visual artists who require custom-made papers, and he has established an ongoing collaboration with East Vancouver press Heavenly Monkey, for which he developed a traditional Western all-rag medium-weight paper for printing damp, christened HM Text. In 2003 he completed a large commission to make three different kinds of papers for HM's limited edition book by Barbara Hodgson—600 sheets of HM Text , 200 sheets of Japanese gampi for wood engravings, and 60 sheets dyed to an exact shade of red, for the binding.

In additional to such traditional sheets are gampi, kozo and HM Text, Lissel enjoys working with a variety of local and less common fibers. All sheets are made on wove screens, and are available in light, medium or heavy weights, in any dimensions up to 20 x 30 inches. Paper samples books can be purchased fo C$10 or C$25, with the price credited toward the first order. Custom orders are welcomed, and often can be delivered within a month's time (depending on quantity).

Telephone: 604.687.0132
Address: 530 Shanghai Alley, Vancouver B.C. V6B 2K2 Canada
E-mail: reghmp at yahoo.ca (address in the usual manner, using @ and no spaces).

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