People are asking, "why paper?"

After serving just over two decades as a US Marine, I can honestly tell you that I've witnessed some strange, beautiful, sad, compelling, and traumatic events that have contributed significantly to the way my mind works. I've found myself getting passionate about things that some time before, I'd never thought about twice. I found that memories and images often collided and sometimes it contributed to my inability to focus on even the simplest of things. Fortunately, I was a correspondent/photographer for much of my Marine Corps "career," and I discovered the creativity involved with that often helped me relax and focus on the task at hand.

When I got an invitation this past July to attend a Combat Paper project here in Cleveland at the Morgan Conservatory, I decided to go, not knowing what it was but thinking the name was kinda cool. I found myself with other veterans and a few artists in the community shredding military uniforms and other sentimental items to make paper.  I wasn't comfortable at first. There were so many memories attached to my uniform. I'd worn it while I served in Africa 2005 - 6 and wasn't sure I was quite ready to tear it up.  But I conceded, and while pushing a rotary cutter along the fabric, I found myself thinking.

The process triggered many memories, good and bad. Then, something magical happened. The other vets and artists who were cutting up their own materials started talking about their memories. Before I knew it, we were all sharing and connecting. There was this awareness and understanding that comes with camaraderie. We made paper the following day and the conversations continued. I knew then that this was something that needed to be shared with others.

We made silkscreens from photos and pulp printed them onto our paper.  After a basic Japanese book binding class, some of us made journals with our paper; others made photo albums. Still others spoke of painting on their paper and someone else said she wanted to write letters on the paper.

No matter what was done with the final product, each of the participants found harmony and a path to understanding the memories within.

Donna