Paper Trail

Some paper holds more than words. It can carry family memories, tell stories of the past, or become the starting point for a new idea. For these four makers, paper is an essential part of the creative process, whether they’re painting over old letters, repurposing vintage ledgers, or making paper from scratch. Each follows a different paper trail, turning everyday materials into something personal and lasting.

Discover these artists and their work at the One of a Kind Holiday Show, December 3 – 6!

Back at One of a Kind after a ten-year hiatus, Mimi Damrauer transforms hand-painted papers into colorful art jewelry and larger artworks. She layers paint over vintage papers, then finishes each piece with vintage jewelry finds from street markets and antique shops around the world.

Tell us about your creative process.

Mimi: I collect gorgeous vintage papers from all over the world during my travels, then paint over them so text and images peek through, showing layers of depth and interest. My current favorites are embarrassing letters from girlfriends in 4th grade, notes and recipes my mom wrote to my sisters and me before she passed away, and an Italian ledger from the 1800s. From there, I have stacks of colorful painted paper to cut up and collage into my pieces.

What led you to pursue a career as an artist?

Mimi: My mom is my total inspiration. She was the most creative person, teaching my three sisters and me how to sew and cook and make each little thing we touch beautiful. I took sewing lessons at the local Singer store, and at 9 years old, I took art lessons at the Toledo Museum of Art, where I learned my primary and secondary colors. The inklings of a business were planted!

What makes your work unique?

Mimi: Early in my career as a textile artist, I ran out of grey fabric while making my second quilt and ended up buying a much darker grey. I was horrified, but I decided to make it work, and the final product was so much more interesting than my original design. Sometimes the mistakes and solutions are the best parts.

After more than 30 years as a creative director, Glen Gauthier now spends his days in his Chicago studio cutting, layering and rearranging printed ephemera. The result is collage work on canvas and wood panel where old paper finds new meaning.

Tell us about your creative process.

Glen: I use printed ephemera as a kind of time machine. These materials with a history have fascinated me since childhood. The bits and pieces have been stuck in the dark, and I get to uncover them like an archaeologist, combining them with other things to give them new life and unforeseen purpose.

What makes your work unique?

Glen: I include autobiographical elements in my work, like my late aunt’s ledgers from her south Louisiana insurance agency. My siblings, cousins and I lived on the same block as her agency, and we were her janitors. I remember those ledgers from back then, and boxes of them were given to me after she passed.

What led you to pursue a career as an artist?

Glen: I can credit my first accounting class in college for pointing me toward art. I realized business administration wasn’t for me and haven’t looked back since changing majors. 

For Chicago painter Anne Nordhaus-Bike, the story of a painting begins with the paper itself. After years of experimenting with other media, she has returned to watercolor, working with handmade Asian papers that become part of the finished piece. Her paintings draw on nature, meditation and the changing seasons.

Tell us about your creative process.

Anne: For flowers and similar subjects, I use shuen, an ultra-thin, transparent paper handmade in Asia, or handmade mulberry papers. Finished paintings on these papers are wavy, so I hand mount them using a traditional and challenging wet mounting process. As the painting dries, the paper pulls taut and the colors return to their original brilliance.

What makes your work unique?

Anne: Handmade Asian papers remain unusual in the West, and as they become increasingly rare, using them becomes even more precious. I mount my paintings on another translucent handmade paper to preserve their transparency, and I leave a border of mounting paper visible so both papers remain part of the finished work.

What sparks your creativity?

Anne: Handmade papers spark my creativity every day. They are so responsive to water that they feel alive. Fun fact: before devoting myself fully to art, I was a professional astrologer and appeared regularly on WGN Radio as ​“Astrologer Anne” for a decade!

Founded in 2023 by booksmith Ryan Schwalm, Barrovian Books is an Irving Park bookbinding studio specializing in handbound journals, notebooks and sketchbooks. Each book is made using traditional binding techniques and finished with paper covers handmade in-house from recycled scraps.

Tell us about your creative process.

Ryan: Every Barrovian Book is made by hand. Not assembled, made. The paper on the covers and end sheets is handmade in-house from recycled pulp, sheet by sheet. The signatures are folded, punched and sewn one by one with a kettle stitch, and the fabric and leather spines are trimmed and adhered by hand. The deckle edges aren’t imperfection. They’re handmade paper.

What led you to start Barrovian Books?

Ryan: I kept running into frustrations when it came to capturing the initial spark of an idea. I was stuck with cheap, mass-produced notebooks that felt like they dishonored the creative process, so I set out to bring my grandfather’s legacy of craftsmanship to a new business focused on creating havens for ideas and imagination.

What do you hope people take away from your work?

Ryan: Most modern products are designed for speed and efficiency, but great stories need time, attention and care. While learning bookbinding, from making the paper covers out of scraps to hand-binding each page, I realized I was creating the beginning of storytelling itself. Each book is an invitation to disconnect from digital noise and reconnect with the joy of tangible creation.