By Adrienne Perron
Photographed by Clayton Simoncic
From our September 2022 issue
Himalayan Paper
Makers: Lisa Taylor met business partner Sameer Basnet when he was a porter on a Himalayan hiking trip she went on in 2017. He sources paper made in Kathmandu and sends it to Greenville, where Taylor makes it into handsome cards, envelopes, notebooks, and more.
Materials: The 2 ½-by-2 ½–inch lotus cards are adorned with colorful paper flowers and include a handmade storage box.
Magic: The cards are made partly of lokta paper, from the bark of Nepalese lokta bushes. It’s strong enough to last thousands of years.
$10 for a set of 10.
Noted with Whimsy
Maker: Betsy McLellan also prints her colorful paintings of birds, landscapes, and other wildlife onto note cards, but for a more personalized option, she designs and prints initialed ones, featuring lettering by South Africa–based artist Lisa Glanz.
Materials: An inkjet print on sturdy card stock, blank on the inside.
Magic: McLellan personalizes the cards with an initial and full name using Glanz’s loose script. The rustic style gives the stationery a vintage feel — perfect for old-fashioned letter writing.
$12.50 for a set of six.
Tanya Harsch
Maker: Painter, printmaker, and children’s-book author and illustrator Tanya Harsch’s art is playful yet naturalistic — why she refers to her style as “whimsical realism.”
Materials: 100 percent cotton paper printed with Harsch’s original pen-and-ink drawings: poppies, foxes, rabbits, and herons.
Magic: The line work in Harsch’s drawings gives the stationery a nostalgic, timeless feel, and her designs are the frame rather than the center of attention.
$15 for a set of 12 (three of each illustration).
Gayle Fitzpatrick Papermaker
Maker: Wells-based Gayle Fitzpatrick started making paper in the late ’70s to use for her etchings, then traveled to Japan to study the craft of washi, traditional handmade paper.
Materials: Fitzpatrick makes paper from the pulp of abaca (a type of banana tree) and kozo (Japanese mulberry) in different sizes and colors. Abaca pulp is one of the strongest natural fibers used in papermaking.
Magic: Printmakers, illustrators, and painters love Fitzpatrick’s paper for its textured feel. Letter writers will too; the paper feels soft and luxurious beneath the pen.
$18 for eight sheets of 8×10-inch paper.
