Pergamano                                

     

This is Christine's page, since it is my hobby.

I am a Pergamano Registered Teacher and have been teaching since August 1996.

As I am based in the Ottawa area (Ontario, Canada), I only give lessons in the Ottawa Valley area - although I could be persuaded to fly to the Caribbean if you give me the ticket!!!

Lessons can be arranged by emailing me at christine@astell.ca.

For those of you who have not come across this beautiful craft, Pergamano is an ancient art which is being rediscovered all over the world. It is thought to have been used in Spanish cloisters in the fifteenth century to decorate holy tracts or for bookbinding. Today in South America parchment craft is still taught and various forms of this craft have evolved. The basics remain the same: embossing and perforating artificial parchment to produce raised patterns and lace-like designs.

Parchment in its original form was the skin of sheep or goats, specially tanned for writing or painting on. Today the craft uses a paper substitute, pseudo-parchment. It is semi-translucent and has the property of turning white when stretched by embossing. A beautiful lacy effect can be produced by perforating the paper and cutting holes with scissors that have short curved blades and fine points. Parchment paper also takes colour very well, either via paint or for a softer look, oil pastels applied to the back.

More examples of my work:-