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Saturday, October 17, 2009

SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY - PAPYRUS


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                                                     Found this plant at the Union Square Green Market recently



Aquatic plant, CYPERUS PAPYRUS, said to be of the Nile Valley, provided material on which to write, prepared from thin strips of the pith of the plant laid together, soaked, pressed, dried, used by ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans.   As the craft of papermaking took over following the laborious preparation of materials made from plants and the bark of trees, paper itself eventually became differently made (said to have been invented in the 2nd century A.D) coming to the western world by a roundabout route from China.   For contemporary artist creative papermakers, a good read and how-to book on the subject is PAPER PLEASURES by Faith Shannon (Grove Weidenfield, 1987)

The height of the plant can reach 10 ft.

It is already 3 ft. high.  Yikes!





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13 comments:

  1. Oooh really great shadow shots, Margaret!

    Happy SSS!

    Sylvia

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  2. Beautiful shots. Whenever I think of papyrus (which isn't often!) I consider that I'd have never thought of turning it into paper! We owe so much to other people's imaginations.

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  3. I really like these shadows! Very nice! I wouldn't even want to step on them!

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  4. Beautifully intricate shadows - it's such a graceful plant (how high are your ceilings??)

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  5. Yes, ideal for casting shadows
    we had 2 papyrus plants on the roof in Morocco
    not the idea plant for a desert country!

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  6. Very nice. Ten feet! Let us know when it reaches that height. ;-)

    Paz

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  7. lovely photos, I think the second is my favourite...

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  8. It makes such beautiful patterns on your gleaming white wall - so exotic.

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  9. Margaret, I admired your moon photos, and the one looking down into the street, but this is the post I really wanted to comment about! I love the shadows that are cast by plants! There are stars on the wall behind the papyrus! Cool!!!

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  10. Papyrus shadow,
    can I put you in a scroll
    and write upon you?

    My Shadow Shot

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  11. I love the intricate shadows cast by this plant! I didn't even realise that Papyrus was an aquatic plant. I learn something new everyday!

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