Terry Lacy, an artist, papermaker and designer.

As an artist, I've been captivated by the centuries-old process of hand papermaking since my first encounter with it. Originally, paper was vital to society as it provided a means to write and print information essential to the functioning of any developed society. Most paper produced during that time was white or light-colored for practical purposes.

I began working with handmade paper over forty years ago, continually refining and exploring the medium to create my handmade paper landscapes. Living on a farm in the Wabash Valley with my wife since 1973, the surrounding landscape has become a major influence on my work.

While most artists use traditional mediums like watercolor, oil, or pencil, I use pigmented cotton fibers suspended in water to create my one-of-a-kind handmade paper pieces.

Hand papermaking is a fluid medium that allows me to explore a range of possibilities like embedding flat items, embossing, and contouring edges to follow images like clouds or water and land forms.

The finished product always has a unique matte finish that's hard to achieve in other mediums. Keep in mind that all colors come from light-fast pigments added to the wet cotton pulp. These pieces aren't pastels, which is a common misconception due to the unusual medium of papermaking.