The vat crew at Whatman's Springfield Mill c1906

Paper Sculpture artist Clive Stevens creates his sculptures from the finest handmade papers. Every effort is made to use papers from famous local mills, especially Whatman, unfortunately however, many of these have closed down over the years and our need for good quality handmade paper has necessitated us looking further afield, throughout the southwest of England, France and Italy.

One of the most famous paper makers in the UK was James Whatman, who around 1740 realised that the best quality writing and drawing papers came from abroad, particularly from France and Holland, but this was a commercial tradition that James Whatman was determined to break. He assembled a highly skilled workforce of craftsmen for all stages of the paper making process and by 1753 his 'laid' papers, made on a simple mesh of wires had an excellent reputation in Britain and were even being exported to America. Three years later, James Whatman was to demonstrate the innovative and technical flair which was to typify the enterprise over succeeding generations by introducing 'wove' paper where a different configuration of wires in the mould resulted in a smoother, finer sheet. Whatman wove paper set the standard for superior quality drawing, writing and printing paper, and it was 30 years before other paper makers began selling similar products.