Parchment craft: A delicate, painstaking labor of love

Susanna Tjokro, Contributor, Jakarta

Extraordinary will probably be the thought that crosses your mind when you see a piece of parchment craft for the first time.

It's impossible not to be awed by this exquisite and beautiful work of art.

When I saw a beautiful picture of parchment craft, I thought it was a card edged with exquisite lace. It was only by touching it that I convinced myself it was actually made entirely of paper.

Parchment craft is the ancient art of cutting, perforating and embossing parchment paper with special tools to make extremely delicate, lace-like designs for greeting and celebration cards, bookmarks, jewelry boxes, decorated envelopes, flowers that look just like the real thing -- you name it.

These days, parchment craft is better known by its popular trade name of Pergamano.

Tracing, embossing, perforating, stippling, cutting, painting, stamping and dorsing -- meaning to change the color of the paper from its original light gray to other soft hues using special Dorso crayons -- are the techniques of Pergamano.

Pergamano parchment paper is a 150 mg, translucent, usually light gray (it can also be red, blue, white or even rainbow- colored) very strong sheet of paper that can be modeled in various ways. It's similar to tracing paper, but it differs in thickness, translucence and flexibility.

You can substitute the original Pergamano product with alternative, cheaper items, but be selective, as all things are not created equal.

"Although manicure scissors may work, they can't really replace Pergamano scissors in terms of quality. Pergamano scissors are fine, needle-nosed with curved blades for cutting perforations," said Esther Rina, one of the country's registered Pergamano teachers.

Since 2000, Esther said she has loved sharing her knowledge of the art and passing it on to others.

The 31-year-old woman has a passion for handicrafts and is an expert in her chosen field, with a background in paper tole and sewing courses. She found parchment craft for the first time in the Philippines at an exhibition in a mall. While her husband continued his education there, she took the class for three months to kill time and relieve her boredom.

The hobby became a passion. Esther became one of the students who studied under Marina, the first registered Pergamano teacher in Indonesia. She then traveled to the Netherlands to study with the top teacher in the world, Martha Ospina.

She studied all day and would finally make it to bed at 3 a.m. after finishing her daily "homework".

For Esther, it was a labor of love.

"This art requires carefulness, diligence as well as patience, and remember that practice makes perfect," said Esther.

Classes teach the theory, but she emphasized that there's no substitute for practical experience.

The art also crosses language barriers. Esther said she did not encounter major difficulties in teaching and many of her students are expatriates.

Most of the students are housewives in their 20s and 30s, with the majority being Japanese and Indonesian. One male student is an exception.

Hendra Idjat, a 29-year-old employee of a private company, wants to become a registered Pergamano teacher.

"I love parchment craft, basically I like painting. Sometimes I do parchment craft until midnight -- time just flies!" said Hendra, who joined the class in September 2002.

"The beauty of this art immediately fascinated me. It's very beautiful, challenging and stress relieving, too. Besides it improves our patience," said another student, Lintang Suharto.

She saw Pergamano for the first time at an exhibition in a local mall.

Other students stumbled upon the art by accident. Aintzane Arteche went to the Mitra Hadiprana building to have lunch, but ended up enrolling in the course.

"I fell in love with this delicate art at first sight, it's so beautiful. I gave some of my creations to my friends as gifts and they just loved receiving those personalized presents," said the 51-year-old Basque woman who joined the class in January 2002.

"It's very beautiful, not time-consuming and I can do it at my own leisure. Besides, I also get satisfaction. My favorite part is the exquisite lacy designs," said Malaysian Sara Seet, who has been studying for four months.

The students agreed that teachers such as Esther play a major role in their progress. A kind, patient and encouraging teacher is needed to help learn this painstaking art. More than 30 certified Pergamano teachers have studied under Esther, but not all of them have continued as instructors.

Pergamano looks difficult with all the intricate cutting and shaping, but the students insisted that it is not as complicated as it seems.

However, a beginner may need about two hours to create a very simple card that is colorless and without a lace-like pattern or decorative borders, but it would take about a quarter of the time for those experienced in the art to do the same task.

The course fee is Rp 480,000 for eight classes held once a week, and enrollment is limited to a minimum of six students and a maximum of 10 students. By paying an additional Rp 485,000 you receive a starter kit containing 25 sheets of A4-size parchment paper, a mapping pen, white ink, three embossing tools plus its pad, a perforating tool plus pad, scissors, a cutting mat and patterns.

Later on, students will need several other items, such as Dorso crayons (Rp 55,000), silver ink (Rp 33,000), gold ink (Rp 32,000) and so on. In total, one can expect to spend about Rp 3 million.

Too high a price to pay? Well, it depends on how deep your love for parchment craft is, and some of the students said that nothing was too expensive for something that brings them great pleasure and enjoyment.

After you have mastered all the techniques, you can turn your hobby into a career by becoming a certified Pergamano teacher and running your own courses. Registered Pergamano teachers are people who have been trained according to the guidelines of the International Parchment Craft Academy (IPCA). More information on becoming a teacher is available at http://pergamano.com/nieuwepagina/teaching/en/teachers.htm

If you admire the beauty of parchment craft, but don't have the time or patience -- or budget -- to create your own masterpieces, you can ask a teacher like Esther to make some works of art for you. The simplest, cheapest card, without lacy designs or decorative borders, costs Rp 25,000. The more complicated, the more expensive.

Meanwhile, bookmarks are priced between Rp 30,000 and Rp 40,000. Hadiprana Gallery plans to sell Pergamano works of art in its shop, so keep your fingers crossed that you will be able to buy beautiful Pergamano bookmarks, greeting cards and cute gift boxes in South Jakarta.

Parchment craft aficionados come from various ethnic backgrounds and age groups, but they all share a passion for the art. They say that once you start, there is no way to avoid falling in love with parchment craft. Don't say that I didn't warn you.

Gedung Mitra Hadiprana; Jl. Kemang Raya No. 30, Jakarta Selatan; Tel: (021) 719 4715, 722 1023; The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., Monday to Saturday. Esther Rina: (021) 581 7333 (home) and HP: 0816 1622275