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Friday, May 10, 2019

The Paper Mystery Has Been Solved!




'A Peaceful Interlude'             9x12              pastel            ©Karen Margulis
inquire about availability 
The mystery has been solved! A couple of weeks ago I shared a painting done on a mystery paper. I had this paper in a sampler pack that was gifted to me.  Many of you wrote to me with their thoughts about the paper. Thank you for your ideas! 

 Someone recommend that I write to Dakota Pastels and ask if they knew what the paper was. It was a great idea. Dakota Pastels is a pastelists paradise. They carry everything we  need.( and want)   www.dakotapastels.com  And they had the answer to my question!

Below is another painting I did on a red piece of the no-longer-a-mystery paper!

Red Sabretooth phase 2 paper in red

Shortly after I sent my email I got an answer from April and then from Craig Lemley with Dakota. They mystery was solved! Read the note below for the answer from Craig. 

Hi Karen,
Thanks for your email.
This paper was an iteration of St. Armands Sabretooth Pastel Paper. Sabretooth has gone thru 3 distinct phases. The first was produced on a very smooth/slick paper stock and was quite well liked. They changed and started putting the same surface on a  paper they were producing themselves at their small paper mill in Canada - this one I call the 'paper towel' version. This is the one shown in the images you sent. It has that distinct 'waffly' texture. This version was pretty much universally disliked. The third version was still on a paper they produced, which was smooth, not having the pronounced (or any) paper texture. 
We carried the Sabretooth until about 4 or 5 years ago, when St; Armand decided they were going to phase it out. Since then, they occasionally make some, but due to the inconsistent availability we have not brought it back in. The last word from a recent discussion is that they are seriously considering making it a stock item. They also intend to revisit the color selection (some were quite gaudy) when it comes back. This last discussion was in February and I have not heard anything since. 
Best,
Craig Lemley/Dakota

So there we have it. I am happy to have the mystery solved. I have a couple of pieces remaining and I will just enjoy them. 


You can really see the texture of the paper in this photo

I rubbed in the first layer which helped the layering process a bit. 

A close up of some of the texture in the paper

4 comments:

Kevin Quattlebaum said...

I love it Karen! Too bad it is no longer available. To me it has this ethereal quality - like you are gazing out at the world through a window or door screen.
I enjoy painting on a wide variety of papers. Several years ago I bought every piece of this "ribbed" Strathmore paper that a local art supply was discontinuing.
It has made for some very interesting effects, especially when painting grasses.
I know you paint occasionally on Canson Mi Teintes, have you ever tried Fabriano Tiziano? It has a more pronounced texture than the Mi Teintes and comes in some wonderful colors!

Karen said...

Thanks Kevin ! I have to try the Fabriano Tiziano paper. I haven’t tried it yet!

Martine Perreault said...

Well, I found Sabertooth paper on the St-Armand paper internet site. Simply ask for their list price and I think you will be able to order it directly for the mill. The paper mill is in Montreal Quebec and the internet site is bilingual. Martine Perreault

Karen said...

Thank you Martine!! I will see what they say!