Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84T he work of William Mason, arguably the most important wallpaper designer and manufacturer in local history, is being brought back to life in a small Wairarapa wine village. Boutique wallpaper producer PaperHands has been commissioned by Resene to recreate Mason designs in a new edition of his famous patterns. Napier-born, London-trained textile designer Mason was living in Wellington in the 1950s, teaching art and exhibiting at local galleries. He and his wife Maureen began producing hand-printed textiles, then wallpapers which were snapped up by homeowners renovating old villas. By 1965, now working from Carterton, their work adorned the walls of our embassies worldwide as well as the New Zealand suite in the Hong Kong Hilton hotel. Today, examples are held in prominent galleries and museums. Printing wallpaper is an ancient art. Originally printed by blocks made from fruit tree wood it superseded the previous means of decorating walls – hanging plain paper and illustrating it when in situ. The hand-block method lasted until the early 1800s when the mechanised 'surface printing press' was invented and used for large runs of a particular design. By the 1950s the screen printing technique became more widespread which enabled small runs again. This is the process we are most familiar with today. Wallpaper has been a part of the Resene story since the company bought Mason Prints in 1974. The business came complete with the Marion Street building in Wellington which housed the wallpaper showroom and subsequently became the first Resene retail store. Martinborough-based PaperHands was formed in 2009 by Ben and Helen Masters in the age-old Kiwi tradition of DIY when the couple couldn’t find a suitable product for a renovation project at their own home. They are still the only commercial hand- screeners of wallpaper in the country. "We felt very much alone in the beginning, with no-one to fall back on," Ben says. "It was a long process setting up and there was a fair bit of trial and error along the way." But with the help of local trades, as well as specialists in other centres, they were soon producing distinctive decorative papers. When PaperHands was approached by Resene for the Mason project, Ben could not have been more excited. “We based our original concept on the way the Masons worked so getting access to the old 'positives', which hadn't been looked at for 25 years, was a real treat.” Around 20 of the positives were in good enough condition to use, from which eight formed the final selection. While the resulting sample book features pre-selected Resene colour combinations, customers are welcome to specify their own preferences using any Resene colour. Using paints instead of inks has meant altering their production methods slightly but the process is fundamentally the same. Ben is quick to recognise the relationship PaperHands has with long-time Resene Top right: Each Mason paper is screen printed in sections by hand. Above left: Ben Masters, creator of hand-printed wallpapers, with a Bamboo design from the Mason collection using Resene Rangoon Green and metallic paints Resene Pioneer and Resene Pure Pewter. Above: Getting ready to print using Resene Resolution Blue. . on paper Craftsman Ben Masters is part of a retro revival of Resene wallpapers. Resene Resolution Blue Resene Rice Cake 30 doing it