Sep

2

East Meets West, Meets West: Part Three

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Japanese Paper montage

As a child, Nancy amused herself with coloured pieces of construction paper. She collected streetcar transfers, which at the time, were issued in different colours. As she grew up, she started and kept up with, her own newspaper. Books filled her, and she filled books. She was a paper lover. Although she may have not known it then, Nancy’s passion for paper would set the course of her adult life.

In 1975, Nancy did something that was uncommon at that time. Like many of today’s youth, searching for “an experience,” entering their quarter-life crisis, Nancy went to Japan to teach English. She stayed for a year and loved it. Loved it so much that she returned over and over again.

During her visits, Nancy discovered the aesthetic of Japanese paper. She was enthralled. Teaching wasn’t so important anymore. The paper had taken hold. Read more

Aug

29

East Meets West, Meets West: Part Two.

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JPP Paper Sample Wall

Nancy Jacobi is an extraordinary woman. She is the kind of person that when you meet once you wish to remain in the company of for forever. She is understanding, intelligent, insightful and passionate; liberally offering words of encouragement to those who meet her. In some ways, she is familiar, like an old friend is familiar. There is a kind of ease about Nancy, that is more kind than modest, poetic, but also practical, and overall, genuinely, authentic. Nancy brought all things Japanese to Toronto, and then the world. She is the founder of The Japanese Paper Place. Read more

Aug

26

East Meets West, Meets West: The History of The Japanese Paper Place, Part One

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JPP Sign

A couple of years ago, I noticed a popular paper shop in Toronto, The Japanese Paper Place, with a new sign out front, The Paper Place. Curious, I walked into the shop, not only finding an old acquaintance of mine working in the shop, but also co-owner of the revamped store. As it turned out, Nancy Jacobi, owner and founder of The Japanese Paper Place, set shop as a supplier and resource for artists in her Brock Avenue offices, and sold her existing Queen West retail business to her senior managers, Kevin Anderson and Heather Sauer.

Fascinated with the new storefront, the new business and the new guard (or guards, in this case) I probed further as to what future Nancy envisioned for her original business, mission and creative goals, as she left one pursuit for another. What I found was a remarkable story about a person who believed that anything was possible, that artists were essential in creating a community, and the art the artists created was part of building a thriving, world-class city.

Originally, I had written this article for the Devil’s Artisan. Unfortunately however, I somehow managed to mix-up my writing deadline and missed my window for the editorial lineup. (To this day, I feel awful about that!)

Although this profile remains as a draft, and the information is suspect to fact-checking and an update (The Japanese Paper Place has celebrated a few more birthday since its twenty-fifth year in business) I’m including my findings below, in parts, for two reasons. First, I feel Nancy’s lifework and contribution to the arts, worldwide, should have an audience (one that extends beyond my hard drive). Second, for anyone struggling with a dream or where to start, I want to emphasize the importance of the extraordinary possibility of an idea–no matter how unusual (original!) or arbitrary (opportunity!) it may be, since it is usually that very auspicious thought that’s one for the books! Read more

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