My paper cutting demo at Opus went very well on the weekend. The people who attended were very interested, and most seemed to get a lot out of it. I wasn’t sure how well I could share how I do this work, but I did just fine thanks to careful preparation.

It was inspiring to me to talk about this work, and was just the thing I needed to get back producing in the studio again. I’m trying to think ahead to possible upcoming shows which could happen up to two years from now (if my proposal is accepted). I’ve never worked this way before and I’m unsure how to project so far ahead because my work is constantly evolving in ways I don’t foresee.

Rather than getting bogged down with this I decided to experiment and build further on the paper cutting work I’ve been doing. I was intrigued with the idea of creating something three-dimensional. I chose to create a pyramid-like box and cut three of the sides with the usual intertwining crescent shapes. I wanted to see how this would work, and not focus too much on specific details.

The finished prototype is rough and imperfect, but a really good starting point for figuring out more three dimensional pieces. It plays wonderfully with direct light too. I’m trying to imagine it larger, but it makes my hand sore just thinking about it.

A last minute call for artists came my way at the end of last week, requesting work on a theme of The Circle for an upcoming show. I didn’t have any existing work available that would be a good fit, but I started having all sorts of ideas about creating circular paper cut work. I’m always looking for opportunities to continue building on existing work, and what I came up with fits nicely into the paper cut designs of late, but with a different presentation.

I began by cutting a piece of white paper into a circle, using a mixing bowl as my guide. My choice of bowl size was based upon how well its circumference would fit into the cradle panel I would be using to mount the finished piece. I marked a quarter inch border on the backside of the paper to remind myself not to cut too close to the edges of the circle, and then freehand cut a repeating simple crescent shape.

The experimental part of this piece was to turn the flat paper cut design into a three-dimensional shape. I added strips of paper to the back that follow the curve of the circle and it give it the appearance of a drum. The whole thing hovers inside the square and is attached to the back of the cradle frame by two smaller pieces of paper glued to the sides of the circle.

The frame is painted a blue-grey and the background is the same white paper as the artwork rather than paint because I wanted the whites to match. I love how the circle floats within the square of the frame.

I’ve chosen “Ripple Effect” as the title of the piece. It’s available for sale and will be on display during the Eastside Culture Crawl in November.

At this time of year I typically start planning for the Eastside Culture Crawl because I like giving visitors to my studio something new to look at. For the previous two years I chose to create a series of altered books to present at the Crawl, but this year it’s going to be paper cut work.

I decided to work with white paper for this series because I wanted minimal colour for what’s turning out to be very intricate designs. I’m building on the way I was working when I created this paper cut piece earlier this year but cutting closer together. It’s amazing what can happen with the repetition of a single simple shape.

Pictured here are work in progress photos of two of the five pieces I’ve created so far for this series. Each is based upon using the same crescent shape but the overall form and movement within evolves slightly differently.

I haven’t yet decided whether these will be backed with white or black paper once they’re framed, but I think they’ll be striking either way.

I haven’t yet finished working on the latest paper cut collage design but I thought I’d share a few work-in-progress photos. I’ve been continuing with the intertwining shapes inspired by a recent commission, but this time I created a more flowing overall form.

I collaged this with a combination of origami paper and security envelope paper and then glued a second piece of card stock on the back before cutting away all but an outline of black paper.

The final step will be to paint the cradle panel black and then mount the paper cut to the surface of the frame.