The Box As Cut Paper

March 5, 2013

Last week was mostly spent on administrative tasks but at the end of the week I fit in time to work on another cut paper sculpture.

I kept the form simple and made a basic cube with two of the sides left long. I’d had in mind to have these two long flaps eventually connect together but things went in a different direction as I worked.

I chose a leaf as the repeating shape and cut away most of the paper on four sides, leaving the bottom uncut. I decided to contour the top and sides of the box by cutting away the straight edges of the paper. It makes the whole thing seem even more delicate.

I left a thin border of paper around the sides and attached these together with glue. The finished size is about 5.5″ tall, 4″ wide, and 4″ long.

I’m really pleased with this prototype. I actually feel ready to move onto creating finished work.

Self-Exploration Through Self Portraiture

February 25, 2013

It’s been an interesting experience the last few weeks to maintain my commitment to the Be Your Own Beloved e-course. I don’t mind taking a self portrait every once in awhile, but doing it every day is tedious. At least that’s how I normally feel about it. But with Vivienne‘s daily email prompts of inspiration to guide me, it makes it easier to get it done. She always provides something personal to reflect upon, as well as a place to start to come up with an idea to shoot for the day.

I really like the work I’ve been creating, and through this series I’ve come to realize I am process oriented even with my photography. The ideas come as I work, rather than being fully formed from the beginning.

Day 18

Day 21

Day 22

The creative aspects of this project aside, it’s made me realize a few things about myself. Mostly that I’m not very good at self-care, or about being good to myself. The intensity of the stuff that has come up out of this has really surprised me, but I am determined to create more awareness around this and make changes.

There are just a few days left of the course. I think I will miss the daily excuse to come up with an idea to photograph.

More of the self portraits can be found on Flickr.

Happy Love Day

February 15, 2013

The self portrait series continues for Be Your Own Beloved. Valentines Day is always a good excuse to create an image using a generous amount of the colour red.

Sketchbook Project 2013

January 14, 2013

I came very close to not finishing my work for the Sketchbook Project 2013, because I’ve been sick off and on for the past month and my concentration has been almost nil. I chose to completely ignore any theme and experimented with an idea I’ve had in mind for awhile.

Using a plastic template of circles, ovals, triangles, squares, and octagons that I created from sheets I got at cutmyplastic.co.uk. I went through the entire sketchbook and drew repeating shapes covering each page to create patterns. I tried something different with each two page spread, sometimes using the same shape in different sizes, and other times combining a mix of different shapes.

When all the drawing was completed, I went back through with an xacto knife and spontaneously cut different designs and compostions from the paper. Not all of these were successful but I decided to just let it be and not get hung up on results.

I love some of the pages, and strongly dislike others, but overall I’m happy to send it off for inclusion in the Brooklyn Art Library.

The Completed Sketchbook Project: Thread and Surface

February 15, 201212 Comments

I put the finishing touches on my Sketchbook Project pages yesterday. I am pleased with how it’s all come together. It was a good place to explore new ideas around paper cutting and collage, and the whole thing has inspired new work. That’s exactly what a sketchbook is for.

The theme I chose to work with was Thread and Surface. My original intention was to sew thread throughout the book once the paper cuts and collage were finished but I decided it wasn’t necessary. The thread is the less literal part of the theme, while I definitely played around with the surface of the pages, by cutting parts away and layering them with papers. There are threads of the same shape used in each pair of paper cuts and collage to tie the compositions together.

I chose to do a text-based paper cut for the cover using the same blue paper found inside the sketchbook. I started cutting the words freehand, didn’t like the results, then switched to using a font printed on white paper as a template. The results were much tidier.

Each paper cut is paired with a collage, and the two interact in different ways depending on which way you have the page turned. The paper cut either overlays the collage creating an additional surface or it pairs beside it as a diptych.

All of the collages were created with the same materials: security envelopes, book page scraps, a bird, and red paper. There are eight collages and eight paper cuts throughout the book.

I really enjoyed working on this small project. I’m a little sad to be sending it off to Brooklyn after all the hard work, but it’s a good lesson in letting go.

Work-In-Progress: The Sketchbook Project

January 24, 20126 Comments

I started working on my Sketchbook Project at the end of last week and things have been going very well. I decided I wanted to experiment and keep things loose with this and so far it’s working wonderfully well.

I’ve chosen to do a mix of paper cuts and collage on alternating pages, exploring the theme of Thread and Surface (one of the ten you have to choose for the Project). The paper cut pages will overlay the collage pages and create an additional layer. I’ve been concentrating on the paper cut designs first and have been creating them free hand with an xacto knife. These are three of the seven I’ve completed so far.

I’ve been choosing a different shape to focus on for each one and just letting the design flow from there. It’s an addictive process to work with – creating designs from cutting paper – and all sorts of additional ideas have grown out of it.

I’ll share more as the project progresses. I can’t wait to get started on the collage pieces next.

The Sketchbook Project 2012

January 12, 2012

I was very excited to finally receive my package from The Sketchbook Project yesterday. I can’t wait to get started on this because I have so many ideas.

If you’ve never heard of The Sketchbook Project, it’s a collaborative series of art books created by 5000 artists from around the world. Each person signs up to receive a blank sketchbook, which they fill with whatever they choose in any medium, and then send it back to the organizers. The collected works becomes a travelling show, and eventually a printed catalogue.

If you’re interested in participating, the deadline for sign-up is tomorrow.

A Tree Made of String

September 15, 20112 Comments

Along with the two different series of altered books I’m working on for the Eastside Culture Crawl, last week I began working on an installation in the Foodtree offices. I work there part time and as we’ve just moved into our own office space in Chinatown I’ve been planning ways to make it a visually interesting environment in which to work.

The Foodtree office is nicknamed “the treehouse” so of course I wanted to make a tree. I’d been thinking about making more trees from cardboard, but then came across this tutorial about how to make a tree wall mural from yarn and pushpins.

I bought my supplies of sock yarn from Dressew and pushpins from Yoko Yaya and dove right into making the tree. I’m doing it without having first drawing an outline. It feels like I’m drawing it with the yarn as I go along. It’s been amazing and fascinating to see the tree slowly take shape in the corner of the room.

Once the tree is completed I’m hoping to attach red leaves to the string branches, and then voilà(!) the Treehouse will have a tree.

I’ll share more photos once the tree is complete. I’m considering making one of these at home in our livingroom…

A Self Portrait-A-Day-For-A-Month: Week Three.

June 21, 20111 Comment

Day 14: What to do at the end of a busy weekend

Day 15: Red shoes

Day 17: While the city burned

These are my favorite self portraits from last week. Today I shared number twenty-two which will bring me one portrait closer to the end of this project, which is good because I’m running out of steam.

More Self Portraits A Day

June 13, 2011

Day 9: Lovely bones

Day 10: Shadows on the wall

Day 12: Little black dress

Today I will be shooting a self portrait for day fifteen. Time sure flies and here I am already half-way through this thirty day project. Maybe next month I will do a second thirty day project of shooting a portrait a day for a month…

Canvas to the Imagination

Rachael Ashe – Art | Craft | Life

Category: Projects