Translating Paper Cut Work Into Laser Cut Designs

July 30, 20136 Comments

Last week I booked a time slot at the Laser Cutting Cafe to try out having some of my paper cut work fabricated into other materials. I took two files with me to experiment with and came away with some very lovely results.

Since my previous visit to the Cafe, Derek (the owner) had acquired an even larger laser cutter than the previous two he has on site. It has a larger bed and a more powerful laser, and this is the machine I worked with.

Here you can see the file of my artwork on-screen. To create it I scanned the original, cleaned it up in Photoshop and then converted it into an outline using Illustrator. The highlighted bit indicates the area where the laser is currently positioned as it cuts.

I created two version of this piece using different materials. One is cut into an 8″ x 8″ wood cradle panel, and the other is etched into the surface of a piece of white mat board. I sized the artwork smaller than the original and I think some of the pieces that make up the word were a bit too tiny for the laser so there is some fine detail missing. Overall though, it is amazing to see this work translated into other materials.

The second artwork file I brought with me was the one I most wanted to see. I scanned one of the repeating crescent paper cut designs I’d created last year for the culture crawl, and chose a piece of 20″ x 12″ bamboo board to cut it into.

Watching the laser cutter reproduce something I’d made by hand was pretty weird but exciting. It took about half an hour to complete because the design is so intricate, and the material is fairly thick.

The finished piece is fantastic and so very beautiful. It smells a lot like a campfire, even days later.

I am so pleased with this experiment because it confirms a few ideas I’ve had around translating much of my work into other more durable materials than paper. The possibilities are endless.

Circles and Animals Series: Paper Cut Grumpy Owl

July 25, 2013

The selection of animals I am choosing for this series is a bit random, but I’m okay with that. I’m basing my choices on animals I like, but also one ones I think will translate well into the medium of paper cutting.

When I first made this owl I didn’t really like him, but his grumpy little face grew on me. I think owls lend themselves nicely to a composition full of circles.

The finished size for this is 12″ x 12″. I decided to make two layers of circle cut paper instead of three because it gets trickier to fit the pieces together at this larger size. I’ve also started to collect the pieces of circular paper I cut away because I may use them for another idea.

The grumpy owl was joined yesterday by an elegant paper cut crow, and a as yet unfinished little fox. The list of circles and animals in the series is slowly growing.

Circles and Animals: Paper Cut Snail

July 23, 2013

I finished the snail paper cut artwork just before I went on vacation last week but I didn’t have enough time to share it. I am very pleased with this one. It has turned out so beautifully, and I adore the delicate little snail.

I have an affection for snails, and have become fascinated with them over the last few years. There are a few different snails that often hang out on the outside of the front window of our apartment because they’re attracted to the fallen seeds from the bird feeder. Not everyone thinks snails are cute, but I do. (Oh those expressive little eyestalks…)

There are three layers of circle cut paper within the wood cradle panel, and the finished size is 12″ x 9″. The snail itself is about three inches long.

I will be making more of these with snails eventually, but for now I’ve started working on other animals. I’ll share the completed owl paper cut later this week, and there is also a crow now in-progress.

Circles and Animals Work in Progress

July 16, 20132 Comments

The second series I began working on a week and a half ago (along with the one I mentioned previously) is a revisit to the land of circle cut layers of paper. It’s a darn good idea and I decided it needn’t end with white rabbits.

The first animals that came to mind were snails, owls, and crows because they are amongst my favourites. I cut a somewhat sloppy owl face that I will probably redo, but the snail is simple and perfect.

Progress on the snail paper cut layers was coming along nicely until I accidentally dripped blue ink onto the piece. That’ll teach me to not to leave work on the floor while other work involving ink is going on.

What are your favourite animals? I’m open to suggestions, as long as they suit the circles.

A Visit to the Laser Cutter Cafe

July 12, 2013

For awhile now I’ve been contemplating the idea of translating my paper cut work into other materials through laser cutting. I wasn’t really sure how to go about this, or even where to do it, that is until I heard about the Laser Cutter Cafe.

The cafe is located in the Chinatown Experiment pop-up space on Columbia Street in Chinatown. It’s there temporarily until the beginning of August, and the purpose is to expose people to the mind-blowing experience of using a laser cutter. I dropped by on Wednesday afternoon for a one-on-one Basic Usage Tutorial (at a cost of $25), which is a thorough run-through on safety, and how to use the hardware and software of the machine.

The laser cutter can do anything from engraving a material to cutting out complicated shapes. As part of the tutorial I was allow to create a quick design and then watch as the laser cutter rendered this onto a scrap piece of mat board.

Here you can see the design on screen, and in the video below you can watch as the cutter embosses it into the material. It was fascinating.

A close up of the two different versions of the same design. The cutter can work with a wide range of materials such as paper, acrylic, wood veneer, felt, cork, etc, as long as it is a 1/4″ thick or less. The maximum size that can fit into the cutter is 20″ x 12″ because that is the size of the bed.

Now that I’ve tried out a laser cutter I have a good idea of what I can do with it, and how it can enhance my current body of work. I’ll definitely be back at the Laser Cutter Cafe soon.

Work In Progress Paper Cut Things

July 10, 2013

After Currents of Nature went up a few weeks ago I was left with time to decide on what I wanted to work on next. In an usual turn of events I’ve started working on multiple things at once. The work I’m sharing here is one of the two.

The idea began with playing around with painting the paper because I’m starting to feel the work needs colour. I was working with a scrap piece of paper and ended up cutting this small flower shape. Suddenly I started thinking about creating a sculpture from multiple small paper cut shapes, and so I decided to cut more of these flowers. When I had thirteen of them it didn’t feel like enough so I’ve decided to keep going with this as a long term side-project. At the moment I have twenty of these flower/starburst shapes, and there will be many more to come.

Sometimes I’ve been cutting these when I watch tv, and it feels a bit like my version of knitting. I’m not yet sure where this is going to end up, though I do have some things in mind.

Thank goodness I took the time to experiment.

A Whirlwind Trip to Seattle

July 8, 2013

A few weeks ago I decided to do a quick trip to Seattle in order to catch Morgan Brig’s new show at Patricia Rovzar Gallery before it closed at the end of June. I’ve admired her work for a few years, ever since coming across the gallery and her work while wandering the streets after Gnomedex in 2009.

These are three of many new pieces of Brig’s latest work. I really like the series of boats on wheels she’s created. Check out more of Morgan Brig’s work on her web site.

It was only a twenty-four hour visit to Seattle and my main stop beside Patricia Rovzar Gallery was the Seattle Art Museum to see the Vogel show.

Fifty Works for Fifty States is an exhibition of works donated to the museum from the collection of Dorothy and Herbert Vogel. Their collection of art is so large that they’ve donated fifty works to one art institute or museum in each of the fifty states. The display at SAM was mixed in with existing work from the collection of a similar nature. The show did not grab me as much as other things in the museum did.

SAM’s displays of their permanent collection are always engaging, no matter how many times I’ve seen them. They even manage to make ceramics compelling, which is an area of items I normally find rather boring. I wandered through previously unseen corners of the museum and came across the two murals pictured below. They were a fun surprise and both play with perspective in interesting ways.

I also found interesting art on the streets, which is something I haven’t found much of on past visits to Seattle. I love the mural of the man in a wolf mask. The leaves coming in from the top corner of the photo are real but blend nicely into the pasteup.

It was a lot of inspiration packed into a short visit, and it was just the thing I needed to get inspired. Thanks Seattle.

Putting Your Self Out There By Bruce Alcock

July 4, 2013

Bruce Alcock spoke at Hot Art Wet City last week on the subject of putting yourself out into the world and staying true to yourself. The talk was filmed by Chris Bentzen and is now available online for viewing.

Hot Talks with Bruce Alcock from bentzen on Vimeo.

Next up at Hot Talks is Corwin Hiebert with BE CREATIVE + GET PAID: Making a Living as a Creative Freelancer. Get your tickets on Eventbrite.

Currents of Nature In Situ

July 2, 2013

My solo show, Currents of Nature, opened this past weekend at the Ranger Station Art Gallery in Harrison. Here are photos of the exhibition:

Currents of Nature, Ranger Station Art Gallery

One side of the gallery has altered book work and installations, while the other has recent paper cut sculptures and wall pieces.

Currents of Nature, Ranger Station Art Gallery-3

Thanks to my friend Siobhan Humston for making the installation process so smooth and easy. All of the work was in position within two hours of my arrival at the gallery, and the show looks terrific.

Currents of Nature will be on display until July 28th as part of the Harrison Festival of the Arts, so please do visit the show.

Paper Cut Work: Wind & Water Series (Part 2)

June 27, 2013

As mentioned in my previous post, I have two more works to share from the Wind & Water series. Here they are in all their crazy paper cut glory.

I built the series around the repeating pattern of a slender crescent shape, combining them into larger swirls, which in turn create an overall form. Each work is cut from a single sheet of white paper and mounted within a wood cradle panel.

Wind & Water series (3 of 4) 12″ x 12″