Paper Cuts

A week or so ago, my daughter needed to carry some of her artwork to school to create a portfolio. She needed something to transport the artwork safely because a backpack just wouldn't do (especially when you have seen the papers that come out of her backpack!).  

So I crawled around in our storage space under the stairs and dragged out some of my old portfolios. They are filled with my old art from high school, college and beyond.  It's always interesting going through old art.  There are some pieces that remind me of how I felt at the time when I look at them. Other pieces make me wonder why I saved them and I am thinking they need to be recycled.  There are some pieces that I think aren't too bad.  And some that could inspire new ideas.  

There are also a few artworks I had forgotten about.  One of them is this paper cut.

Since I had just made my Valentine for Aids using paper cut, it was serendipitous to find this one. I have done a few paper cuts over the years, but not very many.

This piece is dated 1995 and was done after I had graduated from college.  It's a picture of a ceramic piece I had made in pottery class in college.  At the time, I was not very patient with throwing on a wheel (or maybe I was just too perfectionistic then).  I was not happy with the pot and smashed in one side.

Frank, my husband (boyfriend at the time),  must have been visiting me because he said he would take the pot.  So I went ahead with glazing and firing.  He kept it in his dorm room (several states away) with a little plant in it.  It is now long gone, but the paper cut is a reminder of the story.

I wonder why I haven't done more paper cuts, because I really do like them a lot.  And that is why I am excited to go see a new local exhibition at Boise State University:

Cutting Edge: Contemporary Paper
(Gallery 2- Hemingway Western Studies Center)
Curated by Kirsten Furlong and Janice Neri
Exhibition: January 31st - March 23rd, 2012
Opening Reception: February 3rd, 2012 6-8pm
Cutting Edge: Contemporary Paper features the work of ten contemporary visual artists that utilize cut paper as a primary medium to create two-dimensional and three-dimensional artworks.


My friend and organizer of the Leftovers print exchanges, Amy Nack, will have some work in the show along with artists from other states. One of those is Nikki McClure, whose work I also enjoy seeing.