Oxford Blues: A Cut Paper Project

I have just finished a six week class with Bhavna Mehta called Cuts and Links. There are more ways to cut paper than I realized when I started. Bhavna challenged us to make a final project using the techniques we learned in the class. Here is mine. It is based on a map of Oxford England from 1758. I used elephant hide paper which cuts beautifully and folds well even when most of the paper is removed.
Enjoy.

-Gina

Oxford Blues, four views

Cut Paper Tiles

I am spending six Saturdays taking a paper cutting class with artist Bhavna Mehta. Last week we worked on cutting layers of colored paper to make tiles. We are also learning about negative and positive space as well as other paper cutting traditions like silhouettes. I am really enjoying stretching my experience and learning from a true paper master.

Enjoy.

-Gina

Silhouettes from week 2 class.

Template for my tile.

White layer is cut and grey layer is taped underneath.

White and grey are cut and black is taped under ready to be cut.

Finished tile with the cut black layer and a bottom white layer.

I saved the positive shapes when I was cutting the tile and glued them together to make this tile.

Crossroads

I have been playing around with the twist fold for a few days and came up with this paper sculpture in the process. I call it Crossroads. I hope you like it.

-Gina

Basic twist fold from square paper.

2 strips of vintage Japanese ledger paper are folded.

Stencils made from Japanese and western paper.

Crossroads

Artist's Book Mantra

I want to share my method for creating a new artist's book. I don't always do it this way, but often I do and maybe you do too...

Idea: What if I make a book using the twist fold, but connect four of them together on a single concertina folded sheet of paper?

Inspiration: For content, I remember Hedi Kyle showing us her insect stencils last weekend. I was expecting them to be clear plastic stencils with bugs cut out. On the contrary, they were pieces of blue paper that bugs had eaten into forming irregular and shifting shapes. I have some old Japanese books here in the studio that are riddled with insect trails. I grabbed one and used four

consecutive pages. The stencils change over the pages in interesting and random ways.

Mantra: Keep it simple!

Materials: Choosing materials usually comes down to what I have handy in the studio and today I chose a piece of hand made abaca paper (from Helen Hiebert) and some tracing paper that I colored with alcohol inks a while ago. I used soft wax crayons (by Tim Holtz) on the stencils and here are the results.

Enjoy,

Gina

Pages from old Japanese book with the insect trails I used in this piece.

Inked and stenciled pages before insertion. 

Note how the insect tracks change over the four pages.

Abaca paper with creases.

Starting to fold up the paper.

Twist folds complete.

Folds flattened.

Pages inserted.

Book backlit.

Hedi Kyle Workshop at SF Center for the Book

I spent a magical weekend in San Francisco at the Center for the Book making folded structures with Hedi Kyle, 15 students and 4 SFCB instructors who were Hedi's assistants. We created a dozen or so structures and added content to several. Hedi was engaging and patient; pacing the class so that everyone could successfully make each book, folder or flexagon. Here are some pictures of my pieces.

Enjoy,

Gina

Stenciled Flexagon

Belt fold around slat book and other books beneath.

Pink book was passed around class and everyone decorated a page.

Fishbone fold inside diagonal pocket folder. Blue book is a needle book. 

Sling Fold book open, with stenciled ovals and text.

Lots of letter folds and the needle case on the left.

Teaching in Tacoma

I was privileged to teach The Road to Spring to nine Puget Sound Book Artists last weekend in Tacoma, WA. We spent 3 hours together creating folded map books from Strathmore charcoal paper. I really enjoyed sharing this structure I invented from the Turkish map fold and the Hungarian map fold. Pictured below are the participants (with the exception of MalPina) and their work.

Enjoy,

Gina

Deb, Don, Kathy and Mary

Carole, Michelle, Lynn and Kathy

Playing with Paper/A Valentine's Day Treat

In 2008 I took a workshop that changed my life and my approach to making artist's books. It was taught by Joan Michaels Paque and she was a paper engineer and weaver extraordinaire. After the class I was playing around with folding paper and created a small book with the crease pattern you see below. The book was put into a drawer for years until last week when I decided to clean out my cluttered office and found it again. I always thought of this folded structure as a book and only looked at it linearly, but now I make structures that fold around in a circle. When I twisted this one into a circle it created a structure that is flexible and interesting in many orientations.

I have been thinking about ways to modify this structure and came up with two variations. One is inspired by Valentine's Day and the other is the answer to the question: What happens if I make a smaller version and nest it inside the bigger one? I hope you like the results and try folding one yourself.

Enjoy.

-Gina

Crease Pattern

Stages of folding the structure.

Two orientations of the round structure. There are more below.

I cut out hearts from paper folded into the water bomb base.

Variation 1: Insert hearts cut from 4 x 4 inch paper into the slots to make a unique Valentine.

Variation 2: Fold a second structure from 3 x 18 inch paper and nest it inside the 4 x 24 structure.

Three ways to twist the structure.