Guild of American Papercutters

You are now reading the blog of the newest member of the Guild of American Papercutters Board of Directors, the largest organization of papercutters in the western hemisphere.

I received word of my nomiation from Marie-Helene Grabmanm, the president of the Guild, about a week ago and just heard last night of my unanimous acceptance onto the board.

I very much look forward to being an active participant in the Guild's growth and I am truly honored and flabbergasted that I was even considered!

To find out more about the GAP, to become a member (we publish a quarterly magazine with new art, history, and news from around the world), and to see the work of local and international papercutters, visit their site at www.papercutters.org

Microcuts

I get up at 6:45 every morning and start work some time around 8. Typically I spend part of the morning catching up on emails and The Internet, then I cut or design for people, break for lunch, then finish cutting, package new pieces, trip to the Post Office, return, email people who emailed me while I was at the Post Office. THEN sometime around 3:30, with 30 mins before my wife gets off work, I have this creative time that is MINE ALL MINE!!!

Well, lately that time hasn't been exactly enough time to work on a large 18x24 of a famous Boston landmark I started weeks ago and have gotten almost none of it finished, so instead, I've been focusing on smaller projects I stand a chance of finishing the same day I start.

Inspired by the creative geniuses over at etsy, including kfarrell, creater of tinysaurs, which I have miniature collection of, I decided to go small.

The wonders of the computer combined with the printing ability of laser printers, I realized I had everything I needed to shrink down an original design to mind-numbing porportions. SO, with a Sunday evening filled with Jen madly trying to finish a monstrous reading assignment (studying for her MA in Historical Archaeology- aren't we so interesting?) I dug through a bunch of photos looking for an appropriate idea.

I settled on a photo I took of the Chicago Library domed Tiffany glass celing during our trip to that amazing city last August.

I figured I should probably start with a size that made some logical sense, so I chose one square inch, popped the new design into photoshop, and Ta-Da!

I started cutting, and quickly realized I couldn't use my usual swivel knife as it wanted to move a bit too much for the delicateness of the design (wanted to twist and turn when I was cutting a 1mm thick straight line), so I switched to my usualy #11 blade/knife. Here's a progress shot:

Once finished, I mounted it to a 12x12 inch background to give it some presence on the wall and framed it up but good. Here it is unmounted and finally framed:

AND, if you are so impressed, you can even purchase the $65 framed original piece here on etsy.

After completing that and getting lots of "oohs and Ahs" I felt pretty good about the decision to go small and immediately started thinking of new ideas. Apparently this is harder than it looks to go so small because I've had a hard time coming up with ideas for interesting, cutable designs. I soon thought of the world map, since I was working on the Continent papercut designs.

I had to subtly modify the map a bit (bring the two hemispheres a bit closer together) but in the end, I was really happy with the design, which measures 1 x 1.75 inches huge.

Apparently it was a really awesome design because it was on Etsy a whole 6 hours before getting snatched up and now lives in a great home in Missouri:)

Like I said before, I'm struggling to come up with designs that would both look interesting small, but also be physically cut-able. Here are some recent experimentations that I love, but I'm not listing yet as I'm hoping to do even better.




I am working on a 1x1" version of this piece, which now hangs in a private collection in London:

About 1/3 done as you can see



Okay, that's it for now. If you have brilliant ideas for microcuts, do tell, do tell. And, speaking of telling, I have some very exciting news that will be confirmed at 10am today, after the confirmation, I'll be back with a nice announcement:)

The road to the Boston Ahts Festival: 4 days to go

Hi everyone,

In my quest to be fully prepared for the Boston Arts (Ahts) Festival I'm going to be posting what I'm working on each day. I have four days to go and about six days of work left to do, so this will be interesting.

Over the long weekend we found out where the tent will be, which happens to be right in the middle of everything. This is great, because I've noticed tents on the ends seem to get passed up as people first arrive or leave. Also got some orchids for the tent. We decided that when you decorate your tent, it looks like you were so prepared that you even had enough time to bring in flowers. Gives a very good effect, and really instills confidence in people viewing your work. Also got a couple people to come in my tent in South Portland just to see the flowers. Can't hurt!

Here's the view from my future tent spot:


I found out we're sharing a 9x20 tent, which has me a bit scared because I want to hang a wall on three sides and I'm not sure my tent-mate will appreciate a wall hanging between us. I had thought we'd each be getting a 10x10 tent and we wouldn't have to share any walls. Hope it works out because I'm bringing three walls worth of stuff to hang regardless!

Today, my goal is to get the custom pieces that were ordered over the weekend done so I can focus on the Boston pieces. That was quite a task! Two were extremely difficult pieces with tons of very fine cuts with very little support. The hardest part is going from finished cut to mounted piece. Today I had to take this:

And make it look like this:Took forever!

I just got my very first order of 15 frames, all the framing supplies, and glass. I hopefully will be offering my custom pieces with custom framing options:)


I also have to finish my series of Boston pieces I created just for the show. These six pieces are the highlights of the show. Only one is not quite finished, but that should happen today or tomorrow. Here they all are unmounted.

It looks like it might rain Friday but will be great the rest of the weekend. Hope it isn't too bad! Three days is going to be a looooong time to stay outside.

I'm a bit worried I'm putting too much hope into this show. Don't want to be disappointed. The Art in the Park show went so incredibly well, and this show is three times longer with five times more people, so I'm really crossing my fingers!

Okay, back to work!

Tomorrow: the 8x10s and some framed work.

South Portland Art in the Park

Art in the Park was waaaaay back on the 8th, but as soon as we got back, we both had to dive straight back into work and this is my first chance to finally share what happened.

The event was about 500 feet from my family's home in South Portland, so we had free housing during the weekend. My mother happened to be in a store while we were driving north from Boston and found a white EZ-up tent for less than half I've ever seen it, so I got her to nab it for us. Now I had a great white tent, which, unfortunately, has been proven to attract more people to your work than a blue tent. Weird.

Anyway, on Friday we had to frame the 19 pieces that still needed framing before the show the next day, so that took nearly the entire day but came out great! We also had the opportunity to borrow 8 segments of grid wall to hang the heaviest pieces (thanks Harriet!)

The day of the show went incredibly smoothly. Most of my family was there to help set up the tent, and the rest were able to stop by throughout the day.Weird story- My sister had been on a whale watch tour in Portland the week before the show, and it turns out the boat she was on, was the same boat featured in my piece, Odyssey. She called the number on the brochure for the tour and got a hold of the woman who used to own the boat and invited them to the show with out me knowing. Soon after the show started she arrived, introduced herself and told me she used to own the boat and loved the piece. After leaving, she apparently called the current owner of the boat, who came to the show soon after, and purchased the piece! I'm so happy the piece will really be appreciated!

So after that great start, tons of people stopped by to view my work, and were incredibly kind and supportive. We had a great time. Jen told me that at one point there were 19 people in the 10x10 tent! Not bad considering there were 184 other artist at the same show!

Ten smaller pieces went home after Odyssey was purchased.

At the very end of the show, many people started breaking down about a half hour early and I refused since there were so many people that expressed interest in pieces that were still remaining. Literally five minutes before the end of the show, my mom, who was helping break down the display,grabbed the largest piece, Hand, off the wall and began carrying it out to the truck.

A woman and her daughter stopped her and asked if someone had purchased the piece as they were interested in buying it.

Turns out the daughter is completely redesigning her bedroom and wanted a piece of art for it. Her mother agreed and out of the 185 artist there, she chose my piece for her room! I was incredibly excited. Two of my largest pieces found great homes that day.

In the end, 12 pieces went home, and I sold most of the remaining 2008 Christmas ornaments (have to start designing the 2009 ones soon!) The weather was perfect, the people were great, the other artist were kind and had incredible work on display. Didn't go home with any prizes, but my stuff is too "not-a-painting" to get much interest by judges, but I bet I sold more than almost anyone at the show.

Now, as a somewhat odd consequence, I have to really crank out some new pieces for the Boston show. It's three days long, so I really need to pack the tent incase stuff sells as well as it did at the Art and the Park. Wouldn't want an empty tent on the third day. Acutally, that would be nice:)

New space, and a new papercut!

Just got back from Haymarket in Boston with bags full of fruits and veggies. Got four quarts of strawberries, four pears, two pounds of cherries, two ponds of roma tomatoes, a pint of blueberries, and eight kiwi...all for $11. I freaking love Boston!

Anyway, I'm just posting now that we are completely unpacked and back to work. Below is my new work space. I just hung up a ton of art and pretty much filled the book cases so it looks a bit busier now, but I now have an entire 12x12 room for my papercutting!




I've been doing between 5-10 custom papercuts every week since May so that's the biggest reason I haven't been posting much lately. It's definitely been my busy time of year with anniversary present requests rolling in. I haven't had much time to do more my-style pieces, however I did get a spare half-day yesterday to finish the piece below that I've been working on for about a month. It's of the Second-Empire building that housed Boston's City Hall from 1869-1965. Below are images of the city hall, the papercut, and just some shots to show scale and that it truly is cut from paper:) I haven't mounted the piece on its white background. Right now it's on a green cutting board and still has the support pieces I cut into the design to keep it's shape while I'm mounting. I cut them off when it's done.

That's all for now...

Some bad news...

So Jen and I went to Maine for Easter with my family. While there, we decided to drive up the road to the Old Crow Gallery where I am having my solo show in June. When we got there, we found the gallery empty and a For Rent sign in the window.

Big time bummer...

I was quite panicked, actually, because I had thousands of dollars worth of art currently at the gallery and I had no idea where any of the piece were.

I eventually got in touch with the gallery owners, whom I love to death, and they explained how it happened. Long story short, the owners of the building were unreasonable and they had to leave shop in an extremely short amount of time and didn't have a chance to call all the artists to get their work.

So, as of right now, there will be no solo show:( Perhaps if the owners get the gallery and frame shop back up and running, I may be able to show later in the year, but for now it's all off. My pieces are going to be moved to several businesses that appreciate art and may help get my name out and possibly sell the piece off the wall.

I'm pretty bummed. I've been planning this for seven months now and had all the pieces ready to go. I've actually avoided applying to shows and galleries in June so it didn't conflict with the show. I'm also worried because most galleries are booked for the year (or more) so I may have to wait over a year for another opportunity to show my work.

Le Sigh.

Regardless, I'm now looking for shows and events locally to get the word out about my papercuts in town. We just decided to not move out of town, and found a beautiful tiny house to rent with a great finished shed (more of a separate building/room with windows and heat and everything) that will become my studio.

Not all bad news, but still pretty bummed about the show.

Oh, I'm on twitter now too. Terrifying, but maybe it will drum up some support or sales?

Going for it

Friend-of-the-Blog ArtSnark, whose work I greatly admire, suggested in one of my recent posts to seek out publicity at various magazines and media outlets.

This has worked out well for me in the past, and I feel stupid for not doing it again sooner, but I definitely will! This past fall I wrote the editor of the local newspaper, and within two hours I had an interview. Within a week I was on the cover of the newspaper and had an online video interview and feature! Good fun!

So, because I am COMPLETELY incapable of holding back on anything, I'm really going for it this time. I have three major components to my "business": Fine art, Local Art, and Custom Anniversary Art. Therefore, I will be customizing several digital and printed press releases and harassing (politely) editors until I get some attention. All tastefully, respectively, and humbly done of course.

Here's the lineup, feel free to suggest others if you know of any:

Fine Art:
Crafts Arts International
Art in America
The Artist Magazine
Cloth, Paper, Scissors
Paper Crafts
Elle Decor
ART News
Paper Creations
World of Interiors

Local:
Down East
Portland
Boston
Maine Home Design
Port City Life

Custom Anniversary Art:
Rachael Ray
O
InStyle
Readers Digest
Better Homes + Gardens
Real Simple
The Nest
Lucky
Martha Stewart Living

(took FOREVER to get all those links!)

Frankly, if I get even one of these to so much as mention me in a footnote, I'll consider it successful. I have to believe that my work is the best thing ever or nobody else will think so. I've definitely learned that if you wait for things to come to you, often they never do and you have to sometimes show people what you are worth in order to get any attention. It's pretty much the only way I've gotten jobs, interviews, offers, gallery shows, displays, apartments, internships, articles...

I'm going to look into papercutting classes at Michaels too. I've got the Boys and Girls club workshop as experience and that was SO much fun.

One question for all of you to help out with: Should I send an 8x10 "custom" anniversary papercut to all the major magazines as a good visual (O, Instyle, Rachael ray, etc)? Lots of work, but might be worth it? I figure the more fine-art oriented publications can work with just images since that's really what they do anyway.

I'll share the stuff I'll be sending with the package with all of you when I make them (soon)

Thanks again ArtSnark!!!!

Introducing: Jen

Jen 2009
20x20 inches

Black Paper on Illustration Board

I was staring at a profile silhouette I cut of my wife, Jen, when I had the idea of combining the very traditional profile with my new branch pieces. This is the result: One of my most detailed pieces yet. By far one of the most difficult pieces I have ever cut. DELICATE! but still bold and very graphic.

available on etsy.com

Strike up the band

Thought I'd share one of the more recent custom pieces Joe has been working on. Most of the custom work lately has been for anniversaries and birthdays, but this piece was going to some of our former coworkers who just moved into a new house. They have a dedicated music room and aspirations of starting a band together. What better inspiration than a funky tryptech of a bassist, drummer, and pianist. There's a possibility that a guitar will someday follow, but for now it's these three energetic images which will inspire the three steadfast musicians.

More pieces to come later (I think there are currently four in the works...)

Introducing: Branches

Branches

7x16 papercut
11x20 matted

Original hand-cut papercut
I was going for a funky, fresh take on the traditional tree silhouette. I imagine this piece above a fire place, desk, or a calming piece in a bedroom. I hate doing the usual so hopefully this is achieves the goal of abstract, yet recognizable.

On sale now on Etsy

It's done!

Hi everyone,

I'm really happy to share this piece with you all. As stated earlier it's a papercutting of the tree Jen and I were married under exactly 51 weeks ago.


Here it is framed, and hanging in our bedroom. It's 34x18 so it's really huge!:)

Inspiration: Wycinanki

I wanted to give an example of the international papercutting styles which inspire Joe's work. The Polish style of papercutting, Wycinanki, is a traditional folk art using hand cut paper layered to create vibrant and often colorful images. The first two images here are done by traditional Polish Papercutters, the last two are original pieces Joe created that were inspired by the traditional Polish style.Traditionally, these pieces were cut with sheep shears and often depict motifs such as roosters and floral patterns. The designs are often circular and were prominently displayed on furniture, in windows, or on barns.

Joe's interpretation of this traditional Polish style uses motifs inspired by the arts and crafts movement. He also use a circular design, and has experimented with layered colored paper. The following piece, Artichoke, is available hereThis modern American interpretation is still reminiscent of the Polish Wycinanki, but the use of different motifs and color palettes identifies it as a unique tradition. His interpretation featured below, depicts peacocks and is available here