Three Kirigami Mandalas

Daisies and Bubbles

Wedding Doves

Bunnies Reflected

Happy Couple in the Sun - Hand Cut Kirigami Mandala

Last night produced four works. Here is one of them:


I am still experimenting with making combination pieces, where the outer edge is multi-folded and the inner design is a bifold. Its more complicated to cut, but the results are quite satisfying.

Thistle Cross - Kirigami Mandala

Today I will be laminating the two dozen mandalas and bifolds I've cut over the past week or so. Several of them will be for sale on Etsy (www.EmerlyeArtskirigami.Etsy.com) in the next days. Others will be reserved for the Chandler Gallery holiday bazaar. More to come.

Stunted Dragon - Kirigami Heart

I always tell people you can't make a bad kirigami mandala. Any kind of cut repeated eight times comes out looking kaleidescope - like and interesting. Not so with bifolds. Occasionally I make one that is... less than successful. I put a lot of work into this dragon last night, cutting the tree-like edge carefully through an entire movie (the second episode of an Andy Warhol documentary.) Then I cut the center, beginning with the head, which came out OK. Unfortunately, there wasn't room for a body in the same proportion, so I fudged it. Yikes, now it is a dwarf dragon: big head, tiny body. And the trees look too uniform to be really interesting.


Oh well, experimentation is the crucible of successful design.

Angels of Life - Kirigami Heart

Here is last night's creation. I cut this to "Andy Warhol, American Master," a documentary. It was probably appropriate that I cut two identical ones while watching the master of repetition.

Making Address Labels From Your Art

I was running low on address labels yesterday, so I made a new one out of a piece of one of my greeting card designs. Every time I send a letter, package, or disc to someone they get a sample of my work in the address label I put on the package. Not only do I think this is good advertising, but it is also fun and interesting to think up new, beautiful labels. Here's how I do it:

Labeling programs and tools are not difficult to find. Some come free with the purchase of labels, some are on the internet as freeware and some are available for purchase at little cost. The program I use is called "Discus" and is a very inexpensive download.

Upload a file of your artwork (or use just a small thumbnail of a larger work) onto the canvas of the label program, write your text, and print. Easy. I buy large packages of 2x4 inch labels from Online Labels.com - much cheaper than buying small packages at your local office supply store. Sometimes I cut them down, such as the colored label above. When you buy labels, the website gives you a code to use their design software. I prefer my own Discus - but that is my preference.


I put these labels on everything: the outside of packages and the inside of books and notebooks. I keep some in my planner. You can even make them into stickers to give away by eliminating the address portion and just including your name in small letters. Have fun!

Trumpet Angels - Kirigami Mandala

Orientation is important. Usually it is clear to me which orientation looks best. This one is difficult, however. So which do you prefer, #1 above or #2 below?

Three Kirigami Mandalas from the Night Studio

Love Daisy

I'm getting behind in my displaying of new kirigami. Here are a few I've cut in the past three days (besides the ones I've already shown.) I will be laminating today, so some of these will be available on Etsy in a day or so.

Sounding Angels

Waving Friends

Birds Reflected - Kirigami Mandala

Here is one of two mandalas I cut last night, each about a 3/4 movie creation. My daughter likes this one so much she thinks I should frame it instead of laminating it to hang. If so, then it will be in a 10 inch frame instead of the 12 inch frames my larger mandalas are in. This is an 8 inch cutting, although it is a bit more elaborate and complex. The outer edge is folded four times (8 layers.) I then opened it to create the birds in the center, which are folded only twice (4 layers.)

Irish Flower - Kirigami Bifold Heart

A recent one-movie night-studio creation.

Horses in the Garden - Kirigami Bifold Heart

As mentioned, I will be cutting every night from now through December. That doesn't mean I won't be painting. So, those of you interested in things other than kirigami: don't fear. A variety of work will be shown on this blog for the next two months. Then, in January, I will be focusing more heavily on painting.

Flower Petals - Kirigami Mandala

Flower Petals

In preparation for my Snowflake Party, coming up in a few weeks, I have begun to cut kirigami in my night studio again. I will likely be cutting every night from now through December in order to have enough to sell and decorate Shiretown Books, the Stowe Coffee Shop, and other stores my "snowflakes" go in each winter. Right now my inventory is down to about one hundred mandalas and bifolds. I need at least twice that amount for a good showing during the holidays. So, in addition to my painting, you will see a lot of kirigami for the next two months.

Here is my first creation, a one-half movie cutting. This is an eight-inch mandala saying goodbye to summer. This one will be laminated and strung with a gold cord for hanging.

New card catalog is finally done!

Here is a miniaturized version of the second page of my new Catalog of Cards & Bookmarks. I finally figured out how to get it all into a pdf format and put the link on my website so folks can download and print it out. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the order form to work as part of the same pdf, since it is an excel file - so that has to be downloaded separately. You can find my spiffy new catalog on my website HERE.
Now, to get orders!

Bookmarks -a page in my new catalog

I have been working on a download-able PDF catalog to put on my art website. This will make it easier for shopkeepers to order my cards and bookmarks directly. After a few days of work, I am nearly done! This beats creating a printed brochure every year. Now I can keep the catalog on a Photoshop file and easily alter it when I create a new product. Changing it online is a cinch and costs me nothing (since I manage my website myself.)

Here are the bookmarks currently in my catalog. Soon I will show you the link to my completed catalog. Happiness is learning how to use internet tools!

Third Palette

This is the third palette I did for the Vermont Palette project. I believe I've posted this one before. It is much nicer in person, as are most paintings. I kept it for myself instead of selling it because of the nice memories I have of showing it at the Vermont State House during the arts celebration. I got there late and there was no room left in the pavilion so I spread my work out on the lawn, up against a statue. This one got so much attention. Groups of people stood around taking pictures of it, which was very gratifying. Too bad I hadn't thought to bring any business cards or other promotional materials because I had to write my name on scraps of paper all afternoon. It was fun in any case.

Similar Palette Painted in Color

As you see, this palette for the Vermont Palette Project is very similar to the black and white one in the previous post. I used the same design (minus the words) and made it colorful. The body is painted in acrylic. Around the edge I laid a gold border with lighter gold design over it. The ribbon is also infused with metalic paint which I colorized so that it picks up the shimmer of the border. I liked this one enough to save it instead of auctioning or selling it.

Black & White Palette Project

As I promised at the VATA conference, here is the black & white palette which I did for the state-wide palette project a few years ago. This was auctioned off for charity in Woodstock. It was one of three palettes I painted. I displayed the other two at the conference.

Book Illustrations

The classes I taught at the Vermont Art Teachers Association Conference went well yesterday. One of the projects I talked about was the book I've been working on for a while called "In the Land of Knowing." Shown here are a few illustrations from that project, some of which have been made into greeting cards. The wonderful artists at the conference have helped inspire me to continue working on this long-term adventure. Thanks to you all, Vermont art teachers!

Motorcycles as Art

"Discovery" by Perewitz

This morning my wonderful mechanic, Cisco, called me about a car issue. I told him that I'd finally gone to his show at the Shelburn Museum. Although I'm not a motorcycle fan, I was pretty impressed at the exhibit:

"Full Throttle: Vintage Motorcycles, Custom Choppers and Racing Machines"

"UTR" by Cisco, Green Mountain Performance, Mendon, VT

Cisco (who owns Green Mountain Performance in Mendon, VT) had two of his custom built bikes in the show and I wanted to see them. I had seen one of his bikes one evening when I was getting my car fixed and we began chatting. He took me over to a corner of the garage and unveiled his latest creation. It was stunningly beautiful! "This is like a piece of sculpture," I said. That, of course, was his opening to tell me about the museum show and the big events he shows at around the country. These bikes sell for tens of thousands, sometimes a hundred thousand dollars. After learning from Cisco all that goes into them, I can appreciate why.

Cisco with "Calgon" at Green Mountain Performance, Mendon, VT

My conversation this morning prompted me to think that you might be interesting in seeing his work -- or at least thinking about sculpture in new ways. Here is the Shelburn Museum blurb on the show:

"Full Throttle focuses on the evolution of motorcycle design and celebrates the artistry of a mode of transportation that inspired a subculture all its own,” said Kory Rogers, associate curator.

Exhibited on all three levels of Shelburne Museum’s historic Round Barn gallery, Full Throttle is organized into three thematic sections.

• “Wide Open and Wild: Racing Machines” examines the role of racing tracks as testing grounds for motorcycle performance and design improvements.

• “Classic Cool: Vintage Motorcycles” features iconic examples of such makes as Indian, Harley Davidson and Triumph and explores how many of the improvements born on the track translated into hallmarks for specific brands.

• “Choppers: Art of the Custom Ride” explores the evolution of building choppers from early models where parts were chopped off to jettison weight to today’s custom rides that elevate bike building to an art form that reflects the personality of the individual rider. This section include examples of regional styles, as well as compares “old school” choppers to contemporary themed or fantasy bikes.

"The Smackdown" by Tommy Graves

Missing Time to Create

"The Dowser"

Today is the last day to get ready for the Vermont Art Teacher's Association conference. I finished my preparations for the Kirigami class I will be teaching. Today I'm gathering things together for the class on Illustration. It will take me all day. Then it's up at 5am to drive to Johnston, VT to the Studio Center.

I don't know about you, but whenever I am obliged to spend a lot of time on promotion or showing my work, I begin to feel a vague anxiety, as if something is missing. While I know that promotion is part of the process -- I am actually working by spending time on this -- it leaves me flat. I do like "Show and Tell" experiences like tomorrow's conference. It is wonderful to hobnob with other artists and to get positive feedback. Nevertheless, so much time begins to slide by and I'm not actually painting. So much takes me away from my true love.

I am part of a small art group and we discuss this conundrum often. Most of us must supplement our art with other work to pay the bills - just another activity to keep us away from the studio. Well, lest musing turns to whining, I will stop now.

Preparing Kirigami for VATA Conference

In two days I will be teaching workshops at the Vermont Art Teachers Association annual conference at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnston near the college. You can see the conference brochure here. My classes are "Kirigami Papercutting" and "Illustrate Your Story."

This morning I will be gathering examples and materials for the Kirigami class.

Hopefully there will be time for each participant to create a mandala or bifold. I will also be showing my dimensional cards, including one that opens three times like a puzzle. (Sorry, can't show it to you because the effect doesn't come off well in photos.)

I will bring examples of my work, give a demonstration or two, and then lead the class in making something. I will provide the paper, scissors, punches, knives, etc.


By the way, if any of you are interested in coming to my annual Snowflake Party this year on Dec 6 (with kirigami cutting for all) please see the announcement HERE on my coaching website: www.CynthiaEmerlye.com - on the Calendar page under December.

Pumpkin Carving

Yesterday my family gathered for a fun Autumn celebration. We made apple pies, stacked wood, blew together huge leaf piles that the kids jumped in, played dress-up, ate food, watched "Happy Feet" and carved pumpkins.

In my mind, I had envisioned crafting one of those gorgeous pumpkin creatures I've seen in books and magazines.
Ha! I haven't actually made a jack-o-lantern for years and forgot how tricky it really is.

Carving with children makes the process trickier still. After a dicey start, we finally emerged with all our fingers intact.

I decided to make a Martha Stewart one using a drill will a spade bit. What a hoot when the drill threw off bits of pumpkin all over the kitchen! After that my little helper, Simon, squeeled, "lets get mo' out!" with each new drilling, squishing the guts in his little hands and throwing them in the sink.



In the end, our pumpkin carving activity was definitely an enchanting art activity- even without award-winning results.

I highly recommend taking the time to carve pumpkins in the fall. Creating should be an integral part of living - a kind of play, a form of expression. The result matters less than the process.

Here's a fantastic dragon by Draco 6804 (Geektonic.com) This is more like what I wanted to create. Maybe another time.

An incredible alien pumpkin carving by DownandDirtyDesigns.blogspot.com. Now this is a work of art!

New Bookmark

Since the bookmark display case I use holds eight, my designs are in series of eight. I was missing one, so today I took a piece of one of this year's paintings and cropped it into a bookmark to complete my colored quotation series. Just tidying up the shop, so to speak.

The Chandler Center for the Arts

Earlier this fall I passed up an opportunity to be in the Local Artist show at the Chandler Gallery in Randolph, Vermont. I was too busy getting ready for what turned out to be the Sevi's debacle. Chandler provides local artists and craftspeople many opportunities to participate, however. I have just been invited to have my kirigami work in their holiday bazzar, a month-long craft show run by the gallery.

In addition to visual art, the Chandler is a performance center. For a sleepy little town like Randolph, they have a lot going on. If you are in Vermont, check them out HERE.


Right now I'm having trouble keeping up with the season. This is foliage time in Vermont, when tens of thousands of leaf-peepers descend on the state to view the magnificent autumn color. I have had to re-stock my greeting cards and bookmarks at Shiretown Books three times in the past twelve days. Fairs and shows are everywhere. Soon the Holiday Bazzars and fairs will begin. I'm soooo not ready. It is always difficult to remember, during the slow spring and moderate summer that the three months from October 1 to January 1 are a madhouse when most of the year's craft sales are made. Since I've been focusing more on creating paintings this year, my crafts have been somewhat neglected. Now I'm scrambling to make up for it.

Preparing for a Kirigami Workshop

In a week or so I will be teaching two workshops at the Vermont Art Teachers Association annual conference. One of them will be on the craft of kirigami papercutting. You may be viewing some of my preparations for that class and the other one on Illustration this week as I get ready.

Heart Flower

Working on finances was such a depressing job yesterday that I needed to create something whimsical at my "night studio" while relaxing in the evening. This is the result: a 5x7 inch scratchboard doodle I am calling "Heart Flower" because the black background came out looking like a heart with its bottom cut off. This is a two movie creation - just more practice with the wonderful Ampersand scratchbord. I tried using British Scraperboard recently but its flimsy cardboard backing doesn't provide the depth of dimension or hold up to rough use like the Ampersand masonite board does.

All Hail the Men's Throne Room

On my visit to the wonderful Kohler Art Museum in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, I encountered the hidden treasure of their wonderful bathrooms. (Remember, Kohler is the king of bathroom fixtures and this museum is dedicated to its founder.) In my previous post I showed you the women's bathroom. I was so entranced by it that, when it was empty, I took a peek into the men's chamber and found it also wonderful, although of a completely different flavor.


In the men's bathroom the colors are strong and dark, a complete change from the light frivolity of the women's bathroom.

Many of the images and words are about competition, conquest, striving, and boldness.


Clearly, the overall motif says "manliness=achievement."


Some of the motifs are humerus, tongue-in-cheek delights, such as the "throne room."

A King should be magnanimous...


Or a Protector of the People.


With wonders like this in the world, why should we be content with common, vanilla surroundings?

Fun in the Ladies Bathroom

While visiting the charming Wisconsin countryside, and on the way to Kohler (yes, the toilet capital of the world!) Barbara and Bill took me to the Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan where craft mingles with fine art. A mixture of powerful exhibits were there, some disturbing and energy-charged, others charming and beautiful. (Imagine a little house made out of crocheted yarn.) When I mentioned that it was time for a trip to the ladies room, Barbara said, "You're in for a treat."
Huh?
"It's not just another bathroom," she teased. When I opened the door, I understood why:




As soon as you enter, a wall of exquisite and charming hand-painted tiles greets you, inviting you into Alice-in Wonderland's boutique.



"Pick the right stall," said Barbara, so I looked into each of them. Here are two:



Washing up took a while. I couldn't stop examining the images. You can't see it in this picture, but the inside of the sinks and toilets are hand-decorated as well.


I have four derelict bathrooms in my old farmhouse. Oh, that I could be so daring when the time comes to renovate!

Wait 'till you see the men's bathroom!

A Visit to Mary Nohl's Incredible House

"Mary Nohl's house in Fox Point, WI features a yard filled with concrete figures of people, animals and dinosaurs. The house itself is trimmed with wooden reliefs of fish and other figures. The property is partly fenced by human profiles. This is all much to the dismay of residents of the upper class neighborhood in which the house is located. Nohl’s reclusiveness kept her from being a commercial artist and her art school background also kept her from Outsider Artist status. "

During my visit to Wisconsin last week, Barbara Manger (Milwaukee artist) and her husband Bill Lynch took me to see the home of Mary Nohl. While it is currently not open to the public, it is on the National Register of Historic Sites. One can see the yard from the street, however, and I for one was stunned!


Barbara has written a beautiful book about Mary Nohl. Here is a review from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal:

Outsider artist, sophisticated naïf, and witch are all labels that have described Mary Nohl (1914–2001), creator of a magical and mysterious site on the shore of Lake Michigan near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Here she constructed huge concrete heads, stone-encrusted creatures, and imposing driftwood figures to fill the yard surrounding a modest cottage where she spent most of her life. Carved heads hang from the eaves, wind chimes tinkle in the trees, and pebbles at her doorstep spell “Boo.” The cottage is painted and embellished inside and out with wooden fish, boats, animals, and leaping figures. Wire, hemp, chicken bones, egg shells, aluminum pans, broken glass—almost any castoff materials available—were used by Nohl to create her art and ornament her surroundings.
Mary Nohl: Inside & Outside offers the first comprehensive look into the unusual life of a remarkable artist whose surroundings stand as a monument to her creative personality. Establishing Nohl as a notable “outsider” artist, Barbara Manger and Janine Smith offer an inside look at an artist whose idiosyncratic art—pieces whose allure is only heightened by the intrigue and legends surrounding their creator—attracted generations of visitors who peered through the fence at Nohl’s wildly decorated yard but rarely caught a glimpse of the elusive artist.

“This sensitive, meticulously researched book sheds needed light on the life and work of an under-appreciated visionary. It should advance the cause of preserving Mary Nohl’s fragile work in all of its fevered complexity.”—Whitney Gould, former architecture critic and urban landscape writer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Seeing what Mary Nohl created over her lifetime, just around her own house, with stakes from an old fence, rubble, sand from the nearby beach and a bit of concrete... was yet another jolt of energy for my Muse and a jab to me to let loose and create more. This whole trip has been a reminder to me to get out and see more art. One's Muse needs sustenance like any living thing, after all.

Barbara Manger has written a beautiful book about Mary Nohl, which I will be rushing to purchase from Amazon.com HERE today.

You can read a short bio about Mary Nohl HERE.

Printmaking with Barbara Manger

I'm visiting with Barbara Manger, a wonderful artist and printmaker in the Milwaukee area. Barbara has taught college-level printmaking and drawing for many years and remains a practicing artist herself. She is the founder of Artists Working in Education, a non-profit Milwaukee-based organization providing art experience for at-risk children. She has produced a large body of work, some of which you can see HERE.

I have been privileged to stay in her home, which is a stunning collaboration of light and color, filled with large works of art, much of it her own. Her walls are painted in bright oranges, yellows, teals, and blues - color which might seem too strong for an indoor environment, but which, as a backdrop for art, becomes a stunning, scintillating bath of living warmth. This breathtaking environment inspires me to be bolder and more courageous with my own work. I invite you to join me for the next few days on my journey through art in the Milwaukee area. Let us begin with a trip to Barbara's studio.

Barbara Manger and her husband Bill Lynch

Yesterday Barbara Manger took a few of us to her studio in an old mill building for a brief lesson in printmaking and to show us some of her recent work. I haven't done this kind of work for many years and forgot how addictive it can be. We produced only two prints each, one direct and one offset, but I wanted to keep going on and on, collecting more things to print. Here is a small peek into our session:

Barbara's studio space in an old mill building. (I'm so jealous!)

Some of Barbara's older work.

The small print Barbara produced as our example.

Inking the plates

Getting ready to print. (Cynthia Osowski looks on.)

Pulling a print

My first result

My offset print

Such fun! I invite each of you to collaborate with, learn from, share with, visit or even just view other artists and their work as often as possible. It is an inspiring and enriching experience -- and food for one's own Muse.