Hand-Cut Silhouettes

Hand-Cut Silhouettes

The Sunday Paper #487

November 26, 2023

Last Chance! My Book Light online class takes place next Saturday, December 2nd. This is a 3-hour live online workshop. Join us and fold this expandable file folder structure; attach it to two uniquely wrapped book covers; create a removable spine that holds a fairy light; slip the spine into pockets; and flip the switch. All levels are welcome, and if you can’t attend live, the session will be recorded.

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National Book Award finalist Beth Kephart’s new book — My Life in Paper: Adventures in Ephemera (Temple University Press)—is a memoiristic inquiry into the ways in which paper shapes and holds our lives. In a series of letters written to the late Dard Hunter, Kephart muses on the obsessions that define us, the ambitions and frustrations that threaten to defeat us, and the legacies we hope to leave, among many other things. Baby books and scrapbooks, sewing patterns and doilies, wills and deeds, rare books and paper arts are all integral to the story. The New York Times Book Review editors called the book a “searching memoir grappling with life, memory and legacy.” Foreword Reviews called it “evocative and informative.” And Kirkus wrote ” As she offers insight into the fascinating world of papermaking, Kephart also reveals the intimate connection between memory and its most ubiquitous—and also most fragile—receptacle. An eloquent and unique memoir.”

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Did you know that before photography, paper silhouettes were the most accessible and popular form of portraits — affordable to anyone with a few pennies to spare. Moses Williams, a former enslaved man, cut silhouettes in the original Philadelphia Peale Museum. And today, Baltimore artist and participatory-history specialist Lauren Muney has an exhibition of hundreds of hand-cut silhouette portraits of Baltimore City residents at The Peale.

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© Eliza Redmann, Shell Dance

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Colette Fu was artist-in-residence at BIMA and created this giant pop-up book called 许愿树 (Wishing Tree).

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Paper Tidbits

  • In 2021, I started a tradition – creating a list of 100 favorite paper resources of the year. For 2023, I’d love to include your recommendations as well. Tell me about them here. You’ll find a link to last year’s list for inspiration when you click through.
  • Have you had the chance to listen to my interview with Ilze Dilane on Paper Talk?
  • The Craft Industry Alliance creates an annual Holiday Gift Guide. Support the creative economy and make this holiday season truly memorable when you give handmade.
  • Save 25% on a Craft Industry Alliance membership through 11/27. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections.

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In the Paper Studio

Shannon Green shared this piece in The Paper Studio, my free Facebook group. Audrey is a decorative metal dress form she bought at a home decor store about a decade ago. Green has dressed her in many creative ways over the years but this is her final outfitting. As part of Green’s term as one of the visiting artists at the Fayetteville Public Library this year, she is dressing Audrey in paper beads…7,000 and counting! She cuts the bead strips from outdated issues of Arkansas magazines and travel guides, rolls them up and then seals them with Minwax wood hardener. Green is using a strong nylon thread to weave the beads together in a way that hugs Audrey’s curves at the top, but flow to the floor as fabric would.

Audrey, © Shannon Green, 2023.

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Products and Workshops:

Click on the photos to read more and purchase:

Handmade Paper Pack • The Art of Papercraft

Papermaking with Garden Plants • The Papermaker’s Companion

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About our Sponsor: Beth Kephart is the award-winning author of more than three-dozen books in multiple genres, an award-winning teacher of memoir, co-founder of Juncture Workshops, and a woman still exploring the power and place of paper. Her new books are My Life in Paper: Adventures in Ephemera and Good Books for Bad Children: The Genius of Ursula Nordstrom. More at bind-arts.com

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