Why I Love Paper

    

WHY I LOVE PAPER

I like working with paper ever since I was a kid. I remember making paper dolls, along with fashionable clothes, accessories and paper doll houses. I also made paper fans, bookmarks, greeting cards, envelopes and decorative letters for my friends and family that I had artfully rolled, stitched together, folded into hearts, stars, clothes, etc. Most of the time, I made paper toys and accessories for myself and gifted some to friend. I also remember selling some bookmarks out of paper and popsicle sticks to my cousins. I sold them for Php 2.00 each and my cousins bought all of them. I think it’s safe to safe to say that I already possess entrepreneurial skills ever since I was a kid. :D

I love paper as an art medium for so many reasons. It is light. It is simple. It is easy to manipulate. It has a lot of potential depending on the artist's imagination, creativity, skill, craftsmanship, passion and patience.

From a simple sheet or roll of paper to an amazing piece of artwork that gives joy to both the maker/artist and consumer. It is truly amazing how an unassuming piece of paper, turned into something delicate and precious can excite and awaken the creative, imaginative and happy kid in all of us. 

Cut it, fold it, twist it, roll it , mache it, laminate it or make a combination of all these, etc. Adjectives to describe how paper are manipulated depends on the producers' (artist) and consumers' (audience/client) perspective. For example, the craft of paper cutting may be described as 'simple and therapeutic' by a papercut artist while it is usually seen as a tedious and complicated but undeniably amazing craft by consumers/audience.

I have been a full time papercut artist for over 10 years now. I started in the first quarter of 2014, and I can say that  I am happy with the skill level I've achieved so far. I'm not saying that I've already gained a 'master-level' in this craft but I'm happy with the progress I've attained. Practicing really works. 

I love paper as an art medium for so many reasons. It's light, simple and easy to manipulate. It has a lot of potential depending on the artist's imagination, creativity,skill, craftsmanship, passion and patience. 

This is a paper flower  I made out of acid free paper.
I made this as accent for a wedding keepsake
 I made for a friend. Each petal has their monogram dry seal. 

From a simple sheet or roll, to an amazing piece of artwork that gives joy to both the producer and consumer. It's truly amazing how an unassuming piece of paper, turned into something delicate and precious can excite and awaken the creative, imaginative and happy kid in all of us. 

Here is a screen shot of my cousins' (Wico and Altina Baltazar of  http://purplelue.com/) save the date video that I used as basis for the papercut I gifted them for their wedding.

This is the papercut version of the above screen shot. Notice that my cuts are not yet that detailed and intricate.
I did this back in 2012.

Fast forward to 2014, this is a wedding papercut I did last October, of the same year, for a client in Australia.

As with all things, it is really about progress and not about perfection. I attribute these improvements to the values (as enumerated below) I learned and developed from working with paper. 

1. Gentleness - One must be gentle enough to shape a delicate medium like paper.
2. Patience -  Most techniques applied to paper are 'tedious', so one needs to stretch his/her patience to develop the skills needed to produce great work.
3. Ingenuity - When a boo boo happens, one needs to have a ton of this trait to be able to work around a mistake and still produce a work of great quality and value. And I repeat, it's really not about perfection. A boo boo adds character to the artwork and it humanizes the artist. An imperfect art is beautiful.
4. Humility & Perseverance - When a mistake is severe and the only acceptable remedy is to have the  piece redone, one must be humble & persevering enough to accept the situation  and start all        over again, this time wiser and more careful. 
5. Work with zest, presence, integrity and curiosity - enjoy the process, play, and don't lose your curiosity. Work with integrity and joy and your artwork will surely be of benefit. 

I hope my love of paper somehow inspires you to create one or better appreciate paper artworks.  Share your comments below! :)