Humming Bird paper-cut - finished all but a few leaves. |
Wednesday 9 April 2014
Cutting Images
Last
weekend I attended a second, more advanced Scheerenschnitt
(paper-cutting) course where I
spent five hours snipping away at a new work of art.
The
course took place just a few hundred metres from my front door, which meant I
could have a leisurely breakfast on the balcony before the ten o’clock start.
All of
this was just a stone’s throw from the home and studio of the famous Nürnberg
artist Albrecht Dürer.
I was
not prepared myself for this course as had I wanted to. Having learnt the
basics at the first course and now knowing how to prepare images for cutting I
had wanted to at least have a motive sorted out for my next paper-art work and
perhaps even have it traced on to the black paper, but I had not had the
opportunity to get to the drawing board. To tell the truth it was not until the
children at work were so excited by a recent flower image that I had snipped as
a birthday card and they all wanted to colour in (http://www.susie-mallett.org/2014/04/sharing-enthusiasmteam-works-picture-ps.html)
that I decided to do another, but bigger, flowery image.
I
decide that I would take a few photographs on the way up the hill of the
daffodils around the castle moat and then compose a drawing directly from these
photographs on to the back of the black paper, but as I was going out of the
door I caught a glimpse of the picture at the top of this posting. It is one
that my Dad painted for me for my fiftieth birthday.
I
grabbed it, removed it from the frame and popped it in my folder.
This
was the perfect solution, using his image to cut a silhouette I could then
print a few copies for him to use as greetings cards.
There
were seven of us at the course this time, the two ladies whom I had met in the
autumn and four others. There was not a lot of time to get to know each other
as with our heads down we drew and snipped to our hearts content with little
thought to conversation. This is why I enjoy these Saturday courses so much. My
head is emptied of any thoughts from the previous busy week and of the one that
follows too.
It was
the first really warm spring day and in a way I was sorry to be sitting
indoors, so during the break for lunch break I walked through the main market
square that was swarming with tourists and eventually sat down in the sun for a
coffee and a read of book published by the local paper-cutting group that I had
purchased at the course.
I
really had to get my nose down in the afternoon. I wanted to add some colour to
my picture, something that I had not done before, and for this I needed the
advice of our teacher. I had at least to get started on it before I went home.
I
finished snipping my flowers and bird with about an hour left to use lovely Japanese
rice paper to add colour to my image, although I had to finish off with my
pastel shades of tissue paper at home on Sunday.
Our
teacher and my co-students were interested in the fact that my original image
had been painted by my ex- traindriver Dad and that I had now transformed it
into an artwork of my own. This gave cause for some lively discussion and I
look forward to telling my Dad all about it when we next meet.
I had
hoped that I would get an image completed that I could use as an Easter card
but I will have to do that on my own this weekend!
What I
have managed to do is have some prints made of my completed paper-cut that I
will give to my Dad to use as greeting cards.
The
next course will be in the autumn and I am already looking forward to it. I
have plans to start a big picture! Big in paper-cutting terms will be about A4!
Notes
A video
of the paper-cutting teacher in action and a peep in to her studio –
Saturday 5 April 2014
Sharing enthusiasm's picture PS
Friday 4 April 2014
Sharing enthusiasm
Gisele and Gabor returned home to nest |
Blogging
I have
not been blogging for a long time now because I have a very painful shoulder and neck and I know that this is aggravated when I use the computer. I usually suffer
for it the following day and before Christmas a furthur debilitating symptom was a
weekly migraine.
I have
been trying to answer only essential work emails on the computer and to do any other
writing by hand.
I have
been having physiotherapy sessions regularly since November and after eighteen
sessions I was enjoying pain-free days, on one occasion a whole week, for the
first time since March 2013.
Over
the past three days the shoulder problem has flared up again, the brilliant
physiotherapist is doing her best to deal with it, one of my colleagues has a
go too now and then too, and on Tuesday I discussed with a friend how a change
of diet may help me towards some more pain-free days. I have started by leaving
out dairy products and I will go from there to testing other foods over the next
few months to see whether my body reacts positively to the changes.
I think
that it is now time to get an X-ray made and to get some more advice as to how
to proceed with treatment.
Feeling better
Just a few
minutes ago I realised that one of the things that always made me feel good was
blogging and as the pain has returned without my using the computer I have been
tempted to sit down and write something.
One of
my other great pleasures over the past two years has been watching on line the progress
of the peregrines that nest on Norwich Cathedral spire and comparing their
progress with the birds that nest on or near my balcony.
A week
after the peregrines laid their eggs in Norwich, the collared doves returned to
the tree outside my flat. I was enjoying an early spring day on Sunday when I
noticed that the new nest, just a few choice twigs that the male bird presented
the female with intertwined to form a precarious small platform, is situated
even nearer to my deckchair than it was last year. I will have a wonderful view of
the activities associated with egg-sitting and I hope later also the bird-rearing.
Already
my neck is creaking and my shoulders are both aching so I will sign off from doing
what I enjoy and hope that I will be back on a regular basis from now on,
risking hurting just a bit more so I can enjoy once again one of the things
that makes me feel good.
PS
A nameless toucan in Norwich |
I love
the birds returning to nest so much that I recently took a toucan that my Dad had
bought for me in Norwich on my last visit, to the Kindergarten group.
Ken Toucan and his nest of eggs |
For
three weeks we discussed, crafted, painted and watched all things to do with eggs,
nests, birds and their babies, worms and learning to fly, until on the last day
Toucan Ken packed his bag, and also his babies, to fly south for a holiday! The children of course know that this really
means that he will be back again when I return for the next block in May.
It is
always with amazement that I watch the children’s reactions when I introduce
them to one of my own enthusiasms. It is so lovely to see how they too become enthralled
by it and how, through our all getting excited by nature, birds, and flowers,
eggs and worms, the whole of our three-week ‘Pető Block’ evolved with a life of
its own without much planning on my part.
"Ken Toucan and his brood" |
Spring
has been our main topic for this course so on another day last week I took my
latest silhouette picture of spring flowers in to show my colleague. We smiles
as two of the five year-olds asked whether they could colour it in! They of
course had no idea how many hours of snipping had gone into producing it and that it was in fact a fine
black paper cut-out that was carefully placed on a sheet of white card.
I had
anticipated their interest, although again I was still amazed at how our
own enthusiasm so quickly inspired the children’s. I had already photocopied the picture several times so we were immediately able to get started
on a second spring-related project producing a beautiful collage of flower
pictures – the photo will follow tomorrow.
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