Reaching for the 44" roll of wrapping paper to wrap items less than 3" in diameter, my heart sank. I do this every year, inflict these great, huge rolls of commercial wrapping paper onto the tiny little doo-dads that go into the stockings, and every year I wind up wasting paper. For a woman obsessed with all types of paper, it's sickening.
Suddenly I flashed on the dozens of deli papers I'd been covering with Stacked Journaling all year long, and realized that they offered the perfect solution- I have papers of all sizes, everything from 7"x10" up to 18"x18", so there was unlikely to be much (if any) waste. And they were all hand-decorated; what could be more perfect?
It was a lot of fun wrapping all those little gifts in my own paper and when I was finished, I had a neat little pile of colorful presents, waiting to get stuffed into the stockings. That's when it struck me- seeing the stack of gifts made me realize that those Stacked Journaling papers look fabulous in 3-D.
I'm a mixed-media artist- even though I work with many different mediums and grounds, my work is, essentially, 2-D. I've never sculpted, never even thought much about creating work that has nothing to do with wall hangings (except for a brief foray a few months ago), but all at once, I saw possibilities in that pile of colorful paper.
So I've begun very preliminary tests, experimenting with my papers. I have no idea where this might lead me- maybe to a dead end, that happens sometimes- but I wanted to document these early experiments here on my blog just in case I want to look back in a couple of years and trace the beginnings of a new idea.
Yes, right now they're just wadded up balls of paper that have been stiffened with Paverpol and nibbled into with sharp scissors. But something about the cross-section peeks into the painted paper fascinates me. This requires more study.
Create experimentally!
- Judi
7 comments:
Hmmm-the first impressions that come to my mind are flowers opening or geodes. Fascinating start and can't wait to see where it takes you.
These are great and a really useful book for 3d items is: three dimensional embroidery by Janet Edmonds and there's some mention in Paper, Metal, Stitch by Maggie Grey and Jane Wild
It looks like you have the beginning of something beautiful. I hope that you continue on this course. I love the layers and textures.
As the lucky recipient of several of those stocking stuffers mentioned, I can vouch for their creative, engaging quality. The papers did, indeed, make great gift wrap.
Now I'm eager to see the outcome of this new creative endeavor.
Interesting experiments - I look forward to seeing more.
I see geodes ...and when you open these papers...are you going to open them later?...I can only imagine veins of color to delight the eye. Looks like fun to me...even if you do not use them the way you might have imagined. Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart
This will be fun to see where this takes you!
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