4″x6″

This is based on a stock photograph found here. Curious how the layers stack up? Here’s a WIP video for this piece:

I really like how the second one turned out. Both are only 4″x4″.

Also, as promised, here are some quick baby shower cards based on designs from millybee.com. Both are for grad students in my lab–one is due this week!

It has been a terribly busy month. I know, I keep saying that, but this time I mean it! My last show, The Man Who Came to Dinner, went off wonderfully. And what a fun show it was!   Nevertheless, I was very ready for a little break from theatre so I could get caught up on the rest of life…

But then I learned that State College Community Theatre was holding auditions for David Auburn’s fabulous play, Proof.  If you’re not familiar with the play, you should really make a point to see or read it. There’s even a movie if that’s more your speed. Proof is a beautiful play about a young woman who is coming to terms with the recent death of her father, who was a brilliant, if unstable, mathematician. She questions her own mathematical abilities and her sanity while confronting her estranged sister and her feelings toward one of her father’s graduate students. It’s really quite wonderful.  I fell in love with the play a few years ago when I performed the first scene for a class. I decided that I would hate myself if I didn’t at least audition for the show. How often do opportunities likes these present themselves?

And, what do you know, I got the part! It is a very challenging show, and my character is on stage for all but three pages, so there are a LOT of lines to learn. It’s also an incredibly short rehearsal process (two and a  half weeks–eek!). But it is SO worth it. Balancing life and rehearsals has been a challenge, but I am very excited for this show!  If you find yourself in central Pennsylvania this month, you should definitely see it. Performances are Oct 11 – 21st at the State Theatre Attic (a very intimate space!). More information can be found here.

I have promised the Science Gods that once the show is over I will devote my energies toward their whims and fancies. Still, I’m sure some paper art will sneak in there somewhere…

Seussical the Musical – State College Community Theatre – August 2012

At one point my tail of feather boas was over 40 feet long. Fun times! The venue is a repurposed dairy barn, so it’s an intimate little theatre in the round. Very charming in spite of the lack of air conditioning and, uh, wildlife that occasionally makes an appearance.

During one of our off days, I felt like making Horton. This was a quick cut with no planning, which is why it’s messy. I just modified some Seuss designs and started cutting.

4″ x 6″

I’m also performing in The Man Who Came to Dinner, which opens this Tuesday the 4th and runs through the 15th. If you’re in the State College area, you should come see it! It’s hilarious! More info here.

I have a couple baby showers to attend soon and a commission due later this month, so I’ll have more paper to share soon!

Xenomorph from Ridley Scott’s Alien movies

How about a xenomorph? (alternate angle here.)  I wasn’t sure if the multi-layered black would work, but it does! Hooray!

Aang and Momo from Avatar: The Last Airbender

Yay Momo! He is definitely one of my favorite characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender. The other, of course, is Uncle Iroh.  Did you watch the first season of Korra? I really love Lin and Tenzin. Bolin and Asami are pretty great too. I suppose I’ll have to make some fanart for that as well :)

As promised, a paper indigo snake:

They really are beautiful snakes. Really!  I foresee more science-y papercuts in my future as well.

Oh, and for kicks, an itty bitty lizard. He lives in an Eppendorf tube. Yay!

That’s it for now. Hopefully more to come in the near future!

Fittingly, a little ecology is also what has been keeping me from paper cutting this month. You can follow the action (once we get a more stable internet connection) at my lab’s 2012 field blog.

We have caught a boatload of fence lizards in our tour of the south.

male Eastern fence lizard, Sceloporus undulatus

Males can be really quite beautiful–this one is all full of testosterone and ready to mate.

In a week or so I will return to Pennsylvania for some lab work and hope to start up the paper cutting on my return! First in the queue: a paper indigo snake. Oh yes.

Okay, let’s back up a little. In the middle of April I decided on a whim to make a diorama. Like a shoe-box diorama. Random, I know, but sometimes you just can’t deny these whims. I haven’t finished it yet, and I probably won’t get to until June because of science stuff, but I did make some awesome trees.  There are probably many ways to make something like this, but here’s how I like to do it. And you end up with great texture.

Props to Rob Murphey and my Intro to Theatrical Design class for this technique.

Materials

• lightweight cardboard box (cereal or cracker boxes–like Cheez-It’s!–work great)
• pencil
• scissors
• old paint brush
• glue
• water
• paper towel, tissues, or TP (something textured can add pizzaz)
• gesso (or another good primer)
• paint (I like acrylics)
• newspaper
• small pie tin or a bowl you don’t mind getting gluey

Design your tree
Cut open your cereal/cracker box and lay it flat. Draw an outline of your tree. It doesn’t have to look pretty now, as it will get covered up. Also, branches that are too close together or intersecting can be a major pain. Next, cut out your tree! (The box for my diorama is pretty small, which is why I didn’t finish the tops of my tree.)

Texture
Find a paper towel, tissue, or bit of toilet paper with a texture that suits your fancy and ideally is large enough to completely cover your tree. Most paper towels and toilet papers are 2-ply. Peel apart these layers–you only need one (more than that doesn’t glue very well).

Next, create a glue/water solution a bowl. The proportions don’t really matter, but it should be pretty watery. Mix well. Protect your working surface with newspaper and, while gluing, some extra cardboard from your leftover cereal boxes.

Place your now 1-ply paper towel on top of your tree. Use your brush to paint on the glue/water mixture. While everything is still wet, push in the paper towel from the sides with your brush to create raised sections. This texture will make your tree awesome.  When your tree is satisfactorily glued and textured, let it sit for a while to dry.

When your tree is dry, carefully peel it up. Some bits may come unglued–that’s okay, you can fix it during the next step. Trim the paper towel within a quarter-inch or so of the branches. Make small cuts in the paper towel perpendicular and up to the tree to make little tabs (see below). Additional tabs around curves are helpful. Wrap these little tabs around the back and glue them down with your glue/water solution. This is a good time to fix those pesky spots that released. Let dry.

Painting!
Now that your tree is good and textured, it’s time to add character! Prime your tree with gesso–this allows the paint to stick really well (gesso is also great for priming things that normally don’t take paint well…like shoes, for example…). When dry, paint your tree! Embrace the texture you created, and have fun!

You caught me, this is actually a different tree than in the other pictures. This is the original! The other is its photo double.

More trees with this technique (including parts of this diorama):

I still have some paint touch-ups to make on these.

Tissues allow you to better create your own texture (right). Paper towel and TP often comes with its own texture (left).

From an old project.

Don’t limit yourself to trees. Experiment!   Oh, and do post a link to what you create! :)

The last one’s a little bird from from the webcomic, Bird Boy by Annie Szabla. I love her art; you should check it out! One day I hope to make the main character Bali out of paper. Uh, after my candidacy exam.

See you on the other side!

Firstly, I finished up some exciting commissions for Christmas. Some friendly Narnians, for example:

These fair fellows are Reepicheep and Mr. Tumnus from the Chronicles of Narnia. To round out the trio is Aslan, below. Joining him is another version of Link from The Legend of Zelda. This one Ocarina of Time-style. (I love how the boots turned out!)

I also have a new facebook page for my paper cutting. It has joined the myriad of other buttons in the sidebar (—>).

And, well, it’s been a long time coming…. I now have prints of some of my papercuts!!  Check out my esty shop for more details!

In other news, the science world will probably be keeping me busy for a while. I am scheduled to take my candidacy exam in just over two months. Although that sounds ages away, I have already started studying! I’m not sure how much paper cutting I will be able to do until then, but you will be the first to know when I procrastinate! :)

Our group had kids make whiskers and go through an obstacle course. They also colored, learned about cat hearing, and answered cat facts. I took responsibility for creating a matching game of big cats and their habitat. What a great excuse to make paper art! I tried to keep things relatively simple, as I didn’t have too much time to devote to this project.

It was pretty successful! Kids old enough to understand the game generally did better than their parents at matching! Funny how that works. Here they are individually:

I think the lion is my favorite. Which one do you like best?