Christmas verse cut from paper
In the quiet village of Gordon, just 35 miles south of Edinburgh, passers-by peer through a former shop window, past the ornate Christmas tree, into what looks like Santa’s workshop. They spy paper stars dangling from a rustic beam, shelves laden with framed snowy scenes of robins and stags, and handcrafted pines in folded book art. Seated at a huge table, Berwickshire artist, Kirstin Johnston is absorbed in her latest paper cutting project: The 12 Days of Christmas. Inside, the scents of orange and cinnamon lend a warm, seasonal welcome while the familiar melodies of carols tinkling from the adjoining family room add to the festive air. “That’s my eldest son playing the piano,” says Kirstin proudly. “He plays the trombone too, but when he’s not playing, I listen to jazz classics while I work. It’s a meditative, relaxing craft, and one of its great benefits is that it forces you to slow down.” Kirstin’s work was not always home-based or so relaxing, however. Previously, she has worked as an illustrator, a screen printer and a designer for a pub chain. But when her youngest son was diagnosed with autism, she decided it was time for a change. She enrolled on a combined studies degree course at Edinburgh University and studied part-time while bringing up her young family. Over a six-year period, she learned techniques in sculpture, printing, drawing, etching, watercolour and oil painting and illustration. Most significantly, the course also included a module on paper. “As a child, I had always been fascinated by pop-up books. Then at university, when I was studying the Eastern European art of paper cutting, known as scherenschnitte, and its folk-like style, something just clicked with me and my background as an illustrator,” she explains. “What I like about this art form is its precision. I like the technique and the fact that I always need to be thinking at least two stages ahead. When I do a refined
sketch, I’m already thinking about how it will look when it’s framed. Will it be flat or floating? Will it be illuminated internally? Will shadow play a part?”
Flowing lines
Kirstin draws inspiration from screen printing and lino cuts as well as from other paper cut artists. “I admire the work of the most famous paper cut artist of the modern era, Matisse, who, for the last decade of his life, used paper and scissors to produce some of his greatest masterpieces,” she explains. “He had a method of using paper painted with gouache to create his compositions, which were then pinned into place with sewing pins or nails, depending upon the size of the artwork.” But the inspiration for Kirstin’s own style comes from traditional folk art, which features motifs and stylised symbols in a decorative way. “I’m drawn to organic shapes and natural, fluid lines, but also, when it comes to cutting, they’re more forgiving than geometric shapes,” she laughs. “At university, I did my screen printing module on the theme of The 12 Days of Christmas, and the topic just stayed with me. In the run-up to Christmas, it seemed natural to return to it, but this time as a paper cut.”
Simple tools
Paper cutting is a craft which can be taken up with little initial outlay on tools and materials. “All that is needed is paper, a pen, a scalpel and a cutting mat,” she says. The paper she uses is between 130g and 160g in weight, which is halfway between that of a sheet of photocopy paper and a greetings card. “Anything thicker, and the
“Jove frown’d, and, ‘Use,’ he cried, ‘those eyes So skilful, and those hands so taper; Do something exquisite and wise -’ She bow’d, obey’d him, - and cut paper”
Alexander Pope, ‘On the Countess of Burlington Cutting Paper’
paper is classed as card and is too thick to cut.” The 12 Days of Christmas pieces involve a lot of tiny intricate details and are being crafted on 135g paper. The coloured paper she uses is Murano paper. It has a hammered finish and a natural tooth, or texture, so the blade does not slip. Shiny paper is avoided because its surface is too slippery, and paper which is too thin blunts the blade. There are several different types of scalpels used by paper cut artists: crafters’, surgeons’ and architects’ scalpels, for example, and the handles vary in terms of ease of use for different jobs. Kirstin uses an architect’s scalpel, which has a barrel-shaped handle for comfort. She also finds the blades are long-lasting and the mechanism for changing them is by far the safest. For an artwork such as The 12 Days of Christmas, she can get through as many as 15 blades. For making fine holes, such as eyes, Kirstin uses a bradawl, which has a blade similar to that of a screwdriver.
Creating a paper cut
The creative process starts with an initial sketch, usually in pen, although she sometimes works in pencil. In the case of The 12 Days of Christmas, there was a series of initial sketches to begin with. These are followed by a refined sketch, then a precise, single-line drawing. “It’s important to bear in mind that with paper cutting, the image is reversed,” warns Kirstin. “The last thing an artist wants is to have a line from the sketch showing on the finished piece.” For this reason, she draws the initial sketch the right way round, and then reverses the image for the refined sketch. A single-line sketch onto cartridge paper follows, and this is what will be cut. “When I’m teaching beginners here in my workshops, I give them templates which have shading to indicate where the paper cut-outs will be, but I can visualise the end
product, so I don’t need to add any shading to my single-line drawings,” she says. Some paper cut artists draw in pencil, but Kirstin prefers to draw in ink. “I find it less likely to smudge and transfer marks to elsewhere on the paper,” she explains. But, before starting the single-line sketch, experienced artists and beginners alike must find the grain of the paper and position their image so that they will be mainly cutting against the grain. This is especially important for images with straight lines, as it is easier to get a straight cut when cutting against the grain. To test for the grain, the paper should be gently bent, not folded, into a curve along its middle, one way and then the other. The paper will more flexible and easier to bend in one direction than the other. The bend with less resistance is parallel to the grain. By ensuring the correct positioning of the image, the artist will avoid snagging and tearing when they start to cut. “The golden rule of paper cutting is to always cut out the smallest areas first. When large areas of paper are removed, the remaining area is weakened and is more prone to tearing,” says Kirstin, as she deftly cuts away some intricate shapes from the turtle dove she is working on. “Another rule is that you never try to cut a curve by moving your blade: you move the paper to create the curve.” The most tricky part of any paper cut process is the last 10 minutes, she says. “There can be a rush of euphoria at the realisation the image is almost complete, and this can be deadly. Also, as you save removing the largest pieces until last, as the work nears completion, the structure becomes more fragile. I often take a break at the ‘10 minutes to go’ stage and come back to it later.”
In the frame
William Wordsworth
Kirstin uses a variety of techniques for framing her unique artwork. “In my degree show, I had pieces which were illuminated from the inside and others illuminated from the outside, where the shadow played a major role in creating the overall effect of the paper cut.” To create a floating effect, risers built into the frame and artist-grade acetate are used to lift and separate different elements of the artwork. Artist-grade acetate is thicker than the type of that can be run through a photocopier. It is also of a clearer quality, with no warps in the material. From conception to completion, The 12 Days of Christmas composition took three days and looks resplendent hanging above the ancient fireplace in Kirstin’s dining room in a 16½in by 23in (42 x 58cm) frame. “The largest artwork I’ve ever created was one metre square when framed. It was a winter woodland scene, which I built up in layers. There was a coloured background and three further layers,” says Kirstin. Like all her pieces, it was a one-off and could never be recreated because of the accuracy required for the hand-cut process. “To try to recreate these pieces entirely is extremely difficult,” she says. “Similar pieces can be crafted but never exactly replicated.” It is their very individuality and intricacy which makes her paper cuts unique works of art to be treasured.
“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart”