Paper Cut Art- Yoga Poses

My latest paper cut art is inspired from the beautiful poses of yoga. I don't participate in yoga but as an artist the poses are so perfect. Straight lines, feet pointed, arms steady.... Beautiful.

I had to do research on poses, names, and meanings since I don't take yoga classes. On Instagram I follow a group that creates hashtags for people to use to show off their yoga skills. The pictures are wonderful to view. The pictures give the viewer a intimate look into their homes, studios, relationship and lives.

For this paper cut art I sketched a couple of poses I liked. Then I scanned my sketches into Illustrator to clean them up and give them life. I knew I wanted to do a mirror image of the pose displaying the energy and power that the poses create by using shapes are connected to yoga.

I love how these turned out and I am working on prints, with watercolor added to the art.

First project for the year

I started on my first original paper cut art for the New Year and it is all about symbols- Adinkra Symbols and fabrics. I love symbols! They are secretive, original, and complex.

A symbol ... is a visual image or sign representing an idea -- a deeper indicator of a universal truth, according to the book of Sign and Symbols. To give you some background on Adinkra symbols we have to go back to Africa. Ghana to be more specific, to a group of people called the Akan’s. They used Adinkra symbols to represent concepts and aphorism. The symbols can be found on fabric, pottery, walls of homes, furniture and even gold weights. They are used to convey traditional wisdom and are linked with African proverbs. (Which I like to use in my art also.)

I started off with doing research on printed fabrics with Adinkra symbols for reference and picked the symbols that I like for meaning and the shape. I want my art to covey positive traits that a women can have or aspire to have and display. I also, want this art to be fun and bright. So after I cut the art out I will start on working on color ways that are on trend for the 2015 season.

Back to work I go

Well, this week is my officially last couple of days of summer. I work for the school system and have the summer off but that will come to an end next Tuesday after Labor Day. I have been working very hard to pump out as much art as possible because I anticipate I might slow down once school starts. I will be transitioning into a new position and am excited and leery of what will happen in this new position.

My niece commissioned me to design and cut a Hello Kitty paper cut for her 8th birthday, so of course I made it cute as possible.

Love giving gifts

Recently, my 7 year old niece stayed the weekend with me while her mother volunteered for a women's Christian conference here in the DC area. I had tons of fun with her, she reminded me of how old I am and how little money I have, lol.

While she was here she got to look at my paper cut art and was extremely impressed- her words not mine, with my art. I pulled up my Etsy page and explained to her the process of paper cutting and she enjoyed learning about my craft. After a brief discussion, she asked to do her own paper cut and I drew out her name.

 Later on, she asked if she could get a paper cut for her birthday- September 12, 2013. That made so happy as a Aunt! We discussed what she would like and she decided on Hello Kitty as either a punk rocker, a fairy, or as a ballerina.

Here is her name: