Great New Books

Showing posts with label paper cutting. Show all posts

MY FAVORITE CHRISTMAS BOOK FOR 2011

If you're familiar with Pamela Dalton's work, you'll know why I was so excited to find out she's published a Nativity book. Her collaboration with Katherine Paterson, Brother Sun, Sister Moon: St. Francis of Assisi's Canticle of Creatures, has already made it into the NY Times Book Review's "10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2011". Watch the YouTube clip below to see how she works at creating her stunningly detailed paper cut images.

Pamela Dalton's The Story of Christmas (with text from the King James Bible) is one of the most striking renderings of the Nativity story that I have ever seen. Using this medium of paper cutting, which is rooted in the Pennsylvania-German folkart of Scherenschnitte, Pamela's intimate appreciation of medieval and Renaissance Italian art captures the profound, yet simple beauty of the Nativity story. Her artwork is at once stunning, yet reverent, delicate, yet alive with color against a black backdrop that evokes the cold and solitude Mary and Joseph faced in finding lodging for the night of her expected birth. I'll let the illustrations speak for themselves...

SU BLACKWELL HAS A REAL PASSION FOR BOOKS!

See if you can spot sculptures from THE SECRET GARDEN, NARNIA, ALICE IN WONDERLAND, THE SNOW QUEEN, PETER PAN, THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES, and THE WIZARD OF OZ in this Youtube video of Su Blackwell's Book Sculpture Art:

"I often work within the realm of fairy-tales and folk-lore. I began making a series of book-sculpture, cutting-out images from old books to create three-dimensional diorama's, and displaying them inside wooden boxes...
For the cut-out illustrations, I tend to lean towards young-girl characters, placing them in haunting, fragile settings, expressing the vulnerability of childhood, while also conveying a sense of childhood anxiety and wonder. There is a quiet melancholy in the work, depicted in the material used, and choice of subtle colour...
Paper has been used for communication since its invention; either between humans or in an attempt to communicate with the spirit world. I employ this delicate, accessible medium and use irreversible, destructive processes to reflect on the precariousness of the world we inhabit and the fragility of our life, dreams and ambitions." -Su Blackwell (click on her name to go to her website.)
Music by Budd, 'How Vacantly You Stare at Me'.

If you liked this post about these amazing book sculptures, you might also enjoy my post about dress sculptures/paper dresses.

HUNDREDS OF PAPER DRESSES

Have you read the book, THE HUNDRED DRESSES by Eleanor Estes? Lois Slobodkin's beautiful watercolor illustrations echo the wistful tone of this classic story. Never out of print since its 1944 publication, this tender story offers readers of all ages a timeless message of compassion and understanding. At its heart is Wanda Petronski, an immigrant girl in an American school, who is ridiculed for wearing the same faded blue dress every day. When she tells her classmates that she has one hundred dresses at home, she unwittingly triggers a game of teasing that eventually ends in a lesson for all.

Many of us, even as young girls, were drawn to beautifully made dresses, fancy frills, and fashion! My first exposure to haute couture was probably from the Hollywood musical, FUNNY FACE, starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire. I'll never forget the shot of Audrey, descending the broad stone stairway at the LOUVRE MUSEUM in Paris, looking like the "Winged Victory" herself, arms extended above her head, with her red drape billowing behind her as she floated past the Greek goddess, NIKE. (Edith Head and Givenchy made quite a good team!)

Haute couture is French for "high sewing" and refers to custom-fitted and designed clothing, made to order for a specific customer. I recently came across a different kind of couture: dress design as art, in the form of dress sculptures and paper dresses.