Category Archives: Paper

Pochibukuro

December 17, 2020 12:03 AM \
Whenever we travel to Japan we always bring back a few of these paper envelopes.
They’re called Pochibukuro traditionally used for children’s monetary gift for the New Year.
Now they are being used for other purposes, tip for service rendered or an envelope to enclose a small message.  We found this tutorial for making a cloth envelope but the same pattern can apply to paper.

Tutorial courtesy of Nunocoto Fabric.

Posted in: craft, Japan, Paper \ Tagged: , ,

Calvin Nicholls

November 16, 2020 12:03 AM \

Award-winning Canadian paper sculptor, Calvin Nicholls, created these incredible wildlife and nature scenes. Inspired by family, friends and high school art teacher, he enrolled in the three year graphic design program at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario.  After graduation he spent his first year in an advertising agency and in 1981 opened his own freelance design studio in Toronto.  Much of his work is monochromatic combining his life-long interest in art and wildlife.  In an article on Daily Mail he writes this about his art:

“I developed my art to the point where I blended many of my passions-wildlife, the natural world, photography, design, model making, sculpture, light and shadow and have managed to indulge all of them.”

More of his work can be found on his website, Behance, Facebook and Instagram.

Images:  Courtesy of Calvin Nicholls.

Posted in: Paper, Sculpture \ Tagged: ,

Will Kurtz

November 2, 2020 12:03 AM \
In 1981 Will Kurtz received his Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Michigan State University.  For 25 years he practiced landscape architecture and in his mid thirties began creating art as a self-taught artist eventually attending graduate school at the New York Academy of Art. His artist statement clearly explains his work: 

“I create realistic life-size figures and animals out of newspaper with an internal structure made of wood and wire. The newspaper forms have a collage of words and colorful advertising that is applied in a spontaneous painterly fashion to reflect the mood and life of the individual.”

“My subjects are real, everyday people who are often undistinguished and living on the margins of society. I select and create uncommon characters that have a distinct emotive quality. I use photography to capture a moment of their daily lives. They are often comic in character, dress or body type. The posture, gestures, facial expressions and clothing bring the figures to life. They have a familiarity of someone you might know or have passed on the street. I capture their resilience and vulnerability to embody a true empathy for the hardships we all share. The animals are selected to show their unique breed, size, shape or type of hair. Through them I am able express their innocence and humor that has a universal appeal.”

“Newspaper is my medium of choice because it gives a raw, imperfect, ephemeral quality that reminds us that we are only here on this earth for a short while.” 

More of his work can be seen on his website, Facebook and Instagram.

Images:  Courtesy of Will Kurtz
Posted in: Paper, Sculpture \ Tagged: ,
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