by ruralpearl | Dec 16, 2011 | News & Events
Thank you so much to all of you who have placed recent orders in my Etsy store. All orders placed today (as of right now anyway, 2:30pm cst) through Monday, Dec. 19, will ship out Monday afternoon, and all those orders plus any orders through Wednesday for $18 or above shipping to any US address will be upgraded to Priority Mail to get there by Christmas Eve. (Priority Mail is not guaranteed by the USPS to be 2-3 days, but it hasn’t failed me yet…)
I haven’t gotten around to listing my coffee mugs or ornaments in my online store yet… I’ve spent the last week doing bare minimal work as I try to deal with a snarky, close-to-feverish winter cold likely egged on by shifty Kansas weather… I’m keeping my blog updated though! That’s easy to do from the couch.. If you were hoping to order either of those, shoot me an email.
My Final Friday exhibit opening at Elevate in Lawrence is being moved to Dec. 23. I won’t have as much new work hanging as I’d hoped, but there will be prints and greeting cards available plus all the great stuff that Elevate already has. I also may or may not be there pending a possible road trip to visit family in Colorado.
I’ve also added two new exhibits to my “Upcoming Events” (on the home page) that are one year or more down the road. More info on those later. Til next time..
by ruralpearl | Dec 12, 2011 | News & Events
Awhile back, I did an interview with Lilja to present to her students in the Ukraine as part of her design class curriculum. Here it is in english. Read the full version with images in Ukrainian here (if you can read Ukrainian..): http://poglyad.com/blog/21/668/
****************************************************
–Tell me something about yourself: where is studying, living and working, what is your main activity? What are you trying to achieve in life?
I live and work in a small town in Kansas which is directly in the middle of the United States. I studied Business and Art at Benedictine College in Atchison, KS, and then I went on to study Interactive Telecommunications, which is an artistic program based on new media and technology, at New York University in New York City.
My main activity is making cut paper art and is what I do as my full-time job. I sell art at art fairs and on the internet, license designs to companies for products, and I also do some design and illustration work.
****************************************************
— How do you think is necessary or professional art education in order to achieve serious professional results? As happened in your life?
I think a professional art education is important to give you some foundation and to expose you to things that you may not have seen before. In my case, I knew I always wanted to be an artist but was not sure in what medium, and I just happened to accidently discover cut paper art during an extra-curricular activity during my studies at New York University.
I think the most important thing to achieve serious professional results is to work hard at what you are most passionate about, regardless of how extensive your education is. Passion and drive come from within and will take you as far as you’ll allow yourself to go.
****************************************************
— In what shows and projects you have participated that have solo exhibitions?
My most recent solo exhibition was at the Carnegie Arts Center in Leavenworth, Kansas. I’ve done several other smaller exhibitions around the Kansas City area over the last couple years, and I have a three-artist exhibit coming up in August at the Carnegie Cultural Center in Ottawa, Kansas.
****************************************************
— Whose foreign artwork inspires you, in which the artist would like to learn?
The artist that ultimately inspired me to do cut paper art is Lotte Reiniger, a silhouette animation artist, from Germany. I’m also inspired by german artist Gerhard Marcks and french animation artist Michel Ocelot, among many others. My favorite visual artist is little known Walter Henry Williams, who was originally from the US but lived out the last years of his life in Denmark.
****************************************************
— What helps and hinders you in work and in life, what inspires itself on creativity? Who would like to thank you, and for what (as the artist)?
I am mostly inspired by nature: animals and wildflowers. I love being outdoors and observing nature.
I am hindered mostly by my own mind. It’s easy to let doubts, stress and worries take over the creative process.
I am very thankful to my mother and grandmother for giving me the support I really needed to put in the time to make art my full-time job. I’m also incredibly thankful to all the people who have inspired me, encouraged me, purchased my art, or have in any other way supported what I am doing.
****************************************************
— Tell me please, have you ever illustrate a book or some other printed matter? Do you want to work with the book?
I recently finished doing illustrations for a series of Native American folk tales for a company in the USA. I would love to illustrate books. I feel like I’m slowly evolving in that direction.
****************************************************
— What materials you use in the paper, what kind of paper used? I saw your earlier work – you did black and white composition, but now you use colored paper. Tell me please, why you started to use colored paper – this is connected somehow with your life, you want color, or is it just a new creative experiment?
The paper that I use is called Canson Mi-Teintes drawing paper. I also use tissue paper to add color.
I started out doing mostly black and white compositions because it was the simplest thing I could do while learning how to cut paper and figuring out my style at the same. I love color too much not to use it. Adding color also creates more of a challenge with each work — figuring out what colors to use, how much to use, and where to use them. However, I still do some black and white works. There is also a challenge in making something visually appealing only using black and white.
****************************************************
— I know that you are working in the bakery. Also, you create pictures made of paper cutting. It is two different specialties and it’s fun! How do you all keep up? How it helps you work in a bakery working with paper, and it helps you work with paper work in a bakery?
About 6 or 7 years ago, I co-founded a bakery in Brooklyn, New York, and I worked there for several years and did artwork only as a hobby. As I got more comfortable with my art, I knew that the bakery was not for me and that art was what I wanted to spend all my time doing, so I left the bakery to move back to Kansas and pursue paper cutting as a full-time job. I still do the daily production lists and invoicing for the bakery via the internet, but I’m no longer part of the physical production process.
****************************************************
— On which project you are working out, what you do is new? What are your creative plans for the future?
I’m always working on new original works to sell at art fairs and shows. I’m also currently working on a black and white series for my show at the Carnegie Cultural Center.
I don’t really have any definitive creative plans, except to continue working and see what unfolds. New and exciting things that I never would imagine always seem to come along as long as I keep working.
****************************************************
— I think that artists in each country have their unique features of the life and work, but they all have much in common, is not it? What would you advise young artists and wish them?
Work hard at your art.
Take all the inspiration that you can and make it into something that is uniquely your own.
Follow your gut: if something feels right, go with it. If something doesn’t feel right, work at it until it does.
****************************************************
by ruralpearl | Dec 12, 2011 | News & Events
Just found in my mailbox- a package full of postcards with my artwork licensed and published by Bizarr Verlag in Germany. I’ll be doing some giveaways on my Facebook page after the holidays, including a few sets of these. Otherwise available in Europe. Stay tuned!
by ruralpearl | Dec 8, 2011 | Cut Paper, New Work!, News & Events
8 x 10 inch paper cutting. Sold
Some news & other info..
• I’ve restocked Bella Luz in Wichita and 1109 Gallery in Lawrence with prints, greeting cards and more. Look for their address over to the right of this page.
• I found out I was the top selling artist at last weekend’s art fair. I wish the best for every single artist there, but it’s an honor nonetheless. Thank you all again for coming and supporting.
• I’ve got a Final Friday exhibit coming up at Elevate Massage (located at 1403 Mass. St. in Lawrence, KS) at the end of December. It’s a great space run by great people. They’re now selling my greeting cards and have a few of my originals currently hanging. They also acquired my light panel display that was uninstalled last August at the arts center, so you can see a couple of those panels hanging there as well.
• Right now I’m working on another illustration for the Bradford Exchange’s Native American Folk Tale Series for the Sacagawea Golden Dollar Collection. I think this is my 10th or 11th illustration for them now. You can click HERE to see what I’m talking about.
Until next time…
by ruralpearl | Nov 23, 2011 | News & Events
Happy Thanksgiving! It’s a day of giving thanks (even though around here, it feels like it’s being skipped over for the shopping season). I’m thankful for many things, and I’m especially thankful that I get to do what I do, and many thanks to you for being part of it all.
I’ve had a busy week getting ready for Bizarre Bazaar this weekend at the Lawrence Arts Center in Lawrence, KS. It’s been fun branching out and making those ornaments that you see above. I’m also heading out (as soon as I finish typing this) to pick up my mugs that I had printed. Pictures to come! After that, off to visit family for the holidays, and then back to work! More soon…
by ruralpearl | Nov 15, 2011 | News & Events
Look for Rural Pearl prints, greeting cards & more at the following locations. Click on the name to visit them online (and look to the right for a list of all the places that sell my stuff):
Somanet Oy
Sumeliuksenkuja 2 F
02450 Sundsberg
Finland
Bella Luz Gifts
300 N. Mead
Wichita, KS
Strecker-Nelson Gallery
406 1/2 Poyntz Ave
Manhattan, KS 66502
I’ll also be restocking 1109 Gallery in Lawrence in the coming week or so, plus I’ll have greeting cards at Elevate in Lawrence during the month of December.
Retailers: If you are interested in wholesaling, contact me for more details at the “Contact” link at the top of the page. I’ll be opening a Trunkt online wholesale store soon, as well.
by ruralpearl | Nov 8, 2011 | News & Events
“Night Flowers” — 8 x 10 inch paper cutting matted and framed to 11 x 14 inches.
I’ve finally gotten my Available Originals page updated with all the original paper cuttings that I currently have unsold. Some of them are at Art & Soul Gallery in Boulder, CO, some of them are at Strecker-Nelson Gallery in Manhattan, KS, and I have some of them on hand. Check out that page at the following link and if you are interested in more information on any of them or a pricelist with contact info for the galleries, email me at angela (at) ruralpearl (dot) com ( <--trying to avoid the spamalots). https://ruralpearl.com/blog/?page_id=1035
I’ve also just listed a bunch of new prints, including larger 11 x 14 inch prints with a 16 x 20 inch matting option to my Etsy store. Check it out here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ruralpearl
by ruralpearl | Nov 4, 2011 | Cut Paper, New Work!, News & Events
I’ve been invited to be a part of the 200th Anniversary of Grimm’s Fairy Tales exhibit at the Buell Children’s Museum at the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center in Pueblo, Colorado, opening on Jan. 7, 2012. I’m working on a series of paper cuttings inspired by various Grimm Brothers stories. This is the first one that I’ve finished, and it was inspired by the story, “The Moon”, which you can read below.
THE MOON by The Grimm Brothers
In days gone by there was a land where the nights were always dark, and the sky spread over it like a black cloth, for there the moon never rose, and no star shone in the obscurity. At the creation of the world, the light at night had been sufficient. Three young fellows once went out of this country on a travelling expedition, and arrived in another kingdom, where, in the evening when the sun had disappeared behind the mountains, a shining globe was placed on an oak-tree, which shed a soft light far and wide. By means of this, everything could very well be seen and distinguished, even though it was not so brilliant as the sun. The travellers stopped and asked a countryman who was driving past with his cart, what kind of a light that was. “That is the moon,” answered he; our mayor bought it for three thalers, and fastened it to the oak-tree. He has to pour oil into it daily, and to keep it clean, so that it may always burn clearly. He receives a thaler a week from us for doing it.”
When the countryman had driven away, one of them said, “We could make some use of this lamp, we have an oak-tree at home, which is just as big as this, and we could hang it on that. What a pleasure it would be not to have to feel about at night in the darkness!” “I’ll tell you what we’ll do,” said the second; “we will fetch a cart and horses and carry away the moon. The people here may buy themselves another.” “I’m a good climber,” said the third, “I will bring it down.” The fourth brought a cart and horses, and the third climbed the tree, bored a hole in the moon, passed a rope through it, and let it down. When the shining ball lay in the cart, they covered it over with a cloth, that no one might observe the theft. They conveyed it safely into their own country, and placed it on a high oak. Old and young rejoiced, when the new lamp let its light shine over the whole land, and bed-rooms and sitting-rooms were filled with it. The dwarfs came forth from their caves in the rocks, and the tiny elves in their little red coats danced in rings on the meadows.
The four took care that the moon was provided with oil, cleaned the wick, and received their weekly thaler, but they became old men, and when one of them grew ill, and saw that he was about to die, he appointed that one quarter of the moon, should, as his property, be laid in the grave with him. When he died, the mayor climbed up the tree, and cut off a quarter with the hedge-shears, and this was placed in his coffin. The light of the moon decreased, but still not visibly. When the second died, the second quarter was buried with him, and the light diminished. It grew weaker still after the death of the third, who likewise took his part of it away with him; and when the fourth was borne to his grave, the old state of darkness recommenced, and whenever the people went out at night without their lanterns they knocked their heads together.
When, however, the pieces of the moon had united themselves together again in the world below, where darkness had always prevailed, it came to pass that the dead became restless and awoke from their sleep. They were astonished when they were able to see again; the moonlight was quite sufficient for them, for their eyes had become so weak that they could not have borne the brilliance of the sun. They rose up and were merry, and fell into their former ways of living. Some of them went to the play and to dance, others hastened to the public-houses, where they asked for wine, got drunk, brawled, quarreled, and at last took up cudgels, and belabored each other. The noise became greater and greater, and at last reached even to heaven.
Saint Peter who guards the gate of heaven thought the lower world had broken out in revolt and gathered together the heavenly troops, which are to drive back the Evil One when he and his associates storm the abode of the blessed. As these, however, did not come, he got on his horse and rode through the gate of heaven, down into the world below. There he reduced the dead to subjection, bade them lie down in their graves again, took the moon away with him, and hung it up in heaven.
The End
by ruralpearl | Oct 18, 2011 | News & Events
by ruralpearl | Oct 17, 2011 | News & Events
If you happen to see the original paper cutting of this fox floating around anywhere (you never know..), please contact Officer Hadley at the Baldwin City Police Department at 785-594-3850. It was removed from my tent over the weekend without my knowledge and a couple that really wanted it came back to get it after thinking it over and it was already gone. I’d love for them to get to have it instead..
It’s a little funny because I never expected anyone to steal my artwork. I’m always keeping my eye on my money and phone.. It’s a little sad, too, because it’s likely that if the person that took it really appreciated it, they also would have been willing to pay for it. And this is how I make a living, so it’s like throwing away a paycheck. I’ll be ok, however. I’m hoping the person who took it will realize that they made a mistake and try to make it up for the betterment of themselves. You can’t live a dishonest life and fulfilled life at the same time, and I think we all have the potential to live enriched, fulfilled lives, no matter what our circumstances..
