We’re not talking about riddles here. We’re actually talking about our newest collection of original artwork by Tina Tarnoff. She’s charming and innovative and so is her original papercut art, which we now are featuring at bluedango. Just in time for the holidays; original and unique gift ideas for the home that they’re bound to love.
Most of Tina’s papercuts are made from cutting out a single piece of paper, and she must be especially careful not to ’slip’ over an unbroken line; otherwise she is forced to start from scratch.
Can you imagine the precision and attention to detail involved? We almost can’t conceive of it (to be honest a couple of our bluedango elves have difficulty just trying to cut out snowflakes–elves they are, artists they are not).
So, thank goodness for Tina’s talent. She explains, “I love the sense of movement and try to use it a lot in my art. I think what attracts me to papercut art is very much the sense of building something, of sculpting and the clean cut aspect of it. Making papercut art feels natural to me. I have good control of my hand and the paper, and have a clear vision of what the image or shape should be. I think that the most important thing I’m trying to achieve in my creations is the sense of freedom. The sense of a free spirit, of movement, of passion for life, nature and for one’s art.”
Her clear vision is obvious in her work, and we’re simply mesmerized by her talent. Surely you can imagine that some of our elves are actually beyond mesmerized, so much so, in fact, that we couldn’t find the right word…stupified didn’t seem right, nor did spellbound, and they’re not unconscious, so we just had to say ‘beyond mesmerized’).
So, back to Tina…after she hand cuts her image, she displays each on beautiful handmade Indian cotton rag paper. We think the end result of each of her pieces is an intriguing silhouette design that truly inspires a sense of discovery in every detail. Each is an original piece of art, and if you haven’t thought of that perfect gift idea that is original, unique, or inspiring…well, we think we just gave you one.
Each original papercut is handmade, signed, includes a certificate of authenticity and a description of the artwork. Each is displayed on a sturdy 11″ x 14″ black mat. Available framed in black ($120.00); or unframed and mounted ($79.95), suitable for framing.
And, considering the level of detail involved in creating each of these pieces (not to mention your time is dwindling to buy that perfectly original, unique, and downright beyond mesmerizing gift), we think it suitable to give you more detail about each of the pieces we’re featuring at bluedango right now.
'Back Where You Belong'
‘Back Where You Belong’ is a reflection of a bird leaving the cage, giving the onlooker the bittersweet sense of hope with a tinge of sadness. Leaving home, there is a wonder of excitement with anticipation of what may be met in the wild. Like the subject matter, this papercut is one of Tina’s most challenging, as the bird and the cage are hand cut from only one piece of paper, and all details are attached by just the tiniest, most precise space at the tail. She explains, ‘When I’m finished, I feel my own sense of release and allow myself a little flight of fancy, if nothing else.’
Looking at the intricacy of the cage and to think this is handmade from only one piece of paper…we know you now understand why our elves are beyond mesmerized.
- ‘Being Martha’
One of the foremost pioneers of modern dance, Martha Graham invented a new language of movement, and used it to reveal the passion, the rage and the ecstasy common to the human experience. She wasn’t afraid to try something new and her movements present our artist with a particular challenge in trying to recreate her image. According to Tina, ‘The positions she assumed sometimes seemed to defy gravity, not to mention the unusual angles of her hands and feet. In this papercut, her pose seems to combine the utmost grace with an almost animal-like positioning. I find both beauty and humor in her stance, and feel a special sense of warmth for this most daring of dancers.’
By the way, a couple of our elves were particularly inspired. You see, they’re not dancers either (at least not like Martha). They might do a quick Christmas jig here and there, but nothing daring. But, maybe next year because a couple of them saw ‘Being Martha’ and then went out and signed up for some dance classes. Amazing the impact art can have.
- ‘I Dreamt I Was Riding a Zebra’
‘Is a zebra white with black stripes or black with white stripes?’ That is the age-old question, at least on the savannas of Africa. The logical answer to Tina, in black and white, is yes.” For her, the zebra poses a particular challenge in the art of papercutting. As we mentioned, most of her papercuts are made from cutting out a single piece of paper, and she must be especially careful not to ’slip’.
While she could simply use the sections out of a black piece of paper and use the ’skeleton’ as the finished artwork, for ‘I Dreamt I Was Riding a Zebra’ she has chosen instead to use the cut-out pieces themselves and glue each one separately onto the cotton rag paper. While this is much more work, the effect becomes an artistic experiment in the use of negative space (we’re beyond mesmerized…again).
- ‘Walking on Air’
Finally, ‘Walking on Air’ breathes air into the Tina Tarnoff’s metaphors of freedom and taking wing. Unlike most of her pieces, ‘Walking on Air’ features splashes of color. ‘Like the birds themselves, sometimes you just have to be free,’ Tina explains, describing her use of blues and reds.
‘Those little nimble musicians of the air, that warble forth their curious ditties, with which nature hath furnished them to the shame of art,’ said Izaak Walton, and Tina agrees. For her, much of art is trying to recreate something from nature that has made a particular impression on her mind. She’ll close her eyes and imagine some little bird she saw that morning on a branch, and describes the urge to see it again, if only on a canvas or in a drawing or as the result of doing a papercut.
Similar to ‘I Dreamt I Was Riding a Zebra,’ Tina has chosen for this piece to use the cut-out pieces themselves and glue each one separately onto the cotton rag paper. Again, this is much more work, but the effect for Tina is giving a special feeling of ‘release’ to the birds.
So, we know at this point you’re beyond mesmerized, so go ahead, take flight and shop bluedango.com now so that you can buy your very own original papercut today. (Oh, and don’t forget, we’re still offering that 15% off special–just enter GIFT in the checkout process to update the price).
Mon, Jan 5, 2009
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