Paper and scalpel are the tools in Calvin Nicholls’ spare but effective toolbox. As with yesterday’s post, Nicholls, who has been creating low relief paper sculptures since the 1980′s, shows us a beautiful example of what is possible when you match simple materials with skill, imagination and patience.

The Canadian artist’s final drawing of his subjects becomes the pattern for cutting pieces. If you want to know more, contact Nicholls about prices for private Skype sessions.  Love this idea!

“Individual pieces are traced from the detail drawing and then transferred to the actual paper used in the sculpture. Cuts are made with scalpels and x-acto knives on a plastic cutting mat or cutting board. Small scissors can work if you go slow and cut in very smooth motions. Use a very small amount of glue on a toothpick – too much will ripple the paper. Attach the pieces starting at the tip of the tail and work up – just like shingles on a roof!”

Calvin Nicholls’ website

Carved, colored and stacked recycled papers practically blossom in the hands of Japan’s Michihiro Sato.

“I live and work in a traditional Japanese house, where the old construction of laundry is equipped on the first floor’s roof. The steel flame is rusted, dilapidated, and its form is slightly bent. And only some plastic boards remain on the floor, as some of them are swept out by a strong wind. So if I once come into the place, I must concentrate in paying attention to the brittle, pale plastic and the rusted steel. I think this place is so beautiful that I feel materials and myself at every step. In other words, here is the place where I feel environment including myself fragile.” Michihiro Sato

Drawn to the immediacy of fragility, Sato’s choice of material serves him well. The pod-like paper brooches and necklaces burst with soft curves and multiple lines – any of which could be interrupted in an instant.

Michihiro Sato’s website

It’s been four years since I posted here about Ana Hagopian’s paper jewelry. The Barcelona based artist still uses recycled paper that she colors and manipulates into nature-inspired shapes – and the work is still interesting. Lovely to revisit her collection and see so many new pieces.

Raspberry Necklace

Bracelets

“i play with paper, cutting and sticking to create volumes and shapes. my source of inspiration is nature and its infinite creations, its limitless colours, its surprising textures. paper is contradictory, provocative and humble because it is ephemeral. using it as a material has its roots in the philosophy of arte povera, which restores the value of the idea, intuition, thought and the individual.” ana hagopian

Flat Necklace

Rings

Accordion Bracelets

“when i’m creating my works, i unconsciously seek primal contact, the constant wonder of childhood, the magical vision that transforms the prosaic and everyday into something new and marvellous. my process is intuitive, through my hands i come into contact with the material, which guides me towards the final form.” ana hagopian

Seeds Necklace

Ana Hagopian

Ana Hagopian’s website