Hansa Arts

Reading companions 6

Girl with a horse.  Is she reading? or is it the horse?

Seemi

This is my second commission for a good friend.  I have had the pleasure of getting to know Seemi for many years and her sons are her life.  She is a great mom, was one of the best bosses I'll ever have in life, and is full of interesting tales. I wanted to fill up her suitcase with such tales.

22"x30", Papercut, December 2011

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Knives and blades

These days knives and blades are my go to tools. Whether it is cutting my own intricate designs or slicing large sheets of paper or making a square for origami - a cushiony holder and a new blade have become like life savers.

The sharp-pointed #11 blade for craft knives available from a few different brands are reasonably priced and that makes it easy to toss an old one and put a fresh one in the holder and start life anew.

I promised a friend that I would list the blades and holders I have tried in my quest to find good quality.  I must thank George for getting me as many different brands as he could and suddenly I had many more options than just good old X-acto.

Here are the holders:

From left to right:

1. Basic X-acto knife - I cut with this for a long time and then totally abandoned it when a student in my class told me about the cushioned grip - see # 2.

2. X-acto X2000 knife - nice grip.  But the blade comes off once in while if you haven't tightened it so.  Plastic cover never stays on. 

3. Retractable knife - cute but not too useful to me.  You 'wear' it on your finger to cut.

4.Olfa Cusion grip art knife - very nicely made, great grip, blade is not going to fall out. Cover stays on. Pricier than the others

5. Scalpel knife for #11 scalpel blade - Not for me - the handle is too flat.

Here are the different brands of #11 blades that I tried:

1. X-acto - Cheapest.  You get what you pay for. The tip breaks off very easily, specially when cutting paper that is even a bit thicker than copy paper.

2. Olfa - Priciest - about $1 per blade.  The first blade I tried was awesome, I cut for an hour with just one blade.  But that did not happen again.  The tip is sturdy but gets blunt just like other blades.

3. Zona - These are my favorite right now - George bought me a pack of 100 and its what I go to first for a new blade.  The tip stays fine for a while but it does get blunt.  We tried sharpening it on a kitchen sharpening rod, but getting a new blade is so much easier and nicer.

4. Excel - Eh.  I haven't used these enough to say much about this.  Nothing special, I think.  Thank goodness I don't have a pack of 100!

I also tried blue X-acto # 11 blades - they are supposedly "precision" blades - advertised as "Precision-crafted of the highest quality carbon."  Not so.  They are heavy on the paper - getting a new blade from the pack does not give you the smooth first few cuts that you expect from a new blade.  Its heavy-going.  Maybe I am doing something wrong.

So there - you have it - I did not list a bunch of other blades I tried - the scalpel blades, the X-acto #16 blade, etc. 

Give me a fine sharp tip that stays sharp for a while without breaking and I am happy.

Happy Cutting!

Reading companions 5

When a friend saw this papercut, she said it reminded her of the old folktale called 'Caps for Sale'.  This story was one of the staples of my childhood and thinking of it again brought back many memories.

Creating this papercut series has been a very fun journey into exploring about how people, specially young people find a whole new world in books. 

 

Wishing you quiet

Wishing you quiet time this new year. Get close to nature and to yourself.

Mom and Vedu

My amazing mother turns 70 today!  What a great story she has. First in her generation to complete college, raised 3 lovely kids and has always been there when we needed her.

A few weeks ago she mentioned her wish to create a space in our home in India where one could go read. A library.  Wow! I hope it happens.  I hope it becomes the center of our home.  All these thoughts combined together in my head when I made this piece of mom and her grandson Vedu.

This piece is on its way to her and I pray it gets there safely.

Happy Birthday Mummy!!

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Reading companions 2

Tigers on paper are so fun to cut.  Can't stop. 

Reading companions 1

The inspiration for a new series can come from so many places - surroundings, happenings, conversations.

George told me about an organization called 'Room to Read'.  According to their website:

Room to Read seeks to transform the lives of millions of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. Working in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations and governments, we develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and support girls to complete secondary school with the relevant life skills to succeed in school and beyond.

CHECK THEM OUT!!

In addition to many other countries, Room to Read works in India where they create small local libraries, publish books in local languages and together with local support offer the opportunity to read for many children in rural and urban communities.

I am SO INSPIRED by this idea and the work. This led me to the creation of a new series of papercuts called 'Reading companions'.  In the first piece, the Indian tiger, a beautiful virtually extinct animal is a gentle reading companion for a young girl.

 

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The women come together

The women from the papercuts are friends.  They remove their extra arms and come together to talk, listen, read, and exchange ideas and thoughts and stuff.  They choose beautiful places for their gatherings.  They are there for each other.  Friends.

30"x22", Papercut, October 2011

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Modern woman story # 11

This piece was inspired by a woman I met at an artist Open Studio gathering a few weeks ago.  She was the wife of one of the artists and was kind enough to let me take a picture of her in her beautiful striking dress and turban.  She was majestic and stood tall and I wanted to capture her bearing. 

22"x30", Papercut, October 2011

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