reinasaur

Waves and squiggle-making, part two! With @aweilo, the best. Which one is your fave? #cutpaper #paperart #papertexture https://www.instagram.com/p/CqLl2_lPbrY/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Squiggle time with @aweilo 〰️ (these glowy colors make me miss summer temps!) #paperart #cutpaper https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp0ga2APesN/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Two treats from the Wayne Thiebaud paper cake series, shot by @aweilo! #paperart #cutpaper https://www.instagram.com/p/Co79QbTyW-W/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Another image from @aweilo and my Wayne Thiebaud homage series! One of my favorite parts of the shoot was figuring out the horizon and foreground lines on the fly together. ✨ #paperart #cutpaper #papercraft https://www.instagram.com/p/CkJTjMAr6jA/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

FALL! For @latimes. Leaves may be my favorite subject to cut out 🍁 Thank you to @annegolden and @itstaylorle! #cutpaper #paperart #editorialart #latimes https://www.instagram.com/p/Cjlr8VTvZqH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Here’s one from my favorite shoot this year! Created with @aweilo, these images are an homage to the great painter, Wayne Thiebaud. Having admired Thiebaud for a long time, I was excited to stumble upon a newspaper clipping from 1962, where he wrote about his methodology and philosophy behind his work at the time. Inspired by this, we interpreted his approach in paper and tabletop photography. If you’d like to jump into the research and inspiration rabbit hole with me, here are some quotes from his writing that got the gears turning. For technique and execution of the photos: “The specific esthetic and philosophic problems which fascinate me are: Light: Today the idea of light is tremendously variable. Strong display lights have been developed, which can do all kinds of goofy and wonderful things…make an object cast colored shadows,…glow and develop a halo or imbue it with a pulsating effect…” In creating these cakes out of paper, I was drawn to his ideas of memory and medium: “This last method (memory) has been my main one during recent years. Theoretically I try to work out what is most memorable about the subject at hand and get it down. My time spent as an advertising art director, cartoonist and illustrator some years ago are partly responsible for the look of some of the things.” “…An experiment with what happens when the relationship between paint and subject matter come as close as I can get it…white, gooey, shiny, sticky oil paint spread out on the top of a painted cake to “become” frosting. It is playing with reality…making an illusion which grows out of an exploration of the propensities of materials…And while it is clearly in the line of “trick of the eye” painting where the artist is like a magician, I would like to show my hand and expose the trick, allowing the thrill of self-discovery and the ability to see oneself having the illusion.” #WayneThiebaud #cutpaper #paperart https://www.instagram.com/p/CjBTHmzP2eT/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

The Target GiftCard that I worked on is out! I loved incorporating watercolor into some of these leaves, and I’m so happy with the paper texture that came through! The team was amazing: big thanks to @hellopammydesigns and @whattheholt, whose sharp attention to detail made the piece ✨juuust✨ right. https://www.instagram.com/p/CiflbkErPz5/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Tomorrow! A group show of paper art opens! I’m most excited to have folks see my work in person. I started my paper art career with window displays, where I had the thrill of seeing passerby respond to my artwork. In the past eight years, my work has evolved in such a way that my final pieces are often digital photographs. This giant (by my standards) cake is a rare opportunity for me to share original artwork with you. Come get up close, walk 360° around the work, see details, texture, everything! My hope is that a delicious looking paper cake might bring you even a tiny sliver of joy. On top of that, I’m showing this work alongside thirteen other artists, all working with paper in a unique way. I’ve admired these artists for years…this will be a TREAT! So come on by (masked 😷)! The show opens @heronarts tomorrow, Saturday, July 9 from 4–7 and is up until August 6 by appointment. Special shout out to fellow artist and friend @zaidivecha, who helped me—a commercial artist, unaccustomed to the fine art/gallery world—navigate this show! Here’s to community, a balm. Her beautiful artwork is also a part of the Paper Show! #paperart #papershow #cutpaper (at Heron Arts) https://www.instagram.com/p/CfwnovVJlTW/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Happy publication day to authors @kellyschmutte and @dreasmall and the team at @stanforddschool and @tenspeedpress! The first four of ten design guides from @stanforddschool is out today, and I had the massive privilege of working on the artwork for one of them! AND that work was photographed by @andrialo 😍 I first started working on the art for Andrea and Kelly’s book, Navigating Ambiguity, three years ago. I was excited by their vision to use only white paper and the abstraction that many of the concepts required (how best to articulate “zoom” or “focus” or “speed” in paper?). Not to mention that in my past life, design thinking was a huge part of what I did (I even had a tiny stint team teaching a pop-up class at the d.school. 👋 gt team!), so I aligned with the content too. All these things collided into a wonderful project with a brilliant team. A happy bonus: I recently discovered that @hopemengdesign created the fantastic custom font for the covers! #NavigatingAmbiguity #dschoolGuides #cutpaper #bookart https://www.instagram.com/p/Cciv8WMLkJP/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

If I were a squirrel, I would be the one dreamily collecting pretty things from the sidewalk rather than busily burying acorns for the winter. Case in point: this little twig of pink peppercorns has been sitting on my desk for ages, alongside faded bougainvillea and intricate leaves. I didn’t know if it’d ever come in handy until I decided to test out my new lights this weekend. The meringue dollops, handmade clay spheres, and wooden pieces came out to play too. 🐿 #paperart #cutpaper #reinasaurplay #stilllife #stilllifephotography https://www.instagram.com/p/CTzt2TqpBTV/?utm_medium=tumblr

“How did you even start doing this….paper….thing?” is a question I get a lot. In response, I usually talk about this project. This was my first ever paper piece created FOURTEEN years ago 👵😭. I was a college student, and having never done stop motion OR made 3D props out of paper, I decided to do a stop motion animation with 3200 frames. I have my naïve and fearless 21 year old self to thank for the start of my love of paper. The pieces were made out of construction paper, hot glued to magnets, and set atop a cookie sheet. The lighting was my desk lamp and my “shooting studio” was the scary basement of my Pittsburgh house (in which a pipe burst behind me while I was shooting and flooded the floor). Looking through these photos, most images are blurry, the set isn’t still, and the craftsmanship is awful. I’m mortified, proud, and sympathetic. I’m hoping that fourteen years from now, I’ll look at my current work with a similar sense of embarrassment and affection 💕 #paperart #cutpaper #cmudesign #stopmotion #behindthescenes https://www.instagram.com/p/CTXa5aglgI6/?utm_medium=tumblr

The series is complete! I started with A on March 2, 2020, got to Z on August 31, 2020, and have finally finished the numbers on May 10, 2021. WHEW! This series is a fairly accurate barometer to see how I was doing creatively at any given time in the past 14 months. I haven’t put my own work up in my space before, but having this set right in front of me as I work is making me feel *proud*. So please indulge me as I share a flood of photos of the wall facing my desk. Peek my stories for a few extra shots. #36daysoftype #36days_all @36daysoftype #36daysoftype08 #36daysreinasaur #typography #papertype #paperart #cutpaper #papertypography #goodtype #typespire #designspiration #typegang #paperlettering https://www.instagram.com/p/CO0kS5-hBVq/?igshid=l3urhfpko0a

9. And here we are! This is one of the stranger shapes I’ve made. It looks like a simple cone with a tail, but actually has a funny offset point. Meaning, there was a lot of whittling to make the top of the nine appear circular...and some photo angle gymnastics 🤸‍♀️ THAT’S A WRAP! The angled shot is included mostly because it reminded me of something...swipe to see! #36daysoftype #36days_9 @36daysoftype #36daysoftype08 #36daysreinasaur #typography #papertype #paperart #cutpaper #papertypography #goodtype #typespire #designspiration #typegang #paperlettering https://www.instagram.com/p/COteWqoh3SB/?igshid=1ma2tsmt5kmmb

8. Whew! Missed yesterday and now I’m back! 🏃‍♀️ An italic-ish, I’m-still-on-that-möbius-train 8, for your Monday. One more! I joined in on the numbers portion thinking, “ten numerals can’t be that bad.” But it is kicking my butt in a good, momentum building way. I’d been on a great swing of making earlier this year and was nudged off-kilter by events plus busy client work. This series and the discipline it has taken has been a nice engine rev of sorts for getting my practice back in gear. Thanks for cheering it along! It means a lot. #36daysoftype #36days_8 @36daysoftype #36daysoftype08 #36daysreinasaur #typography #papertype #paperart #cutpaper #papertypography #goodtype #typespire #designspiration #typegang #paperlettering https://www.instagram.com/p/COs_qtKBp7b/?igshid=cav257jnqkao

7. You had such inventive, varied suggestions for seven (see post for six)! Here’s mysterious 7, a mix of your words...a little bit of bubbly, a bit of Nitrogen (?!), some precipice. #36daysoftype #36days_7 @36daysoftype #36daysoftype08 #36daysreinasaur #typography #papertype #paperart #cutpaper #papertypography #goodtype #typespire #designspiration #typegang #paperlettering https://www.instagram.com/p/COn9cWchZ3J/?igshid=2wn9wldf4htk

6. Before I started this one, I asked Jon for a word to describe what 6 could be like. He said, “highway.” Here’s my take on a highway 6. Zoom zoom 🏎 Any word ideas for 7? https://www.instagram.com/p/COltB0MBe1g/?igshid=1riowl308dc7y

5. Getting a bit abstract! I see a backwards eighth note 🎵or a birds eye view of a building. ✈️ What do you see? PS The circular part gets a little trippy if you look at it a while (Is it convex? Concave?!). #36daysoftype #36days_5 @36daysoftype #36daysoftype08 #36daysreinasaur #typography #papertype #paperart #cutpaper #papertypography #goodtype #typespire #designspiration #typegang #paperlettering https://www.instagram.com/p/COjlW1rBMK6/?igshid=apeu9dbg3zc4