|
|
clark britton biography
|
[Biography] [Gallery] [Blog]
Lived: 19XX - present
GAP Member Since: 2003-11-28
Type: Papercuttings
|
8307 Peach Tree Lane
Wichita KS 67207-1145
USA
|
|
Entering Peabody
|
I am a retired college art teacher — 74+ years old. As a child
I enjoyed drawing, building with wooden blocks, and simple papercutting
activities: snowflakes, cut and paste (collage), and three-dimensional
paper construction. The focus of my basic art education at the time of
my professional education was development of hand skills in drawing,
painting, printmaking, and sculpture. My professional training was
focused on graphic design application of art skills to layout, typography,
lettering, promotional & communication design and packaging. |
While my current interests in art making includes the computer
as a tool, the foundation of my Image making is still based on
hand skills. I prefer to use an x-acto knife for papercutting
rather than scissors, although I have made papercuts with scissors.
The quality of form produced by using the knife as a drawing tool
is different than that produced with scissors. I use origami and
fadeless paper since the fibers of the two papers are tight and
do not tear easily when “drawing” with the knife. |
Reflections in a Gutter Pool
|
Men at Coffee
|
I visualize in my mind’s eye or sometimes in a quick loose sketch
on the white side of the paper. Then I begin to cut on the white
side of the sheet with the knife, always keeping in mind that what
I cut away is a (void or white) shape that leaves a black shape.
I work slowly, turning the paper over against a white sheet so that
I can observe the black field against the white shape areas that are
emerging. I keep in mind shapes must not be detached completely or
the papercut will fall apart. I am guided by my idea or intent and intuition. |
Sometimes if I get in a difficult area where I do not know what to
do I will make tracing paper studies before proceeding. The improvisational
process allows for a freely developed image and sometimes flights of
fancy not unlike a jazz musician who might start with a known melody
and then proceeding to improvise on that melody driven by emotion,
instinct, or mastery of the instrument. The result is dependent on
my dexterity with tools, focus and concentration on the visualized
idea and the emerging image. Sometimes they all come together and sometimes
they don’t. When they don’t, they go in the trash. |
Self Portrait with Cat
|
Untitled
|
I have often been asked, Why not make a drawing as opposed to a papercut?
The answer I give is a papercut image made by either knife or scissors has
a particular quality different than the image produced by drawing with
pencil or brush. Many artists conceive their papercuts by making careful
outline drawings and then transfer them to the paper for cutting out.
The results are merely a reproduction of an image created in a different
medium. Obviously the design of the drawing must be limited to areas
touching so the paper cut will hold together. |
While I do use drawing from time to time as a starting point, it is most
often confined to a freely sketched image that allows for improvisational
development. Most of my images are improvisational. I start with an idea
or subject I want to make such as a winter landscape. Often I start with
a random size sheet of paper and let the paper influence the design of the
subject matter and image. |
Untitled
|
Untitled
|
I have used paper and papercutting processes for teaching art/design making
all my life. When I started seriously looking at papercutting as an end in
itself, I was influenced by Chinese and Japanese examples found in
THE PAPERCUT-OUT DESIGN BOOK by Ramona Jablonsky and by the work of a
Mongolian artist named Norovsmbuugiin Baatartsog. Since I have a background
in printmaking and experience in woodcuts and lino cuts, it was a natural
progression. It is more enjoyable than the labor intensive woodcut and printing
process. Now that I use the computer to reproduce the final image in black and
white and color using the process I discussed earlier I find it a very stimulating
medium of artistic expression. |
|
|
|
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
|
featured artist
|
|
|
references
|
|
|
|
|
