Cut-It-Out

PAPEL PICADO BOOK

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Kathleen Trenchard is a well-respected cut-paper artist, and has taught and lectured on the arts at museums, schools, and colleges. Her San Antonio based company, Cut-It-Out ©, designs & manufactures cut-paper products.
She and her husband have traveled throughout Mexico, Europe, and Canada researching cut-paper art and adding to their private collection. In her collecting and in her art, Ms. Trenchard is fascinated by the rich interplay between folk art and celebration.

96 pages, 8 x 9 inches,70 color and 35 B&W photographs.
$14.95, paperback with fancy
flaps (Canada, $20.95), plus shipping and handling.
lSBN 1-57990-011-9.
To place an order, call Sterling Publishing at 1-800-367-9692

BOOK REVIEWS

From the "FIRST CUT", Fall '98 issue, a magazine published by the
Guild of American Paper cutters: Reviewer, Steven Woodbury writes:
"This is a splendid new book, which many papercutters will want to own. It describes the history and technique of the uniquely Mexican papel picado (punched paper) hung as banners. Many fine examples are illustrated in brilliant colors. Trenchard discusses tissue papers, as well as foil and mylar and plastic. She describes the punches and hammers and layout techniques used to create the papel picado. "Mexican Papercutting" is beautifully designed, and the reproductions are excellent."

From the San Antonio Express News - Sunday, August 13, 2000 Cutting up a craft for all occasions

Mexican Papercutting: Simple Techniques For Creating Colorful Cut-Paper Projects by Kathleen Trenchard LARK Books, $14.95; available in bookstores or by mail at 50 College St., Asheville, NC 28801

By Bryce Milligan, San Antonio writer and Teacher.(Special to Express-News)
     I don't know about your house, per en nuestra casa, it wouldn't be Christmas - or Easter, or Fiesta, or Dia de los Muertos, or someone's birthday - without colorful papel picado hanging all around.
     Among our collection, some of our favorites were created by San Antonio artisan Kathleen Trenchard. For one of the most ephemeral of art forms, Trenchard even came up with a durable alternative. We've used the same plastic streamers on our front porch every December for a decade.
     Trenchard has written a book on the topic, complete with essays on historical origins this is an almost global artform), cultural and usage notes, photographs of classic examples, suggestions about where to find the best examples in Mexico (the village of Huixcolotla in the state of Puebla), notes on tools and materials, and lots and lots of diagrams and instructions.
     Traditional papel picado is created even today by using a hammer and various chisels to cut 50 or more layers of paper (or foil or even Mylar) at a time. Trenchard prefers this method as well, although she is not afraid to suggest techniques that diverge from the traditional, such as using wood instead of lead as a cutting board, or substituting craft knives ("X-acto" knives) for chisels when doing fewer than 20 sheets at once, or scissors for fewer than five.
     But the heart of Trenchard's book consists of her numerous projects, ranging from doilies to placemats to banners to window curtains, with a digression into three-dimensional pieces that are a cross between papel picado and origami. Each has instructions and patterns (which can easily be blown up on a photocopy machine to use as stencils).
    Creating these pieces is meticulous work; it is also, I must tell you, deeply therapeutic. "Mexican Papercutting" is an excellent introduction to this craft, whether for individuals or groups.

CUT PAPER COLLECTION

The Trenchard/Thompson cut paper collection represents fifteen years and running of traveling and collecting. The collection includes over three hundred different works mainly from Mexico, China, and Poland. Mainly cut paper, all the works are dated, documented and catalogued. The collection is available for research and traveling exhibits.

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Click HERE to ORDER NOW		Kathleen Trenchard is a well-respected cut-paper artist, and has taught and lectured on the arts at museums, schools, and colleges. Her San Antonio based company, Cut-It-Out ©, designs & manufactures cut-paper products. She and her husband have traveled throughout Mexico, Europe, and Canada researching cut-paper art and adding to their private collection. In her collecting and in her art, Ms. Trenchard is fascinated by the rich interplay between folk art and celebration.
	96 pages, 8 x 9 inches,70 color and 35 B&W photographs. $14.95, paperback with fancy flaps (Canada, $20.95), plus shipping and handling. lSBN 1-57990-011-9. To place an order, call Sterling Publishing at 1-800-367-9692