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A small group of Winona women gathered at the Winona County Historical Society on Wednesday night to learn the craft of German paper cutting.
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Karin Raile, far left, gets help on starting her paper cutting project from instructor Jodi Brom, while Ann Bailey, center, and Marilyn Brower trace their designs onto card stock paper Wednesday during a German paper cutting workshop at the Winona County Historical Society. Brom, whoäs been doing the Victorian Era craft for two years, insists "itäs not as hard as it looks." (photo by Katie Derus/Winona Daily News) |
The craft, which has been around since the mid-1600s, is an artform that can be used with a modern twist to decorate handmade cards, scrapbooks or be used as a gift.
Ann Bailey, a retired nurse, used to do scherenschnitte or “scissor cuts” when she lived in Bloomington, Minn. Bailey recently started making handmade cards and thought German paper cutting would tie in.
Jodi Brom, curator for the society, instructed the class of five on how to make paper cuttings using patterns from books on the topic. She has been paper cutting for two years and now spends five hours a week cutting out various patterns. Brom is also creating some of her own patterns from digital photographs.
“It’s not as hard as it looks,” Brom said. “I wanted to learn something that has a long history.”
Brom also does scrapbooking, card making and knitting.
The craft was done in the Victorian era as a fireside hobby and may have led to the creation of intricate Valentines Day cards and modern day snowflake cut-outs, Brom said. Historically, many different cultures have their own form of paper cutting.
Marilyn Brower of Winona was also interested in learning an ethnic craft. She had seen silhouettes her mother had done and thought she would give it a try.
With Brom’s instructions, the students traced designs out of books and onto the paper they were going to cut. Brom laid out various kinds of scissors and modeling knives for the women.
“One of the biggest things you have to decide is how intricate you want to get,” Brom said.
Brom can do two or three simple cutouts in a few hours or spend days working on more difficult designs.
Although animals are not popular patterns, two rabbits sitting next to each other was the favorite design Wednesday night.
