Martha Elmes 

I have been teaching Art for more than half of my life. After retirement from the Elementary/Middle school, I began to explore the possibilities of Paper. I am a painter as well, but paper and the possibilities with scissors seemed to fit me. 

I do not draw the image on the black paper first for my Crazy Paper Cuts. All of the ideas truly evolve out of the paper as the scissors start to move across it. Just staring at the flat, black paper inspires me. I picture an idea in my head as i study the paper. I visualize the entire image as I cut. If mistakes happen, I turn them into something else, surprising me as I do it. 

Looking at my husband with cut paper in hand I say, " where in the world did this come from?" Each piece is different from the next.

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