Showing posts with label Scherenschnitte and Silhouette Artifacts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scherenschnitte and Silhouette Artifacts. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

The Queen's Hearts


The Queen's Hearts silhouette in black and white.

The Queen's Hearts
 
That same Queen of Hearts, who baked all those tarts
That we've heard of in story and fable
Sent word once a year, that both peasant and peer
Should collect all the hearts they were able
And some hearts were great, and some hearts were small
And some had hardly a heart at all.

The Queen's Hearts silhouette in red and white.

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Air Transportation Silhouettes

       The air transportation silhouettes include the following:

  • Montgolfier Balloon (A.) - first successful balloon 1781
  • Gifford's Balloon (B.) - first powered airship 1852
  • Dirigible - Zeppelin (C.)
  • Lilienthal's Glided (D.) - first successful glider 1898
  • Wright Brother's Plane (E.) - first successful motor driven plane 1903
  • Lindberg's Plane 1927 (F.)
  • Streamlined Plane (G.)

Halloween Silhouettes for The Classroom

        These silhouettes (cut from black paper for decorating windows or cut from white paper for decorative borders) are made by folding a sheet of paper into three sections as show below. The folded sections are then folded once more to make three sections of equal size. Sketches for the silhouettes should be made twice the width and exactly the height of the paper in its final fold. When satisfactory sketches are completed and after care has been taken to have them symmetrical and with no cutting to be done through the lefthand folds of the paper, one half of the sketch (vertically) should be sketched or traced on the folded paper and cut out.

Students will need either black, white, or orange construction paper and a pair of scissors to assemble this paper Halloween craft.

Halloween Lantern Designs for The Classroom

       Illustrated below are two simple methods for cutting and assembling paper Halloween lanterns for the classroom. Included also are a few simple silhouettes that students may copy to emphasize the theme: a black cat, a black bat, a witch with a cane and Jack-o-lantern.

Students will need black construction paper, scissors, a ruler and glue to complete these projects.

Saturday, February 12, 2022

The Snowman's Resolution

The Snowman's Resolution
by Aileen Fisher


The snowman's hat was crooked
And his nose was out of place
And several of his whiskers
Had fallen from his face.

But the snowman didn't notice
For he was trying to think
Of a New Year's resolution
That wouldn't melt or shrink.

He thought and planned and pondered
With his little snow-ball head
Till his eyes began to glisten
And his toes began to spread;

And at last he said, "I've got it-
I'll make a firm resolve
That no matter what the weather
My smile will not dissolve."

Now the snowman acted wisely
And his resolution won
For his splinter smile was wooden
And it didn't mind the sun!

Saturday, August 8, 2020

A Rainy Day Game


A Rainy-Day Game
by K. G. Buffman

A little soap and water
And a little pipe of clay
Will make the time go faster
On a rainy day.

Bubbles in the bowl of water
Bubbles in the air,
Bubbles on the mantelpiece,
Floating everywhere.

Molly had a clay pipe,
Richard had another;
Nothing could be better for
A sister and a brother.

Saturday, August 1, 2020

Paper Cuts of Jigging Pigs!

        Above are jigging (dancing) pigs and below is a single paper cut pig with a turnip. Have fun including these silhouettes in your crafts for the classroom!

Vintage Egyptian Paper-Cuts for The Classroom

        These vintage Egyptian paper cuts are for your classroom projects. Depicted here are designs of costume, text "Egypt", scarabs, lotus, jewelry etc...

Thursday, July 30, 2020

Paper Silhouette Camel Cuts


       Paper Camel Cuts for teachers and students to use in the classroom or in art projects. The center one has a rider.

Sunday, July 26, 2020

Paper Church Silhouettes


       These paper cuts or silhouettes of the front and back of a church, plus stained glass windows would look lovely in any Sunday School. I've restored them for students and teachers, enjoy.

Thursday, July 23, 2020

St. Patrick's Day Silhouettes

       I will collect for this post, those few St. Patrick's Day paper cuts that I happen across in the archives. So far there are: angelic harps, a vintage pipe with shamrocks and a rabbit nibbling on a piece of clover.

St. Patrick Silhouettes for the classroom and child paper crafts.

Friday, July 3, 2020

The Proud Miss O'Haggin

Silhouettes used to illustrate the poem.
The Proud Miss O'Haggin
by John Bennett.

The proud Miss O'Haggin
May ride in her wagon,
Her landau, or drag, in
The park all the day;

But she'd give all her leisure
And wealth beyond measure
For one half the pleasure
Down Haggerty's way,

When young Danny Gilligan
Drives Maggie Milligan
Down Murphy's hill ag'in
In his "coopay."

Monday, March 18, 2019

The Hiawatha Paper Cuts Restored

       Below are the Hiawatha paper cuts restored for those of you who are teaching Native American studies to your little ones, enjoy.
       The Song of Hiawatha is an 1855 epic poem in trochaic tetrameter by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow which features American Indian characters. Read more...
       Read the original poem by Longfellow here.

The wigwam of Nokomis.
Nokomis nursed Hiawatha.
Nokomis bound Hiawatha's cradle with the sinews of the reindeer.
Hush! the Naked Bear will hear thee!
The owls spoke their native language.
The birds hid their nests.
The birds sang to Hiawatha.
The reindeer, Hiawatha talked too.
I am Adjidaumo, the squirrel.
The warriors and the women all praised the hunter.
They called him Strong-Heart, Soan-ge-taha.
They called him Loon-Heart, Mahn-go-tay-see.
Hiawatha is running by the Big-Sea-Water.

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Mother Goose Auto Parade - mini book

Paper mini book by Harvey Peake, restored by kathy grimm. Front Cover
       This adorable mini book is by Harvey Peake. It comes with rhymes and illustrations of automobiles only found in the imagination of a child. Assemble it as a mini book or cut the patterns out and pin them into a boarder in your classroom. Either way, little ones are sure to enjoy coloring them in and learning their nursery rhymes.
Goosey, goosey gander
Whither do you wander?
Of your winged motor car
Are you growing fonder?
A frog he would a-wooing go
In a very stylish way,
So he bought a frogmobile, you know,
And the lady frog said "Yea!"
Jack be nimble!
Jack be quick!
Jack, jump over the candlestick!
Jack jumped when something
struck his wheel,
For his candlestick
was an automo-
bile!
The Man in the Moon,
Come down too soon,
And asked his way to Norwich.
In his crescent machine,
Made of cheese so green,
He drove off after his porridge.
Little Bo Peep had lost her sheep,
And didn't know where to find them;
But she turned them all to automobiles,
And now she rides behind them.
"Will you come into my auto?"
Said the spider to the fly.
"There is room in my Web-tonneau
And I'll join you by and by."
There was an old woman
Who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children
She didn't know what to do.
But she mounted the shoe
On a big motor car,
And now there is room
For them all without jar.
Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater,
Had a wife and couldn't keep her;
He made a car of the pumpkin shess,
And there he kept her very well.
There was an old woman lived under a hill
On auto'bile wheels that wouldn't stand still.
So she drove around selling her cranberry pies,-
And she's the old woman who never told lies.
"Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?''
"Oh, now that I have a car," she said,
"It grows twice as fast, you know."

Friday, February 23, 2018

Japanese Silhouette Version of Old Mother Hubbard

       Here is a unique set of silhouettes or paper cuts of a Mother Goose Rhyme, "Old Mother Hubbard" done up in a Japanese motif. The silhouettes are mounted on top of an ancient Japanese kimono design.

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Make Shadows on Your Wall

       Shadowgraphy has progressed a long way from the rabbit on the wall; but in the house, ambition in this accomplishment does not often extend further than that and one or two other animals, and this is why only the rabbit, dog and swan are given here. The swan can be made more interesting by moving the arm which forms his neck as if he were prinking and pluming, an effect which is much heightened by ruffling up and smoothing down the hair with the fingers forming his beak. To get a clear shadow it is necessary to have only one light, and that fairly close to the hands.

This illustration show the positioning of the hands to make a bunny, swan and dog.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The Lost Art of Silhouetting

      In the modern age, when photographic art has achieved so high a degree of perfection, most people do not stop to think that less than a century ago there did not exist any photographer at all. When our ancestors wanted to have a portrait made they had a limited choice of methods. They could have it painted, very circumstantially, in colors, for one thing; or they could content themselves with a silhouette, cut out of black paper. Of course, the latter method was the cheaper, and subsequently it became highly popular, until photography was invented.
The way in which the German Scientist, Lavater
took a silhouette.
      The word silhouette, which has been merged with most languages, was at first meant as an expression of contempt for the French Chancellor of the Exchequer, Etienne de Silhouette, who instead of adjusting the money affairs of his country, spent his time in decorating the walls of his castle with shadow portraits of his guests. The French people said that "his pictures were just as black and empty as the French Treasury." Since that time black portraits of this kind have been called "silhouettes."
      Years before the German scientist Lavater had occupied himself with drawing profiles. With the help of a wax candle he produced a shadow of his subject in full size on a white sheet, on which he then traced the outline. Later he reproduced the picture on a smaller scale, and the portrait was finished.
      The correct way of taking a silhouette is however, to cut it out of black paper by hand. It requires a great deal of mechanical skill, but at the same time a beautiful result can be accomplished when a clever person wields the shears.
      In the nineteenth century it was quite an industry to clip silhouettes. One single man, August Edouart, who lived most of the time in America, cut out nearly 100,000 portraits, and still he was one of the few who understood how to give the silhouettes the true imprint of real art.
      The greatest genius in the field of this special branch of art who ever lived was Paul Konewka. Although he died when only 31 years old he developed such dexterity in silhouette cutting that he became known all over the world. He combined a fine decorative sense with wonderful adroitness in the use of scissors. He always carried with him a pair of scissors especially constructed for this use, and he cut with such deftness that he never needed to look at the scissors.
      The most celebrated among his silhouettes are the illustrations of "Faust" and Shakespear's dramas. His figures are so charming, his portraits so animated, that even the most particular critics must yield them admiration. In any case, this black art has fostered one great master, has given lasting fame to at least one name -- Paul Konewka.

Monday, June 24, 2013

Ways to Display Scherenschnitte

      There is more than one way to display Scherenshnitte or paper cuts. Traditionally scherenshnitte have been preserved either in old scrapbook collections, under glass in traditional frames for display or as ornamentation for holidays. I have linked to a few interesting articles that my visitors can look at in order to get some less traditional ideas about how they might display their own designs here.

Framing scherenschnitte in untraditional ways.
Anatassia Elias displays her unique paper cuts inside paper toilet tubes.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Paper Cutting Patterns by Auguste Edouart

Ad from New York Tribune, 1913.
      Auguste Amant Constant Fidèle Edouart (1789–1861) was a French-born portrait artist who worked in England, Scotland and the United States in the 19th-century. He specialized in silhouette portraits.
      "Born in Dunkerque, he left France in 1814, and established himself in London, where he began his career making portraits from hair. In 1825, he began work as a silhouette portraitist, taking full-length likenesses in profile by cutting out black paper with scissors. Edouart spent fifteen years touring England and in 1829 arrived in Edinburgh. He remained there for three years, during which time he produced some five thousand likenesses." Edouart travelled in the United States ca.1839-1849, visiting New York, Boston, and other locales. He later returned to France where he worked on smaller silhouettes. They included one of the most notable writer of this period, Victor Hugo.
Old Silhouette Present To Taft
Paper Likeness of President Tyler Made by Artist Edouart in 1841.
      Washington, June 28. --Mrs. E. Nowell Jackson, related to President Tyler, has presented to President Taft the original silhouette portrait of President Tyler, made by the artist, Auguste Edouart, in Washington, in 1841. It will be placed in the White House collection of presidential portraits.
      Mrs. Jackson has always been interested in silhouettes, the old black profile portraits of the eighteenth century.
      Six years ago she picked up a rare treatise on the art written by Auguste Edouart, a Frenchman, who toured in Great Britain and the United States, and cut the picture in black paper of every king, queen, princess, president and senator in any town he visited.

I've restored the silhouette to a facsimile from the very tiny version you see in a photo scan of the original newspaper.
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