Upcoming Guild and Guild Members Events Calendar
This calendar includes both Guild member events (individual solo exhibits, demos, workshops, etc.) and papercut art events of general interest to artists and fans. To add an event to the Calendar, email to events@papercutters.org.
- This event has passed.
Luminaria Workshop with Melanie Kehoss
28 September 2022 @ 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm EDT
Luminaria: Turning candle holders into cut paper art, and vice versa
Get ready for the gifting season! Create unique candle holders by designing cut paper art to wrap around flared cylindrical glass. Lightbox artist Melanie Kehoss will provide tips on the best papers, adhesives, and glass products to use. Beginner cutters will be taught basic knife-cutting, while experienced cutters will be encouraged to use their artistic vocabulary as inspiration for design.
Materials List
- Pencil and eraser
- Metal ruler
- Knife and blades (and scissors if you are a scissor-cutter): https://www.dickblick.com/products/excel-blades-k18-cushion-grip-knife/
- Self-healing mat: https://www.dickblick.com/items/blick-cutting-mat-grayblack-12-x-18/
- Cylindrical glass, candle holder, wide mouth jar, or beaker, 2 to 5”: https://www.michaels.com/glass-cylinder-candle-holder-by-ashland/10266099.html?r=g
- Rice paper, Unryu paper, scrapbook paper, or other thin, decorative paper large enough to wrap around the glass: https://www.dickblick.com/categories/paper/colored-decorative/decorative/
- Contrasting paper large enough to wrap around the glass. The lighter the color and thinner the paper, the more light will be shed: https://www.dickblick.com/products/black-ink-thai-unryu/
- Glue brush (or any inexpensive brush that holds onto its bristles)
- LED tea light or votive (or real candle if the glass is fire safe): https://www.michaels.com/led-tealight-by-ashland-/10362298.html
- Water based varnish such as Mod Podge: https://www.dickblick.com/items/plaid-mod-podge-matte-finish-8-oz-jar/. (Project can alternately be completed with your favorite liquid glue, though varnish is recommended.)
- Optional spray adhesive
Also card stock scraps, wax paper, water for brush
About the Artist
Melanie Kehoss is a longtime GAP member and Board Member, and is currently our Membership Chair. In 2008, Melanie began displaying her papercuts as lightboxes, which remain her signature. Inspired by history, anthropology, technology, and cultural flux, her pieces tell stories while reveling in craft and design.
Melanie’s work has appeared in over a hundred exhibits throughout the country, and has been featured in solo shows at venues such as Fred Schnider Gallery (Arlington, VA), McLean Project for the Arts (McLean, VA), Hillyer Art Space (Washington DC), and Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (Santa Ana, CA). She is a juried member of the Torpedo Factory Artist Association, often exhibiting at their satellite gallery, TFA@Mosaic.
Melanie holds an MFA from University of Wisconsin-Madison. She teaches drawing for adults at Arlington Arts Center and a range of media for youth at US Arts Center-Chantilly. She is a founding board member of the Arlington Visual Art Studio Tour and serves on the board of the Guild of American Papercutters. Her studio is in Arlington, VA. Visit her website: https://www.kehoss.com/ and find her on Instagram: @mkehoss
To register: https://papercutters.org/workshop-registration
