Flowers are a fun thing to make out of paper, especially because there are so many varieties to choose from. It is nice to make paper sculpture flowers when the real plants are blooming so you have great reference photos to choose from.
This year, my white iris seems to be standing extra tall in the flower bed and look larger than I remember them being from previous years. And because they stood out, it only seemed natural I should include some irises in my upcoming art installation, “Charming Victorian Country Garden Retreat,” in Paper Works at the Mansion at Strathmore in fall 2020.
My art installation for the Paper Works show will be the largest piece I have ever done to date, and it’s taken more than a year to complete. Despite the size of the installation, I don’t want to lose the details or color I bring to all of my paper sculpture work. That’s why you can expect to see many different flowers in the installation.
When I was making the paper sculpture version of these irises, I brought in one of the stalks from my real iris plant so I could get a closer look at them. They do not last very long inside — just a day or two. Even though I am working from a white iris for what will eventually have more color, it is still helpful see a live flower for reference.
When figuring out how to make something out of paper, it is similar to when I draw something. I have to check out the subject carefully, breaking it down into simpler shapes. It’s often easiest to start with the smallest elements. For instance, with the iris, instead of looking at the entire flower bud, I examined the shape of the petals: Are they round, oval or triangular shaped? I then cut those basic shapes out of paper free hand.
By cutting free-hand, I can ensure each flower I make is completely individual and unique. Though there are thousands of flower petals in my “Charming Victorian Country Garden Retreat” installation, they are all cut by hand. While it may have been faster to automate the process with a laser cutter, for instance, I wanted to capture the true artistry of nature — every petal is slightly different.
Irises come in a large variety of colors, and since I love working in an array of bright colors, I couldn’t help but make some using purples. I looked through my photo files and came across some purple iris flowers that I could reference.
And here is just one of the final paper sculpture irises, completely hand-sculpted out of paper and painting using watercolor and gouache. You can see this — and many other — flowers up close at the Paper Works show at the Mansion at Strathmore in Bethesda, Maryland. The show will run from Sept. 8 to Oct. 31, 2020.
