Paper tree #3

Perhaps another Christmas-y tree will restore a little Christmas spirit here at And Sew it Goes. My Saturday post about the blogging award was a little snarky. I could blame the weather or the stress of the season, but no, it was just me being a little "snippy" as my mother would say. Sorrrrry. (hangs head in shame)

I think this tree must be a Douglas Fir, with its tall straight trunk. They always seem to have a bare branch or two at the bottom. Little boys read their books with their backs against the tree. In yesterday's comments, Nellie said, "I've found that cutting shapes is easier and more expressive than drawing them. The drawing process allows more room for reworking and overworking an image." This is really true, unlikely as it sounds. I once took a class from Roberta Horton (or was it her sister, Mary Mashuta?) where she demonstrated this by holding up a magazine photo of a vase with flowers and had us each cut from paper, with scissors, what we saw on the page. The paper cuts had such character and charm. I once was designing a poster for a production of "A Christmas Carol" and the director wanted a very dark, menacing image of Scrooge on it. I made drawing after drawing and was just not getting it. I finally picked up a piece of black paper and cut out the face. Just what he wanted! And it is still one of my favorite illustrations I have ever done. I wonder if I still have a copy somewhere . . .