Monday, November 9, 2009

Paper Babies


















Ever met a Paper Artist? No? Well, join me in welcoming Kjesten Anna Hayes to my blog. She creates beautiful Paper Babies and sells them online (check out the links below) And any family member following my blog, these delightful books are on my Christmas list this year... HINT HINT.... (was that subtle?)


As a writer I am intrigued by not only words, but also paper. Pretty paper, patterned paper, textured paper and paper creations. I found Kjesten's blog a little while back and have been a massive fan ever since. Her books are true works of art... and I can think of nothing better then filling their pages with poetry or journal entries... (got any one on your own Christmas present list who would love one of these?)

Anyway, let's hear from the Talent herself... I invited her to tell us a little about herself and how she discovered her love of all things papery...

~
"I left the first day of my college book-making course feeling like my universe had expanded so much that my head was going to explode. So that’s when my love of handmade books began.
When I started binding my own journals, I had no idea I was beginning my career as a paper artist. But I did well selling the journals I made at my school’s annual professional craft fair, so I signed up for other fairs. I learned paper-making in a special work-shop and started integrating my handmade papers into the books I sold.
It was also towards the end of college that I started to give myself permission to dream about what was closest to my heart: illustrating children’s picture books. It would take years of hard work and struggle for me to hone my skills as an artist towards those of an illustrator, but the seeds to do so were planted at the same time I began making handmade books. My skills in illustration and my skills in book-making developed along-side one another and so they influenced one-another.

My love of illustration, inspired designs for covers of my handmade books. And making thousands of cover designs for handmade books taught me the ins and outs of my medium, paper. The way textures and colors worked together became second nature to me and influenced how I thought about collage illustration. It was natural for me to become a collage illustrator.


Since my son’s birth several years ago, I’ve largely focused my efforts towards the greater of my passions, children’s picture books (check out my portfolio here http://www.kjerstenannahayes.com/illustration_p1.html ) But I’ll always be thankful for my roots in book-making and the craft industry. I continue to maintain an etsy shop ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/kjerstenhayes ) and I’ve continued to make lots of custom orders for beloved customers who have been buying from me for years. It’s a joy to create special sanctuaries for their hopes, dreams and beloved memories.
I share bits of my process, journaling inspirations, and other tid-bits on my own blog, Collage Clips ( http://kjerstenannahayes.blogspot.com/ )
Stop by and say hi sometime.
Thanks so much for the opportunity to say hi to your readers, Tabitha!"
~
So... What about you? What are your paper obsessions? And what are you still doing here on my blog? ... go check her out! And put your order in for those beautiful books... (family members are you getting this???)



24 comments:

  1. I don't have any obsession with paper or even colors, unfortunately. :-) This is amazing! I've never heard of this kind of art. Wow. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. for a writer paper is always a fascinating thing as it is like a platform where he/she spreads subtle thoughts in the form of conceivable words....

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  3. I read about this type of art in a book recently. I love the texture of paper more than anything.

    Thanks for the interview!

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  4. How cool! I'm not that obsessed with paper, actually. But hers is beautiful! I like the smell of it. Or the feel of its warmth fresh out of hte printer.

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  5. Thank you for introducing us to Kjersten's artwork. It is amazing. Her books are beautiful, I really want some! I will have to drop subtle hints to family members... thanks for the idea, Tabitha. ;)

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  6. I love writing in journals, and until recently had a difficult time giving up a paper calendar. I had one of those huge organizers that had bills and post-it notes sticking out everywhere. I've given it up for one rectangular sized phone/calendar/email/internet machine. It's crazy, but I still love paper.

    This art looks beautiful. I will check out her website. Thanks for sharing.

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  7. Have you been reading a copy of my novel? My MC is a paper artist.

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  8. How lovely. Thanks for the links. The holidays are coming!

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  9. That is very beautiful work. :)

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  10. Very cool!!! It reminds me a lot of my sisters scrap booking with photos.

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  11. I love this! Thanks for sharing.

    I love a notebook full of ball point pen writing. Both sides of the page. I love the way it feels and smells.

    S

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  12. Beautiful books! Thanks for sharing, Tab!

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  13. How cool is that???? I love journals. I must go check her blog out.

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  14. These are beautiful! She is so talented!

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  15. I'm definitely going to click over and see her books. Awesome. I'm in awe of artists, especially since I have no artistic talent.

    Helen
    Straight From Hel

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  16. I love paper art! I can spend hours and hours on making cards and pop-up pictures if you get me around paper. I try to stay away :D Kjersten's art looks amazing and beautiful. Thanks for sharing this on your blog today!

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  17. Her work looks absolutely beautiful. Thank you for sharing the link! Looks like this paper addict is going to be adding more stuff to her ever-growing Christmas list ;)

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  18. I love this! When I was i college it was one of our assignments to make a book and make our own paper to do it. Ut was an amazing experience. I'll go check her out for sure!

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  19. I owned a rubber art stamp manufacturing company for 15 years, and also had a retail store. Paper...my love....come to mamma. Could not get enought of handmade paper, Italian paper, Japanese paper. I horded it, collected it, piled it high. Still drawn to the stuff. Oh my, I feel my addiction calling...

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  20. Thanks for the awesome post about my books, Tabatha! You are super nice. So are your readers!

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  21. This great and Kjersten's work is amazing!

    I have no obsession about paper...I love paper and I love journals but that is about it.

    much love

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  22. This is so neat! Kjersten, your work is amazing!!

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  23. That book looks beautiful. I don't have an obsession with paper per se, but I do ♥ office supplies, lol.

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  24. Thanks all for the comments. I hope you get some time to go check out her blog. Her stuff is really really good. :)

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