What art medium do you specialize in?

Paper cutting.  I cut my images of a single piece of paper, usually black with an x-acto knife and glue colored paper on the back side to complete each piece. Sometimes I add colored paper behind the paper cut to emphasize certain elements of my designs.

What draws you to paper cutting?

I like tactile art  — sculpture, ceramics, linoleum blocks prints. I have always been drawn to them. I literally stumbled on to paper cutting but when I figure out it was tactile, I loved it. The other thing I love is that it looks like nothing and every cut you make adds to the design and you can see the design coming out as you work.

How does nature inspire your work?

My art is almost entirely inspired by nature. I think because it is everywhere. It is always different and something new I haven’t seen before. Things change every year and every season I see things different over time. I’m obsessed with nature and everywhere I go I see something different I want to cut. Nature lends itself so naturally to cutting.

What do you hope students in our School Overnight Program program take from their experience with art and with you? 

I hope when they are out in nature and look at something like a tree, they see the shapes around the tree and know they can cut out those shapes to see the tree emerge. I hope that also learn to appreciate nature and see it for more than just something for them to walk past everyday. Everything  in nature could be a piece of art!

Check out Elizabeth’s website and Instagram feed for more!