Like most of you, my art started with paper. As a kid, I loved the way paper could be anything I wanted it to be: cubes, circles, crumbled balls, canvas for paintings, lovely notecards, or even masks and decorations.  Paper can even be blended into mush and made into sculptures. The possibilities are surely limitless!

When I was in high school, I was introduced to paper quilling by nuns that were family friends. Quilling began during the Renaissance by monks and nuns who used it as an inexpensive way to mimic gold filigree. They would roll the paper and then paint it with gold paint.  It later became a popular art form during the Victorian times.  Paper is cut into thin strips of various sizes, painstakingly rolled onto a hat pin in a circle which is then pinched and formed into different shapes.  These shapes are then assembled together into larger shapes, which are then put together by the artist into whatever image they desire.

It was quilling that gave me a foundation as a jewelry artist.  As I moved from curling paper to curling wire, I became more interested in bending metal which led me to my first metalsmith class.

Quilling is becoming a lost art as machines have begun to take over this arduous work.  It is detailed and repetitive work on a tiny scale but I find it very soothing because I enjoyed it so much as a teenager. Today, I quill paper to compliment notecards or to make distinctive tiny frame-worthy gardens. My paper notecards start at 3 dollars and my quilled love notes range in price from 8 dollars and up.  My tiny gardens start at 35 dollars and go up depending on size. Custom orders may add a bit to the price depending on materials and work effort of the piece.

To place a special order contact me at phaedrastudio@yahoo.com.