Papergraphic Paper Paintings was founded in 1983 in Little Rock. Started doing works for consignment at the Heights Gallery in 1983 as well. Papergraphics use cut paper as a basic media rather than paint, and as a result my nominally 2 dimensional pieces have a 3 dimensional effect, as there may be several layers to reflect the contours of the original subject. Although some of my early pieces an
d Christmas cards are based on hand drawn drawings; my later work are based upon tracings of the projected image. This provides a relatively photorealistic rendering, which is different from other cut paper artists. Many thanks to Mitch Jansonius at the Heights Gallery for helping me out with creating detail in white spaces. Thanks also to Jerry and Cheri Payne for their photography services and their encouragement. I have had many patrons for my work, chief of them being Kathryn and Frank Lambright and her family, Ann Henderson Gilbert, and others. Joe R Brown of AFCO Steel bought my PG of “Afco” right off the wall of the Governor’s Exhibit of the Arkansas Crafts and Design Fair. I had finished it right before the show and did not get a chance to photograph it. I started out with acrylics to make paintings, but being an anal-retentive engineer, I wanted more consistent control over color. As a result, I started out using heavy colored paper to make items (starting in High school). I eventually progressed to using mat board paper from Crescent Cardboard Co. and fine art papers from Canson Mi Tientes, Fabriano, and others. Had a setback when Crescent went under, but with the subsequent scrapbooking craze, there were many more materials to choose from, and I recently incorporated Bazill cardstock in “King Magnus” last year. I also may apply ink, watercolor washes and Beto sticks to get the effect I want. My work is the definition of mixed media. My influences include Op Art artists; including Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, Robert Indiana, Frank Stella and Andy Warhol. I even made Benday dots using a paper punch to simulate Lichtenstein’s comic book style in a depiction of Doctor Doom from the Fantastic Four. I painted one of Stella’ works on my fraternity room wall. I do this to bring pleasure to my audience. As you can imagine, creating a Papergraphic is labor intensive, but I have developed certain proprietary techniques and media documentation in excel workbooks to speed up the process. I hope you enjoy my work.
