Scherenschnitte on Etsy

1. Red Riding Hood by cindymindypindy
2. Heart-shaped Scherenschnitte by kajillian
3. Squirrel Village by cindymindypindy
4. Lanterns by papercutsbyjoe
5. Fairytale Forest Skirt by madewithlovebyhannah
6. Blue Horses Silhouette Papercutting by jennyleefowler
7. B Alphopomorphic Scherenschnitte Silhouette by esmecat
8. Folk Art Scherenschnitte Silhouette Windsor Chairs by traditionall
9. Choosing the Christmas Goose Matted Scherenschnitte by SirensCove

I'm addicted to making these digital mosaics; they're so much fun. And I'm also still feeling so inspired by the chance discovery of Lotte Reiniger's papercuts. So I searched Etsy for some papercut inspiration and found some lovely examples of "scherenschnitte," the German word meaning "scissor cuts." Scherenschnitte is the traditional art of papercutting that became very popular in Germany in the 1800s. The art was brought to the United States by the Pennsylvania Dutch, and it is still practiced by some expert craftspeople.

The heart-shaped scherenschnitte by kajillian and the Christmas goose scherenschnitte by SirensCove shown in the mosaic above are very traditional, but the other examples take the art form in a modern and whimsical direction. The beautiful screenprinted skirt by Hannah Kopacz (madewithlovebyhannah) is inspired by traditional fairy-tale papercuts. Her blog is inspiring, and she's been featured in Craft magazine (Vol. 6, p.26). I also admire the whimsy and detail of the funny squirrel village by cindymindypindy, who has a fantastic website with more of her work and a template for a squirrel scherenschnitte (probably not for the newbies like me, though!). Her blog is a hoot, too, and it includes a list of papercutters.

Although I haven't confirmed this directly yet, I suspect that Reiniger was heavily influenced by traditional scherenschnitte. I did a little research on her work and found her charming description of how she started making silhouettes:

I could cut out silhouettes almost as soon as I could manage to hold a pair of scissors. I could paint, too, and read and recite; but these things did not surprise anyone very much. But everybody was astonished about the scissor cuts, which seemed a more unusual accomplishment. The silhouettes were very much praised, and I cut out silhouettes for all the birthdays in the family. Did anyone warn me as to where this path would lead? Not in the least; I was encouraged to continue.

(From Reiniger, Lotte, "Scissors Make Films," Sight and Sound, 5:17, 1936, p. 13.)

I love how Reiniger blended a traditional folk craft with film animation--a very modern technology for her time--to create a wholly new and unique art form. Reiniger would have been right at home at Maker Faire!

I can see how papercutting can become quite addicting. I've tried my hand at making some papercuts with scrapbook paper, and I hope to have the kids try it as well.











It's also very liberating to use old magazine pages for the papercuts. You just start cutting without a pattern and see where the scissors take you.