history of quilling

http://insidestorey.blogspot.com/2009/05/interview-with-yulia-brodskaya.html

For our readers who aren’t familiar with paper quilling, please describe what it is.

Quilling, also known as paper filigree, paper scrolling, or paper rolling, is a paper craft that involves the use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs. The name is believed to be derived from the feather quill on which the strips of paper were rolled.

The history of quilling is quite difficult to pin down. Although the craft is believed to have been practiced since ancient Egyptian times, it was during the Renaissance that nuns and monks developed the art. They used paper strips to decorate book covers and religious items instead of the original metal wires that their ancestors had used. Some of the earliest pieces of preserved paper filigree date from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

During that period quilling moved beyond its religious origins, but the limited availability of paper and the fact that it is very time-consuming restricted its practice mostly to ladies of leisure.

The popularity of the craft has fluctuated over the centuries, but it is currently enjoying a modern revival. Today, quilling is no longer confined to the "upper classes," though it is still practiced mostly by women and is still regarded as a hobby.

Yulia Brodskaya

The Victorian handicraft of quilling is being used to great effect in the modern day. Papercraft illustrator Yulia Brodskaya explains the skills involved to Garrick Webster

Craft is the word of the moment in graphic design and illustration. Words like ‘cut’ and ‘paste’, which are so embedded in our creative software, have taken back their real-world meanings, and many of today’s designers are rediscovering and developing their handicraft skills. Creatives around the world are finding that these skills, whether they involve oil on canvas, or paper, scissors and glue, are much sought after by clients. And, often, they’re proving a lot more enjoyable to employ than vector selection tools and clipping paths.

Few better exemplify the authenticity of a handmade approach to image-making than Yulia Brodskaya, a Russian émigré who has been developing her career in the UK for the last five years. “Digital images are not as fascinating to me as handmade ones,” she declares. “Of course, there are digital artworks that I really like and appreciate, but they never make me think, ‘I wish I could do that myself.’ Handmade artworks or objects do.”

There are a number of different approaches to papercrafting in currency at the moment. Origami and paper construction, for instance, feature a lot of folding and result in three-dimensional objects, scenes and characters all made from the reformed pulp of the world’s finest pines. Meanwhile, pattern-cutting and collage involve a lot more scissor work. Brodskaya employs a technique called quilling, in which strips of coloured paper are cut, then wrapped round a quill (or a stick or straw) resulting in curls. These are then glued onto a backing card and built up into images and text. The technique was used heavily in the 19th century by ladies of leisure who quilled their time away between tea and gin. In the 21st century, Brodskaya’s post-Baroque coloured curls are winning her major clients including Nokia, The Guardian, and New Scientist.

Creating paper-based images and text for clients has its challenges. Firstly, once the paper has been glued down, there is no Apple-Z to undo, so Brodskaya warns her clients about this upfront. “I’m fine with the finality issue,” she says. “I trust myself, and the whole working process is quite slow so I get enough time to think and consider the options before I glue a single paper strip. I always try to explain all the nuances to clients from the beginning, to avoid any misunderstanding in the end.”

One of her first commissions was to create seven type-based images for The Guardian newspaper’s G2 section. She had just three-and-a-half days to complete a series of mainly Christmas-related textual pieces. Because the quilling technique is so time-consuming, she barely slept. “The brief was quite straightforward – I was given the words to illustrate. I also tried to incorporate some shapes and details into the words to make them visually interesting, for instance, a plate and fork into the words ‘the dinner’. The most difficult thing was to meet the deadline,” she recalls.

All this hard work paid off, however, and won her a lot of recognition. It remains one of the most fulfilling projects she’s done – since the imagery received great feedback from readers and the online community – and for The Guardian it produced one of its most memorable illustration series in recent years.

Aside from her obsession with paper, you may have gathered that Brodskaya is fascinated with illustrative type too. Whereas other leading papercrafters such as Jen Stark, Gail Armstrong and Rob Ryan tend to come up with image-based creations, Brodskaya sets out her stall with a strong typographic focus. “I suppose this tendency comes from my graphic design background. Typography is my second love, after paper, and I’m really happy that I’ve found a way of combining the two. Having said that, I don’t want to exclude non-typo-based designs, I’d like to work on different projects,” she says.

Another project she pinpoints as one of her favourites so far is her work for international group of communications and advertising companies, Havas. Here she could indulge the more image-focused areas of her creativity, as in most cases she was creating graphics to introduce themes in the company’s 2008 annual report. This was an annual report with a difference, however, as it was printed on posters – Brodskaya’s images on one side, and the group’s information on the other. Using quilling, she rendered an image of a human brain, a woman with flowing hair, and a decorative work to represent creativity.

“The client really liked the work, and they even decided to print a limited edition of each poster, on superb quality paper, this time without any additional information on the back or front. The art director came over to London from Paris with the printed posters so I could sign each one – they were numbered up to 40. The whole process was filmed,” explains Brodskaya.

Most jobs she undertakes involve the creation of an image, which is then photographed and reproduced in some form – either in print or on screen. With her recent work for Firmenich SA, it was slightly different. Firmenich manufactures chemical fragrances and flavours for cosmetics and food companies. The company was interested in commissioning an artwork for purchase and display, and it also appeared on its 2009 Christmas card.

In preparation, Firmenich showed Brodskaya the whole process of perfume creation, and gave her a tour of the premises in Paris for inspiration. She then had carte blanche to create her artwork. It will be the first in a series of commissions, as the company plans to involve a different artist each year in future. The image Brodskaya created was based on the general concept of scent, but as the company had explained that flowers are the main ingredient of many of their fragrances, she decided to focus on these as the main element. “I didn’t want to create an abstract composition as flowers seem to be a natural motif for this technique, as well as being a good fit for the brief, so I made them focal points. To my mind, however, this artwork differs from my other work in that I used more broken lines, and the design is less structured than my other projects,” she reveals.

One of the main drawbacks to her work, she finds, is that although it’s created in three dimensions, most people only encounter it printed in a flat format. One of her favourite personal projects, for instance, is entitled London, and incorporates both quilling and illustrated elements. She’s a little disappointed the full 3D effect and details don’t come through as well in the final photo.

“The project demonstrates that paper elements can be combined with hand-drawn illustrations, and there are endless possibilities in doing that,” she begins. “This artwork is my imaginary London. I just wanted to have some fun illustrating the key London attractions and iconic things such as animals or people, like the Big Ben guy. It’s much more interesting to look at the physical thing, as here the hand-drawn elements dominate the image; the photo doesn’t show the eminent parts well, and this is one of the disadvantages of using a combination of the two techniques.”

As she points out, photography is critical to the effectiveness of an image when papercrafting is involved, and she often works with professional photographers to get this right. For anyone who wants to get into making imagery out of paper, an understanding of photographic skills is a definite plus. “Lighting the work can make or break the success of the image. It needn’t necessarily be complex, but the light needs careful control in direction, intensity and the level of softness,” she explains.

And she also points out that without great photography the work wouldn’t be seen in mainstream media: “Representation of paper artworks with photography allows papercraft to get a lot more exposure and be used in a new context, in various forms of graphic communication.”

Another factor that deeply affects her work is the availability of coloured paper. Although an avid paper collector, Brodskaya is never quite satisfied with what’s around and is always on the lookout for a greater range of colours. Unlike working digitally, or even with paints, the colour palette in each piece depends on the range of colours supplied by paper manufacturers. The limited choice – as well as quantities – paper is sold in, are hurdles she constantly battles.

“Everywhere I go – even if I’m abroad on holiday – I visit shops selling paper, but still can’t find all the colours I need. So I have to work with what I’ve got. I would really appreciate any advice on where to find good quality paper in dozens of colours, without the need to buy packs of 100 sheets of each colour. For my needs, five sheets are enough,” she says.

Aside from paper, her main tools are scissors, cutting knifes, tweezers, straws, cocktail sticks and glue – all of which she buys from craft supply stores. Of course, although the work is done by hand, the computer is never far away. In the early stages, she uses her Mac to edit her roughs and drawings, and to email them to clients. “I begin with sketches. This is a very important stage because once I glue a piece of paper I can’t remove it – the glue is an intentionally strong adhesive. Thus there is no room for error, and I need to have a very clear idea about what I’m doing from the beginning.

“There’s always room for experimenting with the actual paper while I’m working, however, because sometimes it’s difficult to see what will look good before starting the physical paper work.” She continues: “I always tell the clients from the beginning that the amendments must be done at the sketching stage. I can always add some elements, but can’t remove or change what has already been done. But of course there are cases when they still want me to get rid of some paper strips. If this happens, the background has to be retouched digitally after the photo shoot.”

Sometimes the retouching is done by the client after Brodskaya has supplied them with the images, other times she does it herself. It serves as an uncomfortable fail-safe in a world where clients are used to changing entire layouts and colour schemes at the drop of the hat, thanks to the previously mentioned Apple-Z option.

Between client jobs, Brodskaya likes to take on personal work; aside from getting inspiration from blogs and websites by other designers and illustrators, she cites Gustav Klimt as one of her main influences. As we go to press, she has some projects in mind that will soon be revealed, but doesn’t want to say too much. She’s also just finished an array of commercial projects.

Her ambition for the future is to carry on with her work, but she admits she’s not quite sure of the direction it’s going. “I just hope to take it further – where to, exactly, I haven’t decided yet. I’m still thinking and experimenting, so please ask me again in a couple of years,” she smiles.

http://www.computerarts.co.uk/in_depth/interviews/yulia_brodskaya

During the Graphic Design Festival Breda publisher Gestalten and the art space KOP present ‘Paper Cut’. An exhibition displaying the innovative use of paper by graphic designers and artist.

Up to now paper is the most important material of our civilization. It has served as a medium for documenting information and ideas. Today, as we are approaching a digital era in which the role of paper will shift, paper is enjoying a renaissance among young artists and designers worldwide as an experimental material for design.

Paper Cut is a contemporary survey of innovative design work crafted from paper. It explores the astounding possibilities of paper craft in all shapes and sizes – some are playful, whimsical and quick to produce while others are far more intricate and created in painstaking detail. From the most basic techniques including cutting, folding, gluing and collage to the use of cutting-edge technology like embossing and laser cutting, paper and cardboard-crafted works are reaching new artistic heights.

The exhibition shows the most extraordinary creations from small objects and figures to large-scale art installations as well as three-dimensional graphic sculptures from a vast spectrum of artistic disciplines ranging from character design, graphic design, illustration, fashion, animation and film. It provides a comprehensive insight into the enormous creative potential of this multifaceted material and reveals how paper is firing up the imaginations of today’s designers and artists.

The exhibition is co-curated by Robert Klanten, known as editor for famous books like Tangible, Paper Craft and the upcoming Urban Interventions. Together with KOP curator Dennis Elbers they selected over 12 international designers for this exhibition. www.graphicdesignfestival.nl/en/programma/paper-cut/#react

Creative Review May 2010

Volume 30, issue 5, page 38

FOLK LAW

Woodland creatures, flat, earthy tones, pine trees and ruddy cheeks: it seems like you can’t pick up a record sleeve or turn a page in a magazine at the moment without being confronted by imagery straight out of a folk tale. And a distinctly northern European folk tale at that.

Alex Spiro of London-based small press Nobrow has an idea of why such work abounds currently:

“I think we got to a certain point where many people questioned technology-led illustration work. I suppose it was the nagging suspicion that some of it was only as good as the programmes people were using,” he says. “Illustrators stopped thinking about what the software could do for them and rather started thinking about how they could rewire it to suit their needs. This is not to say that illustrators are any less digital, merely that they are less reliant on it as a driving force for their work.”

Taking things to an extreme level, Spiro says that he knows “many artists who have returned to producing separations, or layers, by hand; these are people who were reared in the digital age and who are very adept at every manner of digital wizardry, but who have consciously and retroactively taught themselves the time-consuming processes that their predecessors were happy to dispense with when the time came. Just as many electro musicians were returning to analogue equipment to differentiate their sound from an otherwise over-saturated and monotonous genre in the early noughties, illustrators seem to have adopted a philosophy in which forming a technical practice that is based on experi mentation, in whatever form it could take – analogue or digital – is crucial to their development as artists,” Spiro argues. “It also aids their commercial practice by amplifying their idiosyncrasies and differentiating their product from everything else out there,” he continues.

“Of course, it’s not the illustrators that make trends happen, it’s the brief, it’s the demand,” says Greg Burne of Big Active, the creative studio that also represents a roster of illustrators. “A few years ago people wanted to be slick, but now people want to communicate bespoke, one-off, hand-made sensibilities. The illustration brief buzzword changed overnight from ‘iconic’ to ‘organic’ and you can see this pervade everything, not just illustration.”

Burne is right. Turn on the TV, for example, and the adbreaks are full of wooly-hatted, bearded men and girls in jeans and check shirts skipping around to plinky plonky sing-along folky music. And that’s just the ads for McDonalds. “Now there’s an appreciation for more touchy feely craft stuff,” adds Burne.

While some of us might be getting tired of seeing huge, corporate, multinational money-making machines with dubious ethics trying to persuade us they’re wholesome and ethically cuddle-worthy, the fact that these brands and organisations want to tap into the visual language of folk art-influenced illustration is, obviously, great news for the illustrators (and their agents) whose work fits the bill. One such artist is Sanna Annukka who is represented by Big Active. “Sanna’s definitely one of our most in-demand artists at present,” affirms Burne. “Part of her appeal is the fact that the work suggests wholesomeness. Her work is decorative and this opens it up to be applied to homewares, prints and crafts. However, her work can also convey narrative and so she is often approached by companies wanting to ‘green’ themselves up,” he continues.

But while advertisers may have cynical motivations for tapping into the folk trend, its foremost practitioners are referencing something that has personal significance. “I’m really proud of my Finnish heritage,” says Annukka, who spent her childhood summers in Finland. “Finnish landscapes, nature, wildlife, culture and folklore are huge influences on my work.”

“I grew up reading Finland’s national epic, The Kalevala, a collection of mad songs depicting heroic tales of adventure,” she continues. “I knew from a young age that The Kalevala would be a core theme in my work and I based my collection for Finnish textile/fashion company Marimekko on some of my favourite stories within it. What I like doing as an illustrator is depicting old folklore in a modern, refreshed way. My Marimekko patterns mean people can own colourful vibrant depictions of Finnish folklore in their very own homes. I love that.”

Annukka is not the only young illustrator with roots in genuine folk traditions. Helsinki-based Janine Rewell, represented by Agent Pekka, cites Slavic folk art among her top influences. UK-based illustrator Stuart Kolakovic (repped by Heart), on the other hand, became interested in eastern European folk art because of his ancestry: his grandfather was Serbian, his grandmother Ukrainian. “I’m as interested in European and Russian folklore as much as I am in its aesthetic and I’m currently working on a comic book, Lichen, which is based loosely around Saami reindeer herding culture and its ancient animistic beliefs,” he says. “The way I use flat and limited colour palettes, texture and pattern design, initially inspired by European folk art, has gone on to greatly influence all aspects of my work and not just the obviously ‘folky’ pieces.”

So are clients actually asking for ‘folk’ in their briefs to illustrators? “Not really,” says Burne. “‘Folk’ is still a dirty word – no-one at an ad agency says ‘we want someone folky’. Actually, I’ve yet to hear an expression that sums up this kind of phenomenon succinctly and appropriately. ‘Homespun’ and ‘wholesome’ are what I usually hear.”

They might not mention the f-word, but the illustrators that do the work know when to turn up the folk. “I’d say about half of the commissions I get are from art directors wanting something to do with an eastern European aesthetic or ‘nature’,” says Kolakovic. “It’s romantic – kind of like a grown-up Disney vision of how we should look at and live with nature.”

No doubt the trend wheel will turn again soon, but, for now, it’s all about the folk.

Rob Ryan

Interview with magma books

www.magmabooks.com/content/newsfeatures/feature.asp?c=NAF&sc=96&fid=30

M: In the last couple of years there seems to have been a tendency for designers and artists to want to return to crafts techniques. Do you consider yourself as part of that trend?
RR: I guess so – but not that much.

M: There is something quite traditional about your themes and imagery. Do you turn to the past for ideas/inspiration?
RR: Not over intentionally. I do tend to lean towards the decorative and I guess I do love post-war pre 60s English illustration so much… So I must have been influenced by that stuff a bit. Eric Gill and those crazy dudes!

Julene Harrison

www.juleneharrison.wordpress.com

Another interview with Helena Musselwhite

March 2009

cotlzine.blogspot.com/2009/10/helen-musselwhite-interview.html

What are your thoughts on the nature and exclusivity/inclusiveness of ‘art’ -- Do you believe everyone can be creative in their own life?
Art and creativity has many levels and is a very personal thing.
Every one has some it just manifests its self in different ways, whether it be professional or a hobby.

You are a member of the Manchester Craft Mafia. How and why did you become involved with this?
I became involved primarily to meet other like mined people in the area and to meet periodically, it’s a loose collective of people but we’re there for moral support, professional help and a social time too!

A lot of your work is sold in local, independent galleries and stores.
Do you feel that such independently owned stores, spaces & settings are more suited/more fitting for your artwork?
Yes definitely. My work is the antithesis of mass production but at the same time quite commercial and I find that independent shops and small galleries and their customers understand this and actively seek out original work.
Local is important too but I do sell all over the world which is important in raising my profile.

Do you enjoy exhibiting in group shows?
What have your experiences of exhibiting nationally and internationally been like in general?
I have exhibited in lots of small group shows and I like the diversity that comes with a group.
I have always had good experiences with the shows I’ve done.
The galleries and their customers have been very positive, especially in America!