Scherenschnitte

No, you didn’t sneeze while trying to pronounce this German word meaning paper cutting. Its origins are in China, 25 AD to 221 AD. Paper was an expensive luxury and paper cutting was highly prized by Chinese royalty. Soon it made its way over the Silk Road to Europe. Today paper cutting is not practiced widely in Germany, except in Canton Bern, but remains popular in Switzerland and other countries. Each of our stores has an example of scherenschnitte featuring one of five PA Guild member artists: Jupi Das, of Harrisburg, PA whose work displays an oriental touch; Sandra Gilpin producing colored scherenschnitte, Marilyn Diener with a Polish style; Marie Helene Grabman, internationally known and featured in the magazine German Life, Feb/March 2009; and Neil Haring of Womelsdorf, PA who was commissioned to produce a piece for Liza Minelli’s last wedding. Traditional artists used heavy scissors; today there is a variety of specialty scissors. Of the artists whose work we display, only Neil Haring uses a knife. The others use fine scissors; Marie Helen Grabman uses fine surgical scissors, to cut from one piece of paper. The large cutting above the mantel in Aurora was displayed in the Detroit, MI Museum of Art before coming to our store. She has won numerous art awards, as has Neil Haring. Themes of the art can be elaborations of nature, folk life, specific celebrations, hearts or flowers.

To make your choice of the lacy designs, you might need to visit each of our stores before making a selection to decorate your home. It’s more than the snowflakes you made in the second grade.