Cut paper decorations are a tradition all around the world. it’s a simple, and inexpensive media to work with, and adds a bright element to any celebration. Perhaps nowhere is this folk art practiced more exuberantly than in Mexico, in the form of Papel picado (‘punched paper’).

Mexican artisans generally use hammer and chisel to cut up to 50 layers of tissue in a single stroke. Banners, flags, and altar decorations are created for holidays such as Day of the Dead, Independence Day, and Christmas, and then once the festivities are over, left to the mercy of the elements.

My techniques and many of my images are rooted in the tradition of papel picado, but all images are original and hand cut. I start out with an original image drawn on sketch paper, and then using an X-acto knife, (making them ‘Papel cortado’) I cut out the negative spaces, leaving an intricate, interconnected and unusual handcrafted image. Sometimes they are cut in editions of two or three, but as I use heavier, archival papers, never more than that.

• 24th Annual Fine Arts Festival, Menlo Park, CA; April 7, 8, 9, 2006

• 56th Semi-Annual Walnut Creek Art Fair, April 28, 29, 30, 2006

• Live Oak Fair, Live Oak Park, Berkeley, CA; June 10 & 11, 2006