Magical Menagerie
Kathy Marx of Francestown builds a world of whimsy with paper scraps stiffened with starch and supported by a few bends of wire.
Who says design on paper has to be a two-dimensional art? Kathy Marx of Francestown builds a world of whimsy with paper scraps stiffened with starch and supported by a few bends of wire.
Marx started layering paper on paper when she wanted to replicate some paper mâché fairies she saw 10 years ago. Enjoying the process and the comical possibilities, Marx now creates a magical menagerie of flying Santas, pouting puppies and curious cats.
Final features are painted on – colorful spots, goofy grins and "wheee" expressions. As a watercolorist she finds this part most enjoyable, adding, "I ask myself, now how can I make this even sillier?"
The medium seems to lend itself to whimsical subject matter. The fencing wire she orders by the quarter-mile is pliable enough to twist by hand for easy contortions and imaginative distortions.
Marx was juried into the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen this past year and her work is available at the League shops in Concord, Littleton and Meredith, where she will be the featured artist in December. From December 1-3 she will exhibit at the Evergreen Fair in Durham.
