TRURO, N.S. — TRURO, N.S. – When Taya Kehler puts a knife to paper she has a plan.
Using paper, a sharp blade, sometimes paint, and always inspiration, she creates works of art. Some of it is now on display at NovelTea Bookstore Café.
“The pieces start with a lot of pondering thoughts on long walks,” said the Dal AC landscape architecture student.
“If I didn’t have this creative outlet I would have to have something else, but I love paper and I love creating so this is perfect.”
Kehler got involved in paper cutting when she was in high school and her class was asked to create something while mimicking the style of an artist. Béatrice Coron, a French artist who does paper cutting, was her inspiration.
“I enjoyed it, so I kept doing it and developed my own style,” she said. “I’ve been doing it for seven years now.
“It’s about colour, texture, shadow and shape, and it involves a lot of measuring and layering.”
She draws designs on tracing paper, lays that over the paper she’s chosen for her art, and then cuts through both at the same time, using a very sharp blade. Provided she doesn’t make a wrong cut, she finds the process relaxing.
Kehler uses card stock for much of her art, but also enjoys working with a variety of specialty papers. She sometimes finger-paints to create different effects.
“I’m usually inspired by nature,” she said. “The pieces I have at NovelTea are very geometric. It was a fun change to do something angular.”
Nature’s influence can even be seen in some of the geometric designs. She has grandparents in Manitoba who are beekeepers and the patterns seen with honeycombs are reflected in her work.
Kehler, who is from Mississauga, Ont., has had pieces in galleries in Ontario.
Her work will remain on display at NovelTea throughout February.
She will also have pieces in the Dal AC fine arts and crafts exhibit at the MacRae Library, 135 College Road. An opening reception for the exhibit will be held Thursday, Feb. 28 from 7-9 p.m. and the show will remain until March 21.
More of Kehler’s art can be seen on Instagram @tayakehler
