Have you ever cut out paper snowflakes? You probably didn't use a big, clunky pair of sheep shears to do it, did you?
Historically, the people of Poland have cut wycinanki (pronounced vee-chee-NAN-kee), their traditional paper-cutting art, using sheep shears because they were often the only cutting tools available to people in the rural areas.
Wycinanki started in the mid-1800s as a decorative art. People used cutouts as wall or window decorations, notecards, stencils, bookmarks, lampshades, placemats, holiday decorations, frames for poems or important documents, and three-dimensional mobiles. Traditionally, wycinanki designs are cut freehand, without sketching a design first, from a single sheet of paper.
Since zebras don't have hands, this kind of art project is a little hard for me to do. So I asked my friend Magdalena Nowacka-Jannotta, a talented wycinanki artist, to cut the examples shown here. And, yes, she used sheep shears to do it!
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Try it yourself
Make sure there is an adult to help you with this activity because you need to use sharp scissors.
You'll need:
● Scissors (manicure scissors for intricate cuts).
● Origami paper or solid-color gift-wrapping paper.
● White glue or glue stick.
● Piece of poster board.
Instructions (see diagram):
1. Begin with a rectangular strip of paper. Fold it in half lengthwise with the colored side of the paper to the inside. Press the fold firmly to make a sharp crease (fig. 1).
2. Fold it in half again, but crosswise this time (fig. 2).
3. Fold it in half crosswise once more (fig.3). With this fold you have created eight rectangular sections within your strip of paper.
4. Cut shapes and designs through all the layers of paper along both of the longer sides of your rectangle, being careful to leave some areas joined at the edge that contains the fold (fig. 4).
5. Now cut shapes and designs through all layers along the shorter sides of the rectangle. Be careful to leave some areas joined on each (fig. 5).
6. Carefully unfold your paper-cutting. What does it look like? Do you see a repeating pattern even though you only cut one piece of paper? You can glue your creation on a piece of poster board.
– Source: "Wycinanki: The Art of Polish Papercutting" by Magdalena Nowacka-Jannotta (CrizmacArt and Cultural Education Materials Inc., 2003).
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