2008 Woodie Awards
Art instructor's works for sale
One-of-a-kind, handmade paper collages, books
Maddisun Fowler
Issue date: 4/19/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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Steven Cost, an associate professor of art and graphic design, has his handmade paper works, collages and books on display at the OHMS Cafe and Gallery. The opening for the artwork was April 3, and it will remain through the end of April.
"A lot of my work is based on handmade paper," Cost said. "It got started with me being interested in handmade books. I learned how to do handmade paper at a university where I used to teach. One of the professors there used handmade paper in his design classes, which intrigued me, so one of the students showed me how to do it. I brought those skills with me.
"The things you can do with handmade paper vary. You can make the paper, draw on it, paint on it, print on it, and you can embed things into it, such as leaves and flowers.
"You can mold the paper; I have one piece that has been turned into the form of a person's face. You can stick the paper on any kind of surface, and it will take the shape of that surface.
"I first started using the handmade paper in my Design 1 class here at Amarillo College, and I teach the students how to make the paper. We would texture it or emboss it, and I would have them make collages.
"Then I started getting a lot of paper myself, and I thought this past summer, since I had the summer off, that I would start using this handmade paper in very artistic ways. I made some new paper and made some handmade books, water color and colleges."
"I included antique keys, antique clock and watch parts, yucca pods, sticks and other natural things."
Cost likes to have natural colors in his pieces. "There are several that are contemporary in nature," he said. "Most of my work is naturalistic. I use a lot of things that come from nature. So the clock parts and keys are sort of surprises. There might be a bundle of sticks, paper and leaves and then there might be a little key for a surprise."
Cost's pieces were displayed last semester in the Lynn Library. "I did not sell my works at the library," he said. "So after that, I went to several galleries and coffee shops, and OHMS was the first place to display my work since the initial Lynn Library. There were new things in this OHMS show."
"A lot of my work is based on handmade paper," Cost said. "It got started with me being interested in handmade books. I learned how to do handmade paper at a university where I used to teach. One of the professors there used handmade paper in his design classes, which intrigued me, so one of the students showed me how to do it. I brought those skills with me.
"The things you can do with handmade paper vary. You can make the paper, draw on it, paint on it, print on it, and you can embed things into it, such as leaves and flowers.
"You can mold the paper; I have one piece that has been turned into the form of a person's face. You can stick the paper on any kind of surface, and it will take the shape of that surface.
"I first started using the handmade paper in my Design 1 class here at Amarillo College, and I teach the students how to make the paper. We would texture it or emboss it, and I would have them make collages.
"Then I started getting a lot of paper myself, and I thought this past summer, since I had the summer off, that I would start using this handmade paper in very artistic ways. I made some new paper and made some handmade books, water color and colleges."
"I included antique keys, antique clock and watch parts, yucca pods, sticks and other natural things."
Cost likes to have natural colors in his pieces. "There are several that are contemporary in nature," he said. "Most of my work is naturalistic. I use a lot of things that come from nature. So the clock parts and keys are sort of surprises. There might be a bundle of sticks, paper and leaves and then there might be a little key for a surprise."
Cost's pieces were displayed last semester in the Lynn Library. "I did not sell my works at the library," he said. "So after that, I went to several galleries and coffee shops, and OHMS was the first place to display my work since the initial Lynn Library. There were new things in this OHMS show."
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