Joan's Story--Paper tole is the art of handcrafting three-dimensional pictures from flat prints. It is rumored to have started in Venice in the 17th century. By skillfully cutting, shaping, and layering pieces of paper onto an image, three-dimensional work is created.
I volunteered at an Institute for the mentally handicapped in Pennsylvania. Soon after, I became an assistant to the arts and crafts director, learning how to knit, crochet, embroider, make cards, paint, make frames, make flowers, and do many other crafts. " You name it, we did it." This is where my love of crafts and volunteering began. While living in St. George, I volunteered at the Inter-Mountain Hospital Thrift Shop and was in charge of the craft table at The Jubilee Of Trees for three years. After moving to Mesquite, I took a class at the Art Gallery for 3D paper tole. I was hooked. I volunteer two days a week at the Virgin Valley Thrift Shop, where I take donated fake flowers and arrange them for resale. I am starting to do something different, making pictures out of broken jewelry. I am a member of the Paper Tole Institute in New Mexico, where I can enter my work, or if I were younger, I could become a teacher of the art.