My interest in art began at an early age with a set of watercolors given to me by my grandmother. But it was in 2010, at the age of 59 that I found my medium of choice—cut paper. I had earned a minor in art at Murray State University in 1973. In 1990, I again enrolled in MSU studio art classes and studied drawing and painting part-time until 1997.

I worked mostly in oils until I participated in a paper appliqué workshop at the Murray Art Guild in 2010. In the workshop, I was introduced to a tracing paper technique of making patterns. I now break my compositions down into shapes and then trace the shapes to be used as patterns. With scissors or an Exacto knife, I cut pieces of colored or printed paper to fit each shape. Then, using rubber cement, I glue the pieces in place to complete the composition. The colors and prints of paper are my palette rather than paint. The results are bold, colorful and simplified compositions that have a primitive or folk art feel.

My work is influenced by American artists Ellis Wilson, Jacob Lawrence and Jonathan Green, finding inspiration in their use of bright motifs, silhouetted forms and flattened perspectives. I also relate to their themes of family, community and rituals of daily life. Ellis Wilson's most well-known painting, "Funeral Procession," is a colorful yet eloquent portrayal of a solemn and universal occasion. In my work, I examine themes of family, home and rural life in western Kentucky. My recently completed piece "Ms. Emma Jean" (2014) is a portrait of my 81-year-old neighbor driving her tractor and mowing her field. The use of cut paper shapes to create the piece achieves a bright boldness and spontaneity that I could not accomplish with paint. My effort was to capture Ms. Emma Jean's spirit of no-nonsense independence, which is not uncommon among rural folks.

Eva King
Murray, Ky.

Telephone: 270-753-4192
Email: evaking51@bellsouth.net