What is your shop name & URL, real name, and what do you sell?My shop name is Papercuts By Joe and my url is papercutsbyjoe.etsy.com My name is Joe Bagley and I make original hand-cut paper art from a single piece of black paper.
Where do you live? Tell us a about your town.
My wife and I just moved from Florida after an extremely difficult year down in the "Sunshine" state. Long story short, it was awful, we both lost our jobs due to the bad economy, and we had to move in with family in Maine where I grew up. Currently, we are living in the ultimate cliché of my Mother's home in South Portland while my wife seeks employment. I'm trying my hand at full-time art and so far it's been a great learning experience and a small success.
How long have you been making your craft & what got you into it?
I have been papercutting semi-professionally for about two years, however I have done it off and on for the past ten years. I developed my technique and style over the period of years based on architecture and historical pieces of art.Do you feel like your craft is related to where you live?
Definitely! I think a place like Maine is open minded for an art form like mine that does not fall exactly in the craft or fine art categories to do well. I also spent a year in Florida trying desperately to find places and things that inspired me, but only succeeded in making one design inspired by Florida. Within one week in Portland, I had 20 designs that I want to make and ready to be cut. My next body of work will be exclusively from Maine.
What are your plans for the future?
Well, First my wife will find a job (in Maine or Massachusetts) and when she finds one, I'll dive head-long into art trying to create as much good work as I can (those 20 pieces). If I need to get a second job, I will. Eventually, we both are looking to go to grad school to get graduate degrees in our other passion, Archaeology (we are both professional archaeologists with BA's from Boston University).