Patti Rishforth is the artist behind Heart Paper Scissors’ new “Let It Shine” creations. She hand cuts silhouettes and now offers many new items to display each custom profile so a mother’s little lights can shine!
These shiny new gift items include a Campfire candle; tin camp mug; sequin “glamping” pillows; brass wax seals; gold foil journals; address stamps; gold metal floating frames; and hand-sculpted PMC silver charms – all customizable with a child’s silhouette, or a fiancé’s, a pet, etc.
“There are a lot of people who claim to be silhouette artists yet only trace pictures – some have artistic skill and this keeps silhouettes visible and on-trend – but I don’t want people to forget that there is this amazing art form from 1700s France of cutting silhouettes freehand – no tracing or drawing, just hand-eye coordination,” Patti says.
Reese Witherspoon says in her book Whiskey in a Teacup, “If it isn’t moving, monogram it.” Patti likes to say, “If a monogram can mark it, a silhouette can top it!”
The primary product of the “Let it Shine” theme, would be the precious metal discs, hand-engraved by the artist to provide a striking contrast between polished metal and hand-engraved intaglio profiles that sparkle with light. The metal pendants will be available in sterling silver, 14k gold filled, and 14k rose gold filled. The artist first hand cuts a traditional silhouette of the subject while looking at a profile photo or person sitting for her live or in a virtual session. Upon approval, the artist transfers the outline onto the pendant and hand engraves their unique profile to personalize each disc. No laser! “A silhouette is not a logo to be stamped into a keepsake – it’s personal and deserves an artist’s tending,” says Patti.
When asked how she got into this, she replied, “When my husband was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, I was told I must raise my son alone. I decided silhouettes was a way I could make a living as a portrait artist with smaller, faster portraits with more customers.”
Patti took advantage of quarantine to order new tools, read, learn and speak to experts and begin engraving these charms featuring not monograms but profiles. She uses her own blend of techniques to create the tiny details needed to make these small masterpieces. But as tiny as they are, she is content that she has finally found a way to display silhouettes the way she thinks they are most worthy, close to the heart.
