Aurora, Oregon is a small town known for its many antique stores. We stopped there for ice cream after visiting the nearby Wooden Shoe tulip farm, and ended up spending a few hours wandering through the old houses stuffed with treasures. It was there that I encountered a small (3″ x 4″) framed scissor cutting of a butterfly setting on a clover plant. The whimsy and delicacy of the piece lured me in, and I bought it for $30.  The work consists of two pieces. The first part is apparently of a clover plant, done in blue.  The second part is a butterfly done in black paper and placed over the first cutting.  Each piece is a contiguous cutting. The precision and intricacy to create these pieces must have required a tremendous amount of skill by the artist.

 

 Who is was Britta Kling?

Britta Kling (1935-2011) was an immigrated to America from Germany, settling in the San Diego area.  She dedicated her life to her craft, and was an active member of the Guild of American Paper Cutters, and is in the Papercutters Hall of Fame.  Its clear from comments in the guild bulletin that she enjoyed connecting with others who shared her deep enthusiasm for paper cutting. When she returned to Germany for visits, she would bring her scissors to be sharpened by her 

According to her obituary, “Britta took inspiration from nature, finding beauty and wonder in the
simplest of settings, as seen in her Scherenschnitte – traditional
German scissor cuttings. Her works were exhibited in shows across the
country. She helped establish the Offtrack Gallery at the old train
station in Leucadia. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the
Guild of American Papercutters, and one of her pieces was selected for
the permanent collection of their National Museum in Somerset,
Pennsylvania. Later, as owner of The Perfect Arrangement, a floral shop
in Encinitas, she put her distinctive artisic touch on arrangements and
bouquets that brought joy to many.” 

Her obituary in the papercutter’s word provided some more detail about her craft:  “Her materials were those of a Scherenschnitte artist: black
surfaced silhouette paper and long handled scissors. ‘I have had my
scissors over 30 years. I have a scissor-man in Germany who tightens and
sharpens them for me whenever I visit, and that suffices until the next
time.’ Mrs. Kling pursued her interests in music, teaching, and
embroidery. She published her own line of greeting cards, and her work
was featured at the cooperative Offtrack Gallery in Encinitas,
California.”

I went searching for other examples of her work online, but found precious few.  Sometimes one of her cutting pieces will come up on Etsy. 

There are at least two pieces from Britta Kling that are with the Guild of American Paper Cutter’s core collection.  Joy (24×24) and Wildflowers, both fine examples of her artistry.

Though I was disappointed not to find more of her work online, I enjoyed learning about Britta’s life, and through my investigation, I have developed even more of a fondness to the piece I was able to rescue from the antique store. Through the life’s work of Britta Kling, I acquired a better understanding and appreciation of the papercutting and scherenschmitte, and would be open to adding more of Britta’s work or other fine papercutting work to my personal collection. Her piece “#810” will probably be reframed soon, but currently hangs near the kitchen of our home.

Since her death, Britta Kling’s obituary at the papercutters.org site has been removed. I was able to recreate a snapshot through Internet Archive, and will present it here for posterity, since it speaks well to her craft and shows a few of her designs.

Do you have a Britta Kling papercutting or a personal recollection of Britta? I would love to hear from you in the comments.  

You can learn more about the art of papercutting and its active artist and learning communites from the Guild of American Papercutters at Papercutters.org