Oregon artist Doug Roy, a self-described “papercarver,” plans to show his intricate, stylized, whimsical, miniature art at the Rotary Club of Los Altos’ 47th annual Fine Art in the Park open-air art show, scheduled 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 13 and 14 along University Avenue.
Roy is an award-winning artist whose work is part of a centuries-old tradition of creating miniature art. At different times between the 10th and 16th centuries, miniature art was created by the Chinese, Persians, Indians, Ottomans, Byzantines and medieval Europeans, who illuminated sacred manuscripts.
In Roy’s case, he “paints” with tiny, hand-cut bits of paper, some smaller than 1/64th of an inch. He uses hundreds to thousands of the bits to create a mosaic that fits a frame, the perimeter of which does not exceed 48 inches. His tools are Exacto knives, toothpicks, rulers, Elmer’s Glue, hole punches and lots of light.
Roy’s father was a draftsman, painter and cartoonist; Roy’s uncle was a paper artist in Mexico. Inspired by them, Roy began his career as a freelance illustrator for publishers and ad agencies, and he illustrated stories for Cricket, a literary magazine for children. His media were ink, watercolor and prisma color.
In the 1990s, Roy veered into experimenting with a different medium – paper – using samples of colored papers he had collected over the years from art supply stores, marble-paper manufacturers and elsewhere.
After making a paper village and snowmen for his fireplace mantel one Christmas, he was hooked. Later, during the presidency of George W. Bush, Roy was one of two Oregon artists invited to create an ornament to hang on the White House’s Christmas tree – a paper replica of a house inhabited by President Herbert Hoover. The ornament was later placed in the National Archives.
“Most of my pieces have a story to them,” Roy said. “I guess that’s the result of working as an illustrator all these years.”
For example, his piece “The Moon Gave Her Light” was inspired by Roy’s listening to folksinger Pete Seeger sing the opening verse of “The Fox”:
The fox went out to the chase one night,
He prayed to the moon to give him light,
For he’d many a mile to go that night
Before he reached the town-o,
town-o, town-o,
He had many a mile to go that night
Before he reached the town-o.
Roy has entered his minutely detailed pieces into miniature art shows around the world, including one sponsored by the Miniature Art Society of Florida, and he has won many national and international awards for his work.
He said he enjoys seeing people smile and laugh when they encounter his work.
“Working with paper is the most fun I’ve had making art,” Roy said. “It is the one type of art I feel the most creative and competent in making. I really feel like I was made to do it, and I always look forward to starting on the next piece.”
Fine Art in the Park features the work of 150 juried artists. The fundraiser benefits both local and international charitable projects. Roy and his work will be in Booth 332.
For more information, visit rotaryartshow.com.
Patricia Rohrs is a member of the Rotary Club of Los Altos. For more information, visit losaltosrotary.com.
