Standing before a large sheet of luan wood, 46-year-old Keila Ploof dabbed her paint brush in a bowl of matte medium and tore another sliver of green tissue paper. Bit by bit, she used the adhesive to bind the paper to the luan, and gradually, a scene began to come together of rolling green fields and a picturesque red barn.
Three separate lights illuminated her workspace, set up in a spare room in her Orange home. As Ploof worked to make the vision in her mind a reality, she hummed to the tune of classical music playing on Pandora.
In the next several weeks, Ploof’s labor of love will become a full image, which she’ll call “Grazing the Beauty,” complete with horses in the pasture. Since 2013, Ploof has been pioneering a unique type of artwork — paper art.
Ploof describes her paper art pieces as being similar to collages and mosaics.
“I don’t really know how to categorize it. That’s why I call it paper art,” she said. “It’s hard to put art in a box.”
Ploof uses old textbooks and books, wrapping paper and tissue paper to make new images, arranging small shreds on luan sheets. Often, as a first step, she creates a charcoal outline of the image she wants to create.
About half of the pieces Ploof has created since 2013 are based off of photos of places or people which exist in the physical world. All others come directly from Ploof’s imagination, as did her original idea to incorporate used paper into her art.
Ever since she was a grammar school student growing up in Long Beach, N.Y., Ploof has had a passion for art.
“I loved to paint, but I was never any good at it,” she said.
Then, while working on a piece in 2013, Ploof said she tried adding tissue paper leftover from Christmas, creating an image with texture. She called her first piece “Recycled Sunset.”
“It was like ‘Oh my God,” Ploof remembers. “Something just clicked. I haven’t stopped yet.”
Ploof said Len Haug of Princeton is the only other artist she’s met who makes art from bits of paper, but that Juliette Aristides, a Seattle contemporary realist painter, has been a personal inspiration to her. Ploof has read all of Aristides’ books about artistic technique.
“She really taught me how to draw,” Ploof said. “Basically it all comes from that.”
Being an avid recycler, Ploof began using old books as art materials. Many of her friends would bring her books they planned to throw out, even books printed as far back as the 1800s.
“I can’t imagine (books) being around that long and just be gone,” she said. “For some reason, it is incredibly satisfying to take something that was headed to the trash and revive it.”
Not only does Ploof’s work extend the books’ lives, metaphorically speaking, but the matte medium she uses to adhere the paper to the luan protects the paper from yellowing over time.
Plus, Ploof said paper
art is certainly budget-friendly for artists with limited resources.
The fact that Ploof’s artwork is made with recycled materials is often what admirers of her pieces like most about them.
“They never thought to reuse something in that way,” she said, adding that some art enthusiasts have called her an inspiration to them.
Aside from her paper art images, Ploof said she enjoys making dolls out of paper and quilling — an art form that involves using strips of
paper that are rolled,
shaped and glued together
to create decorative designs. She also recently began
dabbling in photography,
hoping to transform her
own photos into paper art images.
“I can take it exactly how I want the picture and then work off the picture if I want,” she said.
Ploof said admirers of her work have said the pieces have good composition, so they can be admired from afar, however they also have a lot of hidden details that are only revealed up close. For example, Ploof tries to work in hidden faces. Others who see her pieces try to read the tiny bits of book pages.
“You don’t get bored looking at the art,” she said. “There’s always so much more to see.”
Ploof said art is also a way for her to get her messages out into the world. Her pieces focus on themes like the glory of aging, spirituality and new love.
“There’s usually a story that goes with each one,” she said, adding that, while working, she listens to music that matches the story she hopes to create. For example, while making “Desire,” a painting of a woman in a red dress, Ploof played “The Beauty of Who You Are” by Marc Broussard over and over again for months.
“The type of music absolutely blends with the type of art I’m creating,” she said.
In the end, Ploof hopes that those who admire her pieces will come to see the world as a beautiful place.
“Even nowadays, when things are testy and sharp, I like to remind people there’s so much beauty in the world,” she said.
Because placing the small bits of paper is quite tedious, Ploof said each piece takes between two and three months for her to make. Thus, she asks between $600 and $1,200 for each piece, depending on its size and nature.
Ploof said it can be difficult to see how slow her progress is after only a few weeks of work, but she’s always able to push through and have faith that a piece will eventually become a reflection of the image in her mind.
“You can’t help but be present and have faith,” she said.
Plus, Ploof said her work is always rewarding.
“As any artist will tell you, if you’ve got the bug, you must satisfy it,” she said. “It’s a bit of an obsession. It’s so relaxing and meditative.”
Because each piece takes so long to make, Ploof rarely displays her work in art exhibits. However, her work has been displayed at The Greenfield Gallery and Fine Art Printing, The Boxcar Gallery in Greenfield, Fitchburg Art Museum, Field Memorial Library in Conway and Levi Heywood Memorial Library in Gardner. She also sold pieces at Mormor: Handmade and Vintage Goods, a gift shop in Shelburne Falls, before the business closed.
Some of Ploof’s pieces also won awards during 2014 shows hosted by the Gardner Area League of Artists (GALA). Her award-winning pieces include “An Invitation,” “Red Barn” and “Pespective Lesson.”
In the future, Ploof hopes to try using paper art to make optical illusions, and plans to dabble in sculpture and paper mache. She has already begun adding increased texture to her pieces, making them more three-dimensional, and believes floral images would lend themselves well to her style of art.
“You can tell from where I started to where I am now,” Ploof said of her transformation as an artist over the past four years. “It’s very exciting.”
Outside of her home studio, Ploof is a member of the Orange Cultural Council, through which she particularly aims to encourage teenagers with a love for art to follow their passion. Eventually, Ploof hopes to organize an art show specifically for youth ages 10 to 18.
“It’s a plan in the works,” she said. “I think encouraging new artists to bloom is very important.”
Artistic talent and creativity, it would seem, even runs in Ploof’s family. Her 27-year-old daughter Juliana paints and does photography, with the two bonding during photography walks. Her 10-year-old son Michael particularly enjoys another paper art, origami, and even Ploof’s husband David builds frames for her pieces.
Those interested in viewing Ploof’s work can visit her exhibit at Amherst Town Hall from March 2 to April 28. The exhibit will be a featured stop during two Amherst Art Walks on March 2 and April 6, when Ploof will also hold artist receptions from 5 to 8 p.m.
To view Ploof’s work online, visit: bit.ly/2jfNDOR. To purchase a piece, contact Ploof at 413-522-8779 or by email at: keilascalling@gmail.com