Geertje Aalders (5/5)

Papercut artist Geertje Aalders makes such beautiful stuff. Using a knife she cuts the most wonderful scenes from paper, often with animals and flowers taking center stage. Luckily, she does this for Flow quite often. In this guest blog she tells us all about herself, her life, and her work.

Me again! The past few weeks you may have been reading about who I am, what I make and how I work. The great thing is that April has a whopping five Wednesdays. So in this final edition of my stint as a guest blogger I am taking the opportunity to tell you about my new adventure.

I may be a bit old-fashioned. I still like to send hand-written letters, I look at a map at home to see how to get to places before I get into my car and I don’t use an app to see what the weather is like outside. Also, the trade I practice has its origins back in 300 B.C. And I’ve got the very old-fashioned Dutch name Geertje. People sometimes say they were expecting someone much older when they see me in the flesh for the first time, at a trade fair or for an interview.

But now it’s time, I’m ready for it, this is the moment: there’s going to be a Geertje Aalders Illustrations web shop! A very special one, with a tiny selection of very pretty stuff. I never had the ambition to run a shop, as I don’t underestimate the amazing amount of time and effort that goes into something like that. But I do really want to spread my work and meet the enthusiastic demand for it. And I don’t mind going with the times just a little bit… So, finally, I am putting things in motion.

Last week I got together with graphic designer Marie-Louise de Bruijn of www.gravue.nl to go over some details . She will start working on my house style and my website, both of which will be completely revamped in the near future. Together we’re trying to figure out how the web shop should be built. In the mean time I will finish completing the collection. I’ll be selling papercuts in different sizes and colors, little books, screen prints, textiles and more. I am really looking forward to it!

Keep an eye on www.geertjeaalders.nl! Via Twitter@geertjeaalders I’ll be announcing our launch. It would be great to see you there!

Thanks to Flow Magazine, for letting me write this blog, I absolutely loved it. But thanks most of all for your boundless enthusiasm and the attention you lavish on all the illustrators you have created such a rewarding podium for. It’s wonderful.

So long everybody, thanks for reading my blog. Bye!