The best day of the week was the day Daddy would bring home his freshly laundered uniform shirts. I could hardly wait as he unwrapped each neatly pressed and folded shirt, knowing the stack of cardboard inserts would soon be mine. At age 7, my favorite thing to do was to make (what my mom called) “little paper presents” and those sheets of cardboard were a treasured and valuable art supply.

Above, left: Spring 1962, Waialae School.  My second grade class picture: I’m the blonde one in the middle. Note: I am not wearing my paper shoes.

Above, right: Jenny (in her hat), Mom, one of Jenny’s classmates and me.

That spring a really challenging opportunity presented itself: my little sister, Jenny, needed a hat to wear to the May Day celebration at our elementary school. I decided right then that I was going to make it. And later that same year, it occurred to me: if I could make hats, I could make shoes as well. So, I did, using cardboard, ribbon, tape and glue... and the best part was that Mom and Dad demonstrated their belief in my creative powers by allowing me to actually wear my handmade shoes to school.

Obviously, the shoes and hat no longer exist, but I do have a memento of those early days: Mink Head. The remnants of a jacket Mom had had cut down into a stole were the  inspiration for my little hand-sewn doll.  Forty-six-plus years later, she is my link to that time when I first saw myself as an artist. She best represents two important lessons my parents taught me: 1.) art can be made out of unusual and unexpected materials and 2.) if I can make shoes out of cardboard, I can create anything.

And that’s exactly what Paper Shoes Art and Design is all about.