Waltraude Stehwien: August 2020

More Roadtrips through the beautiful Prairie!

On the way to Shaunavon in southern Saskatchewan - gorgeous prairie inside and out. The Grand Coteau Centre offered amazing displays in its natural history museum! Nature also offered the scenic views we've come to love and that inspired both Waltraude and her late husband Fritz to create many, and a wonderful variety of art works.

This was the fourth trip to meet the hosts and some of the community of art galleries showing the 3 year travelling OSAC Scissorcut exhibit.


Endless sunshine, endless fields, dotted with hay bales and a church.

Scissor Cutting Fun!

Remnants of scissor cutting fun in the Shaunavon workshops

The roadtrip through the September country side ended up in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan, where the OSAC travelling Scissorcut exhibit was held:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2XjkyBHaQ9/

As seen by the Grand Coteau Centre's Instagram post, it was mutually exciting to visit and tour the museum. Not only the scissor cut display, but especially the workshops and the historical and prairie flora and fauna collection! Wow!!!

About the Artist

Waltraude Stehwien is a German born artist whose first career path was learning the ancient art of puppetry in her father's marionette theatre. Her studies in stage design and graphic arts at the art academy in Halle, Germany trained her to switch readily between a two and three dimensional workspace.

After retirement from a varied career in puppetry and graphic arts, Waltraude returned to her love of another unique art, that of scissor cutting, or the German Scherenschnitt. (Schere = Scissor, Schnitt = Cut).

She has created a large variety of design, illustrations and even logos using this method, and is regularly called upon to give workshops in this unique art form.

Most recently, she has challenged herself to explore the beauty and vastness of the prairie and other Canadian landscapes. The linear perspectives and the often stark contrasts of winter scenes have inspired Waltraude to bring these sometimes intense feelings to the viewer with her scissors and a single sheet of black specialty paper.