The art of Quilling can be dated back to Byzantine Greece, over 1500 years ago, which makes it a very ancient art! It also popped up in Italy in the 17th century to decorate book covers and religious items.
But what exactly is it?
Quite simply it is the art of rolling this strips of paper into tight spirals and coils. These can be rolled into different shapes, and then these shapes can be used to form much bigger designs. The techniques used in quilling have very ordinary names such as coils, cones and scrolls but they have been used to make extraordinary things.
This year, Quilling is one of the feature displays in the Arts and Crafts Pavilion at the Sydney Royal Easter Show, and was it a sight to behold!
The roses looked so real, then you get closer and you see all the intricate folds. The tea set in the cabinet was faultless, as was the kingfisher picture, all made of fine coils of coloured paper. Imagine the hours of work in each of these! You can easily see why quilling is also called paper mosaic and paper filigree.
Then you notice the wedding dresses and sheer robe! Perfectly white, with beautiful leaves of paper lace, all hand crafted with care. Not at all practical for a clumsy person like me, but definitely deserving of it’s showcase position at this year’s show.
Take your time looking at these intricate pieces.. the more I looked at them, the more of the wonderful handiwork I saw.
