6 Quillers Who Are Bringing New Ideas to an Old Art Form

I love to stay current with the world of paper quilling. During a recent browse through Instagram these artists caught my attention, as much for their designs as their photography. Mind you, there are so many talented people who could be added to this post. To find your favorites, I highly recommend typing #quilling in the Instagram search bar (no need to sign up) to see the huge variety of work global quillers are posting.

I'll be showing two photos by each artist, and boy was it hard to limit myself to such a small number! First up (in no particular order) is Olga Yaroslavtseva of Moscow, Russia, who goes by Quilled by Olia on IG. Her artistic designs are precise, with each strip perfectly placed. Olga told me, "I do quilling a little over two years. I call my works emotional quilling because in most cases they cause a smile on the face of whoever looks at them."

Mahkota Quilling in Indonesia (mahkota translates to crown in English) is as adept at creating playful, colorful designs as she is at doing on-edge lettering.

I can only image the number of hours it took to glue terima kasih (thank you) so perfectly... I'm pretty sure working on it would make my head spin.

Lots of thoughtful energy went into this lighthearted, sleepy owl as well. It was quilled by Iwona Wright of London, aka Moon Bloom on Instagram. How cute it would be in a child's bedroom.

You'll find beautiful mandalas and initials in her Moon Bloom Paper Art shop. I'm admiring the creativity she worked into this custom name piece, made for a young football fan's first communion that took place about the time of Euro 2016. It's remarkable that just a few tiny strips of paper indicate balls whizzing through the air... they truly lend a sense of motion.

Andrea Stevens from Queens New York, popularly known as Quill Queen on Instagram, has a thriving business creating customized portraits. The hairstyles are composed of quilling paper, as are the features.

Andrea told me she has a genuine love of all styles of quilling and enjoys working on her art while receiving dialysis treatments. Some of her portraits combine digital art with color-shaded quilling, as seen in her Etsy shop, Quillqueen1 [edit: now closed].

The spareness of Meloney Celliers' artistic designs draws me to them... each coil serves a purpose. Known as Melly the Elephant on Instagram, she lives in South Devon, England and is currently on hiatus from quilling. Hopefully when she returns, her Etsy shop will be restocked, as her designs are very popular.

Often Meloney builds an art piece around a simple line drawing, such as the sweet pea trellis below.

Simply elegant describes the style of Shitateru Papercraft in Japan, a collaboration between @risato.malrikart and @chuchumachi on Instagram.

They describe their work as a new paper craft that fuses illustration and handwork.

 

A subtle color blend was achieved by tearing strips of two colors and gluing them together to create this flawless lily of the valley.