PAPER WORLD
Maidstone Borough News, January 1986
CLIVE Stevens has the world at his finger tips.
For Clive, a 38 year-old graphic designer from Coxheath specialises in paper sculpture which involves cutting and gluing coloured pieces of paper to form a three dimensional collage.
This skill requires a steady hand - and according to Clive there aren't too many people who specialise in this fascinating art.
Clive operates from a studio in College Road, Maidstone and begins his work with a line drawing which is followed by careful cutting of the shapes with a scalpel and gluing into place to complete the collage.
"You have got to have a lot of patience," said Clive, who is married to Margaret, and has two children, Austen (4) and Angela (9).
Some of Clive's excellent and refreshing work includes portraits and animals. Now he's venturing into landscapes. His work has mainly been concentrated towards the commercial field, but he now sees a market in the public sector as well.
Although, Clive had a flair for art at school, it wasn't until he was living in Canada that the idea of paper sculpting really came to life.
He said: "I had emigrated to Canada in 1969 to seek fame and fortune as a tool maker, but it didn't materialise.
"The idea of becoming a paper sculptor came when I was flicking through the pages of an American illustration magazine. I saw a feature on the subject and I immediately thought I'd like to have a crack at it myself. My work was a bit poor at first and lacked the shaping that I now put into all my pieces.
"I get many of my ideas from a visit to the library or just driving in the countryside.
"First of all, I do a pencil line drawing, the shapes are cut out and then carefully glued with ordinary paper glue into place."
Clive's sculptures vary from people to still life and scenery to abstract. His latest piece of work is a landscape of Aylesford Bridge, and Clive added: "It's probably the most difficult project I have ever been involved in."
Clive is also thinking of marketing the idea of kits which will be sold for between £5 and £12, and are suitable for all people over the age of eight years.