#papercut ketubah

Papercut Ketubah - Dancing Squares - A3 - Modern and Contemporary Design - Orthodox RCA ketubah text. More designs at www.papercutsbyoren.com

This is another custom ketubah order I completed in 2016. I talk a bit about what went into making this design on my website blog here: http://www.papercutsbyoren.com/custom-ketubah-with-san-francisco-skyline/

<p>How is a papercut ketubah made? With a knife, a steady hand, and a ton of patience. Here are just two cuts done in real time over a minute and a half. Multiply this by 1000. Don’t make any mistakes! If all goes well you have a paper cut design. See the finished ketubah on my website at <a href=“http://www.papercutsbyoren.com”>www.papercutsbyoren.com</a> or at <a href=“http://www.etsy.com/shop/PapercutsByOren”>www.etsy.com/shop/PapercutsByOren

Here is one of the big custom orders I did this past year. It was for a couple in California who have a backyard facing a massive redwood forest. As many couples who want a bespoke design do, they wanted to include elements that were very personal to them.

The redwood trees were a big challenge because they are absolutely nowhere near to scale. In an earlier version of this design I had a couple of small deer in the distance, among the trees. They were tiny, and you had to know they were there – they were in the middle, where the bicycle wheel is, peeking out from behind the back trees. It was intended to show the distance and how massive the trees are.

But the bride told me something I completely didn’t expect. They absolutely did not want deer on their ketubah. The reason? Deer tear up their garden and they’ve had enough of them. I grew up in a city, so I have a romantic notion of the woods, and the animals that live there. This was a surprise to me, but it made perfect sense if I put myself in their shoes..

If you would like to see more of what I do, you should check out my website at www.papercutsbyoren.com and if you’re on etsy, you can visit me at www.etsy.com/shop/papercutsbyoren (I would appreciate your liking my items!!!)

The Hamsa is consistently a favorite motif for a ketubah. Utterly traditional, and so striking, I decided to introduce two new Hamsa based designs. I have made Hamsas before, but they have always been the main design element. This time I made the Hamsa the shape inside which the text goes, and reserved the main design for intricately patterned arabesques, which complement and push the Middle Eastern motif.

I used gold as an accent in both of these designs. i particularly like how it looks with the midnight blue behind the damask pattern. The openings are small so the gold layer just peeks through to add contrast. Each one of the holes has to line up just so in order to make this happen. The other design is a complex arabesque with four layers. The cool gray really works well to tone down the bright gold. Without it, the metallic layer would overpower everything, but the neutral scheme brings it all together harmoniously.

This type of ketubah, with an Arabesque or a Hamsa has a long tradition in Eastern (Mizrahi) Jewish communities, which were deeply influenced by the artistic traditions of the Islamic nations they belonged to. There are wonderful examples of ketubot such as these in the Israel National Library website that go back to the 1600s. It’s well worth a visit. Much of the artwork is stunning and the ketubot are all scanned in high resolution. If you’re curious, check it out at http://goo.gl/C7dY4q.

If you would like to see more examples of my work, please visit my website at www.papercutsbyoren.com or my Etsy shop at www.etsy.com/shop/papercutsbyoren 

I made this papercut ketubah featuring the beautiful city of Paris with a view of the Eiffel Tower. Paris is one of my favorite cities in the world. It is impossible not to fall in love with its grandeur and beauty. It is truly a magnificent place to visit. 

I have several new designs up. I will post them here in the next day or two. Until then, you’re invited to check out the rest of my work on either my website at www.papercutsbyoren.com or on Etsy at www.etsy.com/shop/papercutsbyoren

Today is all about trees. There is no more wonderful symbol for a marriage than a tree. It’s no wonder it has been used for centuries in ketubah artwork. Solid and stable after putting down roots, and ever growing and changing while it reaches higher and higher to branch out in an endless cycle of renewal. It is a breathtaking metaphor when you stop and think of it.

Two designs here. One is brand new. An intricate tree surrounded by a trellis pattern. The second design, you might recognize from one of my previous custom order posts. I simplified it and adapted it as a standard offering on my site. I accentuated its connection to wine by adding a burgundy wine colored backing. 

You can see my other designs and past custom orders I have worked on by visiting my website at www.papercutsbyoren.com
or on Etsy atwww.etsy.com/shop/papercutsbyoren

This ketubah depicts the entire Chicago skyline. The buildings are to scale, and in order to fit them all I this design has to be the full 24″ of the paper I use and cannot be scaled down at all. Even at full size I had to make extremely detailed cuts precise down to 1/64″. Those are some tiny tolerances. And if anything were off, the windows wouldn’t show through to the bottom gold layer, which lights up the entire nighttime scene.

Chicago residents have a skyline to really be proud of, and this ketubah really shows it off. 

You can see my other designs and past custom orders I have worked on by visiting my website at www.papercutsbyoren.com or on Etsy at www.etsy.com/shop/papercutsbyoren