I live in Kansas City, with my husband of 38 years. We raised three children who amaze us daily as they venture down their own paths in life. After 30 years of paper sculpting, I finished my studio arts degree later in life. This, combined with my 30 years of paper sculpting, encouraged me to finally share my work.

Many of my papers are not made in traditional ways. In order to tell a story, it sometimes pays to get off the familiar path a bit. I love when texture and color can make a piece say exactly what I was feeling. I make paper from anything that allows me to. I take small pieces of nature that work together in unison to tell new distinctive stories.

My love of nature started when I was very young. As a child, I watched my mother tend to flower gardens. She carefully planned each detail so they all would come together as a perfectly orchestrated symphony. As one flower stopped blooming, another would take over. Some were food for birds and butterflies, while others simply reminded her of people and memories that had come and gone with time. Over the years, her love of nature became contagious. Nature is a different world. One that has always been there for those who make the time to enjoy it. Every time I take a walk, I see something I’ve never seen before. Finding a new plant, seed or spore opens a door in my mind to new ideas. Making paper once meant trees had to suffer in the process. I’ve enjoyed discovering new ways to make paper without harming trees. By using nature’s waste, the whole process is a little like Christmas morning every time. One never knows how it will turn out until the final stages. Each new material has so much potential — both as a parchment and as an untold story.

Rosella Hyland is an artist working with handmade papers and pulp from her home in Kansas City.