First Cut Autumn 2009

Papercutter Profile for Cindi Harwood Rose
featured in the Autumn 2009 Guild of American Papercutters Magazine
First Cut.

The Art of Conversation

Cindi with the Mayor of Spring Valley Mike Andrews and his wife Patsy

Cindi with daughter Erica Rose

Event gives chance to chat with local celebrities

By FLORI MEEKS CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT

Nov. 2, 2009, 5:35PM

The Junior League of Houston's upcoming fundraiser for City ArtWorks will be all about table banter.

During "The Art of Conversation," guests will have an opportunity to share a table with one of more than 30 local celebrities.

The event is set for 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, at The Junior League of Houston, 1811 Briar Oaks Lane.

Tickets cost $100 and tables cost $1,500.

Conversationalists will include Spring Branch district Superintendent Duncan Klussmann, Texas Rep. Ellen Cohen, philanthropist Carolyn Farb, silhouette artist Cindi Harwood Rose, My Table editor Teresa Byrne-Dodge, KTRK-TV Channel 13 sports director Bob Allen, forensic artist Lois Gibson, Project Runway winner Chloe Dao, author Mickey Herskowitz, shoe and handbag designer Elaine Turner, Greater Houston Partnership President and CEO Jeff Moseley, Lakewood Church co-founder Dodie Osteen, Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo CEO and President Skip Wagner and artist Whitney Henderson, among others.

Ticket buyers are being asked to name their top three choices for a conversationalist to dine with, and organizers will try to accommodate their choices.

Benefiting from the event is City ArtWorks, 1330-R Wirt Road. The organization provides children hands-on art experiences at 85 greater Houston area elementary schools, along with apartment complexes, YMCAs and at its headquarters.

Approximately 40 percent of the participating elementary school campuses are Title I, considered high-poverty schools.

City ArtWorks also offers summer art camps and a program for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students.

For tickets, call 713-681-1331. For more information, visit http://www.cityartworks.org/.

Texas Monthly

Click on this link to see Cindi in Texas Monthly!

http://books.google.com/books?id=6CkEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Human Rights Gala

First lady of Houston, Andrea White holds up silhouette of herself, and her husband, mayor Bill White, with artist, Cindi Rose.

Cindi Rose, and a silhouette subject, at Human Rights Gala, where the Rose family were the Honorary Chairs.

The Rose Family (Franklin, Cindi, Erica and Benjamin) were the honorary chairs of the Human Rights Gala in Houston,Texas. Cindi Rose took time to hand-cut silhouettes of Houston's mayor, Bill White and his wife, Andrea, who were honored at the gala. Shown here is First Lady, Andrea White, proudly displaying silhouettes of herself, and Mayor White, alongside Cindi Rose.

Youth Knows No Pain

See Cindy showing her Silhouettes on this clip from the HBO Documentary

YOUTH KNOWS NO PAIN
Click here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjyHHHtxc_4

Sculpting Silhouette Portraits

SCULPTING SILHOUETTE PORTRAITS

By CYNTHIA LESCALLEET

Examiner Newspapers/Houston Community Newspapers 04.30.09

Some artists capture their subjects in pen and ink, in pastels or in clay.

Instead, silhouette artist Cindi Harwood Rose uses thin, black archival paper. Surgical scissors in hand, she deftly snips the likeness of those who sit before her even when they do so a bit intrepidly.

It typically takes less than two minutes for Rose to free-cut a paper profile, one that captures not only the nuances of an individual's facial structure but a little movement and some of the underlying personality as well.

"When you cut paper, maybe you're cutting a bit into their soul," Rose said of her gift. "You connect with people, something she clearly relishes."

Before she starts cutting paper, Rose asks her clients questions and watches their reactions. You can sense that her fingers are twitching to get started on the paper in hand. In the French tradition, she doesn't draw on the paper first.

Unlike a photograph, which reveals all and then some, a silhouette captures people "at their best, even if they're not," Rose said. "It doesn't matter if their hair is dirty or clothes a bit mismatched. Nor does it matter what's in the background or what the lighting conditions might be".

As an art form, silhouettes seem to enjoy a timeless appeal. Children’s portraits are a common subject, their sweet profiles and spit curls forever caught despite the wiggling or tantrums that might have led to the sitting. Pets, bridal couples, multi-generations and even scenes might also be rendered for posterity.

A new but old art form

Silhouettes have a long history, which Rose summarized (and an industry group called Paper Cutters expands upon on its Website: http://www.papercutters.com/.

Long before photography, silhouettes were a form of portraiture, accomplished in a variety of ways, from painting what appears in a shadow to clipping by hand and by eye.

The latter skill is just one version of paper cutting, an ancient tradition found in cultures from Asia to Europe.

From a heyday in the 18th century, the practice is waning, Rose said, in part because there are only a few dozen silhouette artists of varying technical ability in the world.

“We all know each other,” she said. Some of them Rose trained.

Learning to be a silhouette artistfirst means being an artist, she said. Then it takes patience, because it’s hard to learn, she said.

If successful, a silhouette transforms the three-dimensional subject onto a two-dimensional medium that appears three-dimensional, she said. Practice helps. About 4,000 hours, in fact.

As a teenager, Rose began snipping silhouettes at AstroWorld. Her unusual ability put her through college and enabled her to travel and meet an array of people, including celebrities. She later worked at Disney World, where she cut as many as 600 silhouettes a day.

Her reputation remains world-renown.

Rose has a degree in fine arts and journalism from University of Texas and a lifetime affinity for portrait artistry. She also works in cloth, aluminum and pottery and hopes to push the envelop of silhouette art a bit as well as see the art form thrive and even be part of a paper cutting museum some day.

The silhouette skills Rose has perfected currently support charities, including one she co-founded five years ago with husband and plastic surgeon Franklin Rose. The Rose Ribbon Foundation offers uninsured breast cancer survivors reconstructive surgery.

For information, visit http://www.roseribbon.org/.

Fashion and Silhouttes by Cindi Rose at BB1 Classic

Great Charity Event at BB1 Classic. To check out more Silhouettes - Click here or for BB1 Classic Houston Fashion Boutique - Click here

Silhouette Artist Cindi Rose

Cindi Harwood Rose designs remarkable black and white silhouettes made from paper. Cindi began snipping her way to stardom at the age of 16. Her career began at Astroworld, in Houston, which eventually took her to Disney World and Disneyland. Cindi is considered the world's premier silhouette artist, and has sheared celebrities such as Elvis, Liberace, Mama Cass, Queen Elizabeth, Sammy Davis, Peter Fonda, Barbara Bush and Tony Bennett.

Cindi is also a co-founder of the Rose Ribbon Foundation where she creates custom "Silhouettes For Survivors," which are available for purchase. All Silhouette proceeds are dedicated to helping uninsured breast cancer survivors receive free reconstructive surgery.

In a family of three girls, Cindi grew up in Houston and attended Bellaire High, where she was editor of the paper and studied advanced art. Her father was a lawyer, and her mother, and interior designer. "My mother was selected to be a runway model with Ford Agency, but she opted to do work for Dad. She had very beautiful taste." She was always introspective, always writing poetry and with a sketch pad in her hand. Her artistic bent won her awards in poetry and art contests. "Friends began asking me to draw them, and I never turned anyone away. Soon people were calling me to ask if they could commision me"

Her grandfather was an orthodix Jewish rabbi in Houston and Galveston. Her dad believed in comparative religion, so she could pick the oneness of her religion, which for her was Judaism -- people connecting, loving one another, working together, not apart.

Cindi worked her way through college by doing silhouettes for customers at Astroworld. There she taught herself to handcut silhouettes, the ancient French way of looking and cutting, without preliminary sketches, in one minute or less. With talent and speed going for her, Rose broke speed and production records. After college graduation, she went to work at Disneyworld in Florida, where she did more than 600 silhouettes a day, including ones of Mohammed Ali, Joey Bishop, Sammy Davis Jr., and others. It was at Disnyworld that she changed her name from Cindy to Cindi at their suggestion. She loved it and never changed it back.

Eventually, she began cutting silhouettes for Neiman Marcus, Foley's, Joske's, Saks, Dillards, Lord & Taylor, Kaufman's (in Pittsburg), the Europec in London, and on the BBC TV show, Blue Peter. She set her world speed record in San Antonio for the Express News which timed it. She cut 144 silhouettes in one hour breaking her own record she se the previous year of 133 silhouetts in one hour.
In 1982 Cindi maried a local plastic surgeon, Franklin Rose. Since then she has become an asset to her husbands business. Now during her silhouette cutting sessions, Cindi will show her customers how they might improve after cosmetic surgery. If they like what they see, she refers them on to her husband.

Special Events

Silhouette Artist Cindi Rose is available for special events of all kinds!

Cindi can create a Silhouette portrait in under two minutes.

Store events, weddings, bar and bat mitzvah's are all favorites to have a Silhouette Artist!
Email Cindi with the date, location and time of your event.
Cincere@wt.net

Silhouette Samples

All Silhouettes have been hand cut by Master Silhouette Artist Cindi Harwood Rose.
Click on any image to enlarge.

Rose Ribbon Foundation

From the Hands and Heart

Rose Ribbon Foundation co-founder Cindi Rose creates custom "Silhouettes For Surviving," which are available for purchase. All Silhouette proceeds are dedicated to helping uninsured breast cancer survivors receive free reconstructive surgery.

If someone near and dear to you is a cancer survivor, or if they're simply someone you cherish, a Silhouette is an ideal gift or memento. Silhouettes For Surviving are handmade by Cindi Rose, and are available $65 a person, with extra copies at $15 a person. All proceeds benefit the Rose Ribbon Foundation. For more information, call 713 463-6688.

Donate instantly online

For more information, please go to:
www.roseribbon.org

Contact Cindi

Rose Ribbon Foundation
1121-16 Uptown Park Blvd.
Houston, TX.
77056

Email: Cincere@wt.net
Phone: (713)622-3610
Website: www.silhouettesbycindi.com