Inspiration

Anne-Kathrine Stoffregen’s work on a découpage begins with inspiration from a poem or book or perhaps a visit to a castle or a walk in the nature. She creates an image of the découpage in her head and then starts taking photographs – often 10 times the number of photographs that will ultimately be used in the decoupage. Then, over an intense period of several weeks, she transforms the puzzle of motif and color into a final work of art.
Anne-Kathrine’s découpages typically consist of hundreds of clippings. Color and cut transitions form a harmony in which it is difficult to see where one clipping ends and the next begins.The first public display of Anne Kathrine’s découpage artistry was a series of 24 works, which were shown during Hans Christian Andersen’s bicentennial birthday celebration in 2005. Each découpage illustrates a different Andersen fairy tale. If you read the tale, you can readily identify the characters and plot in the découpage.

Anne-Kathrine underwent several dramatic heart operations in early 2007, during which surgeons repaired a congenital heart defect. A two-month critical hospital stay inspired the creation of a heart découpage. It was reproduced as a greeting card and sold through The Danish Heart Association. The heart appears as an ornament composed of jewelry. It does not look like a traditional Christmas heart, as It is based on drawings surgeons use to explain heart operations to their patients.

In 2009 she created a set of Christmas stamps for Lions Club consisting of 20 different small découpage stamps. They were very unusual and much different than any previous Danish Christmas stamps. Also in 2009, Anne-Kathrine created a découpage inspired by numerous visits to the palace of Fontainebleau, 60 km south of Paris. The palace has housed many of the kings of France and Emperor Napoleon. The découpage portrays France’s last queen, Marie-Antoinette. It was printed as a poster and sold to benefit the renovation of the boudoir of Marie-Antoinette in the palace.

Although the current motifs are taken from Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales, the palace of Fontainebleau, and Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød, the scarves are attracting wide interest and apparently can be sold in many countries around the world. Perhaps not only because of the universal appeal of the historical subjects but perhaps also because no one else has had a similar idea. One thing is certain, the découpage takes on a very exclusive appearance when transformed from paper to thin silk.