Paper is one of the simplest things that anyone can use to create art. Just consider origami or paper-mache—techniques like folding square sheets of paper or slapping wet paper onto a mold can lead to some of the most incredible results.
But there are, of course, other ways of manipulating paper to create incredible pieces of art. Take Tania Lissova, for instance, who “grows” tiny hand-crafted paper flower bouquets that look as realistic as actual flowers.
Tania Lissova, with whom Bored Panda got in touch, is a 25-year-old paper artist from Tyumen, Russia who makes a variety of extremely intricate nature-themed crafts, including postcards, posters, envelopes, stickers, and framed pictures. One of her more eye-catching projects is to create miniature flower bouquets made completely from paper.
Bored Panda invites you to take a look at some of the floral designs Tania has created thus far by scrolling through the list below. While you’re at it, why not vote and comment on the ones you like the most! And if these aren’t enough, Tania has a whole Instagram page dedicated to her art, so be sure to check it out.
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Tania studied Architecture and Arts, though her calling has always been papercraft: "I have been doing this for 4 years. It seems interesting to me to make flowers out of paper. And these have a great advantage over natural flowers—they do not require care and they are always green and blooming."
"Nature inspires me. I look at books on botany, look at wildflowers, and marvel at how beautiful nature is," explained Tania the inspiration behind her calling. "I like to create flowers from paper, as if I grow my own garden. And I often imagine that I am a florist. I like to create mini bouquets of those flowers that I have. They turn out different each time, according to the mood."
We've also asked if she plans her beautiful creations, but, as it turns out, while some are planned, others come out spontaneously: "These are not always planned. For example, last summer I wanted to make daisies, I just felt that way. And then strawberries. And I felt a strong desire to make a series of wild flowers."
She continued: "The next flowers I planned, I looked for specific ones that speak to the soul. But, it's different with botanical posters. Sometimes, I think a lot about what illustrations I want to do next. I make sketches and leave them for later pondering. While at a later time, step by step, I pick colors, change plants, choose pots, arrange objects. It requires a lot of time, but it's exciting."
While she does have printed material, like posters and stickers, much of her craft is cut and pasted to form the likes of columbines, chamomile, poppies, sunflowers, wild dill, chrysanthemum, peony, daisies, forget-me-nots, anémones, marshmallows, fuchsias, heather, and a bunch more—you name it, she has probably crafted it. And because these are carefully made using tiny intricate pieces and layers of colored paper, it also looks as real as actual flowers, with the whole 3D look.
Besides flowers, she also does adorable pots of plants like palm trees, cacti, and fig trees. There’s even one potted flower that comes in a wicker basket, which you can guess how much time and detail it took to craft. Both potted plants and flower bouquets are pasted onto postcards, collages, and framed pictures, among other things, and sold on her Etsy store.
Like many projects, this one also comes with its own challenges, as explained Tania: "The most difficult thing for me is to stick the middles of each flower. Especially if I cut out all of the pieces separately—a lot of small circles, for example. This requires some skill and holding your breath."
But, in the end, the challenges are overcome, and the results are simply amazing. At the moment, Tania's Instagram is exploding with bloom and greenery as she has nearly 1,700 individual posts dedicated exclusively to her ever-blooming creations.
Lastly, we've also asked what her favorite flower was. She had this to say: "I love Alocasia. I like this minimalistic look and complex shape of the leaves, as well as its evergreen color. I have one Alocasia in the studio, it is always near my workplace. It is my friend throughout my fun experience in paper art."
I can't believe these didn't score more points. They're amazing!!