Rachel McPherson

A Persnickety Perfectionist playing with paper, pencil and pen.

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A book made for my brother’s proposal to his girlfriend. He proposed at a favorite bookstore, kneeling to pick up the book to hand it to her.

I must say, the title still makes me chuckle.

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This is what happens when the boss asks you to come up with a display at work...

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Another commission from a coworker. The building blocks the robot is playing with actually form the logo of the museum we work for.

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I made a little stop-motion video for my boyfriend in celebrating our 1st year anniversary last year! Two little robots finding each other.

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The finished robot! Sitting on a large African mask, contemplating his violin, with some books.

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This robot was a commission. My boyfriend's violin teacher had just started seeing a coworker of mine-a curator of African Art. Small world right? Since he has an absolute love of the violin, and is himself from Belgium, she wanted a small robot contemplating a violin in the same pose as the Belgian violinist and composer Eugène Ysaÿe:

http://tinyurl.com/mzgu36y

I wanted to also combine the love of the violin with his work in African Art, so I envisioned an African mask in the scene as well. This may be one of the very few robots that didn't have a final working of all the details drawn out before I started working on him, so the finished product didn't turn out anything like my original thought.

The continuation to follow!

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For my boyfriend's birthday-a card I made. Note to self: a substitute for an X-Acto, a scalpel does not make... Unless you want bloody fingers.

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The completion of Cellobot! I must say, my favorite part is the coil at the top of his head.

This robot and two others were featured in Proximity Gallery's exhibit It's Only a Paper Moon.

http://proximitycleveland.com/section/330662_It_s_Only_A_Paper_Moon.html

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This is the beginning of Cellobot. Since the small paper violin of Lincbot (http://tinyurl.com/bqn62yq) was such a hit, I was challenged to create another member of the string family.

This time however, I wanted the robot to actually be the instrument, not merely playing it.

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This is what I do when I doodle. It turned into something very Bond villain-esque before I realized it. I’m hoping to take this idea out of my sketchbook and continue the scene much further downwards with a very long piece of paper. I’d like to do more drawings with this type of concept. I’ve found I like doing tiny things. I guess it’s good I have a .3mm pencil then…

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A pouncing cat to compliment Py's Catbot: (http://tinyurl.com/cux8v3b).

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Aw, shucks - my stuff is lamer because I have yet to really dive into making my own designs. But thank you :) . I did look into those pictures with the tiny treads and boxes (holy hell...), but I am still a bit puzzled by some of your seamless cylindrical parts - for example, what did you do for bath-suicide bot's head? Are there tabs inside, or do you just seal along the entire edge very carefully? And yes, your use of natural seams in the designs is just perfect. ::pinched finger kiss::

For cylinders, the seams just gently overlap. I make sure the inside of one edge has plenty of glue & overlap the other edge-making sure they're well adhered with my bonefolder. 

Sorry it's hard to describe just with words, but I hope this helps! I've just gone through a lot of trial & error.

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When one is waiting for glue to dry, unneeded parts come in handy for holding things (like an arm) in the right place so to keep working on other things!

A shoulder strap, flashbulb and shutter release cord finish up this little beauty! Then it was off to the owner, and then actually part of a show at Proximity Gallery here in Cleveland that featured all paper artists! 

http://clevelandartsformedicine.org/2012/09/10/this-week-paper/

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The inspiration for Shutterbot! Zoë is a photographer extraordinaire with a penchant for collecting cameras. She brought this one into work often to snap polaroids.

I must say, the bellows were the most difficult part. Not only did it have to be in a relative box shape, but it had to have many little accordion folds. The body features a screen in the shape of a polaroid, little lenses, and the legs are a tripod-of course.

In the background of Photo #2 you can see my attempts at the bellows.

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I've realized I don't have a picture of the one I made for Justin! Maybe it's buried on my hardrive somewhere, so I'll definitely have to search for it!

So until I can provide an update, here's a progress shot of his bike.

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Your work blows me away! I went through your whole Tumblr with jaw agape. Can I ask how much you employ "tabs" to attach parts to each other? Or other methods? I have been building papercraft as a hobby for some time, but I have been trying to figure out what techniques you use. Your pieces are so seamless, and at the same time it's obvious from the videos they are incredibly solid. Wow.

Thanks so much for the compliments! I'm always really flattered when people say my work is good!

The post on March 14th-the tread one-the fourth picture shows how I build little boxes and things. The little tabs are folded in so when the end's folded down (like in the next picture) there's no gap or glue showing. I've also gotten good at hiding my seam lines! For example, on arms and things the seams face the body or backwards, and on the head where the face meets the top, there's a little strip of paper going 'round his head. And sometimes, the seams come in handy! The line with the rivets down my first robot's face is the seam for the cylinder of his head.

Thanks again for all the compliments! Also, your stuff is amazing too! I love the giraffe and the robot is so cute! And I've been meaning to try out a miniature house scene. I've always loved miniature things like architectural models and things. 

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50's housewife bot for Kelsey!

Photos taken by Zoë Renee Lapin.