Waltraude Stehwien instructs students in the art of making of puppets in the studio.

Bio/Historical Note: Waltraude Stehwien (b. 1931 in Halle, Germany) is an artist whose first career path was learning the ancient art of puppetry in her father's marionette theatre. From an upbringing surrounded by the study and practice of art, Stehwien went on to study stage design and graphic arts at the art academy in Halle. This trained her to switch readily between two and three dimensional planes, which she did throughout her varied career in puppetry and graphic arts. After retirement Waltraude returned to her love of another unique art, that of scissor cutting – the German Scherenschnitt (Schere = Scissor, Schnitt = Cut). Using this method, she has created a large variety of designs, illustrations and even logos, and is regularly called upon to give workshops in this unique art form. Most recently Stehwien has challenged herself to explore the beauty and vastness of the Canadian prairies and other familiar landscapes (2022).