Paper Sculptures by Karen Hawkins | Style Imitating Art
Are you ready for the next challenge? Here we go…
Style Imitating Art
Style Imitating Art is hosted by Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey, and Marsha of Marsha in the Middle, and Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge. Style Imitating Art challenges us to draw fashion inspiration from pieces of art. Every other Monday, one of the hosts, acting as presenter, selects an inspiration image that will be shared by all three of us on our blogs. The following Monday, each host will share her art inspired outfit. Participants are invited to submit their art inspired outfits to the presenter by 10:00 p.m. EST on the Tuesday following the hosts’ art inspired outfit posts. The following day, Wednesday, the presenter will share all of the submissions on her blog.
You don’t have to be a blogger to join either! In fact, you don’t even have to join but you can still use the art to inspire an outfit just for the sake of trying something different. If you want to share your inspired outfit, we invite you do so on Instagram or any other social media platform that you prefer. Just be sure to tag Salazar, Shelbee, or Marsha or use #StyleImitatingArt so the hosts know you have joined. Go have some fun in your closets and join the SIA challenge next week!
This Week’s Presenter
It was my turn to choose the artwork. Since our last 10 artworks have been abundant with varieties of colors, I decided to pick a more neutral piece for this challenge. Actually, I am going to use the artist’s entire portfolio as our inspiration.
The Artwork
Paper Sculptures by Karen Hawkins




Karen Hawkins is an American artist from Texas who creates art and sculptures using old book pages. Since book pages come in a very limited color palette and her work is really cool and very intricate, I think we can each choose whichever piece we want as inspiration…or her entire portfolio. I have shared a few images above from her website but there are many more available so you can pick what speaks to you. I love her paper totems!
If you want to join us with your own outfit inspired by these intricate paper sculptures, go get creative in your closet, snap a photo of your outfit, and send it to me at shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com by 10:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, and I will feature your photo in my gallery post on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, which is Earth Day, perfect timing for art that uses recycled materials! We would love to see more creative folks join our artsy challenges so feel free to share the inspiration and an invitation with your friends.
Happy styling!
Keeping it on the edge,
Shelbee



6 Comments
Marsha Banks
I love this one, Shelbee! It’s so unique and sustainable. I did pick just one, and it’s not neutral! I already have my outfit picked out. I just need to do the photos!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I am so glad that you love it. I thought it was going to be hard but now I have two outfits for two different works. I don’t know what I am going to do…maybe both!
xoxo
Shelbee
Joanne
Those are amazing!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I agree!
xoxo
Shelbee
Cat
Very cool. As a librarian I fully approve!
This is going to be an interesting one.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Cat! I thought this was super cool, too. I love upcycling things and I have always been a book lover as well. I am starting a huge project soon that involves upcycling old books. I can’t wait to get it done and share it, but it’s going to take a while!
xoxo
Shelbee