Paper artist makes a name for herself from roots in the U.P.

Ever wonder where Dia de los Tacos, Marquette's most popular taco truck, got its "grinning skull" logo? You can thank Renee Kirchenwitz-Moore, a homegrown artist who specializes in unique art and designs using an often overlooked medium: paper cutouts. With a popular Etsy store and a busy schedule of appearances at festivals and design shows in the U.P. and beyond, her work is clearly in demand these days.

Kirchenwitz-Moore hasn't always been a paper specialist, though. She turned to multimedia art at a young age, as a defense against childhood epilepsy. "My seizures kept me apart from my classmates and made me painfully shy," she explains on her website, "but also gave me ample time to teach myself to draw, to paint, to fold origami cranes and flowers."

Kirchenwitz-Moore's natural affinity for drawing took her to study animation at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, where she enrolled after leaving her hometown of Escanaba a few years back. Frustrated, ironically, with the creative constraints of formal artistic training, she left mid-course and headed back to the U.P. Shortly after reestablishing herself here, she enrolled in NMU's furniture design program -- still in the artistic realm, but a definite leap from the conventions of drawing.

After leaving NMU, though, Kirchenwitz-Moore was "cut off from the facilities that allowed me to produce large-scale work," she says, "and my experiments had left me in debt...I realized that I would have to work on projects of a smaller scale." But she also wanted to build things, not just jot lines on paper. So she settled on a compromise: intricate, often subversive paper cutouts that pop with color and sharp lines.

She owes a big boost in confidence -- and visibility in the local arts scene -- to, of all things, a gig as Dia de los Tacos' first sous chef, back in 2013. She had been working at Upfront & Company, along with future DDLT owner Mike Walker, when the popular venue closed without warning in 2012. She and Walker had a good working relationship, so he invited her to work for him -- and design the taco truck's arresting skull logo.

And her early work earned her some international attention. She's since expanded beyond paper, into everything from "coasters and lighting...to vinyl stickers and paper murals." Shortly after shifting focus last year, she attended the Interior Design Show in Toronto, where she sold her work at the Designboom shop. 

Energized by the interest in her work, she reserved a spot at Interior Design Show West, in Vancouver. A Kickstarter campaign helped her raise over $2,100 to cover the cost of attendance -- a clear indication her work resonates far beyond the U.P.

So what's next for Renee Kirchenwitz-Moore? For now, she's doing a brisk trade on her Etsy store and continuing to share her work with art lovers across the Upper Peninsula. She was at downtown Marquette's Baraga Harvest Fest earlier this season and released his-and-hers Halloween designs just in time for October 31.

Down the road, a storefront in Marquette or her native Escanaba isn't out of the question. And she'd like to stretch her creative legs at more national and international events like IDS and IDSWest. Since both require funding and Kirchenwitz-Moore can only make paper art so fast, there may well be another Kickstarter in her future.

But Kirchenwitz-Moore isn't worried. After all, she's found her passion after a long, eventful personal journey.

"I love finding solutions to problems...and love each piece I create," she says. "I'm thankful for the opportunity to learn new things through them."

Brian Martucci writes about business, finance, food, drink and anything else that catches his fancy. You can find him on Twitter @Brian_Martucci