Scissors in hand, Melanie Gordon snips her way through her current art project. Scherenschnitte is a new love for her. The German art of paper cutting is also known as silhouette. She traces the shapes of skipping goats for a cutting depicting the history of the fainting goats of Marshall County.

Nearby, a finished cutting bears an uncanny resemblance to her son Elliot, a student at Belmont University in Nashville.

Gordon's sunroom is a beautiful montage of finished and unfinished artwork. Paintings, sketches and cuttings surround her. Most prominent are graphic sketches of lovely old homes and buildings. She also shares the space with a fluffy white cat.

"We've lost every cat we've had," Gordon says sadly. "Macho, he's what's left. He's been my company through Elliot leaving."

See Wednesday's Tribune for the complete story.