Pull No Punches
athleen Trenchard sits at her desk inside a sunlit studio in San Antonio, turning a piece of tissue paper into something resembling lace. She is surrounded by work tables bearing the tools of her trade: mallets, knives, and a battalion of bladed chisels. Trenchard makes , or “punched paper,” a traditional Mexican folk art that dates to the 17th century. Today, papel picado continues to sway over Mexico’s cobblestone streets and old stone churches on holidays like Día de los Muertos and Christmas—not to mention at Fiesta
