Li Baofeng’s papercut depicting a scene from the ancient Chinese classic, The Dream of the Red Chamber. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Li Baofeng recalls spending her childhood days painting and creating paper-cuts. Some villagers teasingly asked her: "You draw and cut every day. Can you make a living from that?"

After many years, their casual words have unexpectedly come true, and the poor village girl has become a folk artist famous for her paper-cutting.

The 54-year-old recently took part in a reality show, in which her paper-cutting skills were marveled at by the audience because, thanks to her own special technique, the art she produces looks as vivid as oil paintings.

"Traditional paper-cut images are often made using red paper, which seems a little boring. So I want to create images that use multiple colors, which may even have some three-dimensional effects and seem to have different layers, making them more vivid," says Li.