Paper Fetish, from beginner to expert!

 I've always had a love for paper!
I remember as a child, my mum making flour and water glue, giving me a pair of scissors and an old catalogue and some blank paper. I created many pieces of expert art work.....Monty Python style. Legs coming out of mouths, birds flying out of peoples ears.....well you get the picture I'm sure. 
As a child of 8 years old and with a calligraphy nib I copied Gothic lettering I found lettering hard with a chisel nib, as a left hander I couldn't understand why. Of course years later, I realised I needed a specially cut oblique nib! I remember however, I was sent to the headmaster for a 'special pen' to use during handwriting class. A Platinum with a curvy end if my memory serves me well. (which could be doubtful at my age! - lol). 


In secondary school, my plan was that I wanted to become a graphic designer or sign writer. I used to copy lettering styles out of the Lettraset catalogue. It's here I became fascinated with lettering of all kinds. Whether on paper, carved in stone or etched in glass. 


Years later I got heavily into Quilling. If you've never heard of it go and take a look-see here
Still my passion for paper continued. 


To be honest I wanted to stone carve letters and learning calligraphy was a means to an end. 
It wasn't until I actually took a class in stone carving that I realised what hard work it was and if I was to have any wrists left at all, it was not something for me. 


So....lettering and paper seemed a perfect combination.
I learnt to bookbinding, from single section to multi-section, paper covered to the largest 500 page. A4 sized leather bound book for a shop in London.... very exciting!


I've done letters ON paper, and in books.....but finding this lost piece of cut out lettering art (now sadly VERY yellow and dirty) made me come back to cut-out letters....

This piece was created in 3 layers and was taught to me by a wonderful stone carver 

called Celia Kilner, who made some of these to explain to a stone mason that she wanted letters cut into and out of the stone.....

I have been fascinated with silhouettes and stencilling over the past years.

These two pieces are experimental pieces where I wanted to cut letters overlapped and in one whole piece.

I've designed my own stencils in the past, so being aware of letters which would drop out and fall away when using the positive, came in handy. I had to make sure the dot of the i on waiting and life and the apostrophe on I've were attached to a letter somewhere. Like I said, these couple of pieces are very much experimental at the moment and I have to fit the playing in after my commission work is out of the way.....which has been very hard lately, but I have lots of ideas and will show you the progress as time goes on.

I
 love paper-cuts...... of all kinds. Paper is so flexible and can be manipulated. Cutting can both strengthen and weaken the paper depending on how it is cut. 
And with the wide variety of weights, finishes, colours and application types, it's an amazing material to work in. 

I LOVE PAPER, I DO!

I don't think I will EVER

 achieve anything as spectacular as this though!