Tim Budden

Happy Year of the Dragon!!!!

2012-01-21T13:25:00.001+08:00

Welcome to the New Year of the Dragon! Here’s another recentpaper cut to celebrate this auspicious event. Here my character Daniel playswith fire works and is blown over by the terrific bang.

Another of my Daniel characters rides on the Dragon. He holdsa string of firecrackers in his hand, but he’s not really aware how dangerousthis really is. Behind the dragonwater pours and flows and rain falls from the sky – This is after all the Yearof the Water Dragon.

My cockroach characters are in danger of being washed awayby the water, so they’re trying to escape by clinging to a rocket as it shootsskywards. Are the cockroachesaware that the rocket will explode? Who knows? Cockroaches do have the knack ofsurviving just about anywhere.

This paper cut along with many others of mine is currently on display at the Suho Paper museum in Taipei. More on that next time!

2012-01-06T19:42:00.002+08:00

I’m sitting looking out of the window. It’s raining and whenit rains, here in Taipei, it sometimes doesn’t stop! This means the roads get very wet and in parts it’s like aflood. But this doesn’t deter the bikers who drive as crazily as ever… until…that is… they collide with another scooter and come to grief in a large puddle ofwater.

Here’s a new silk paper cut entitled ‘No Kiss!’ it’s one ofa series of silk paper cuts that focus on a more irreverent look at my life inTaipei.

Two scooter riders hit each other head on. OUCH! or are theykissing? Their head to head clash also looks like a Chinese Opera mask.

Here’s an unlucky rider lost in the water.

This silk paper cut along with many others will be in my upcoming show. Details below.

January Art News:- I'm starting off 2012 with an Artist in Residency at the Taipei European School. I'll be working with the Year 9's on a project to celebrate Chinese Lantern Festival.
I've also got a one man show opening on Friday January 13th. Unlucky for some (but not for me I hope!). It's at the Suho paper Museum in Taipei.

Earth star

2011-12-16T11:46:00.000+08:00

Earth star is the last of the current series of paper cuttings entitled Floating Worlds. It’s also the biggest and most complex of the series.

It took almost 2 months to cut and paint.

Approx 80cm in diameter thiscomplex organic world floats aimlessly. Inside there are tiny creatures thatlive there. Are they trapped or are they the rulers of this kingdom?

At the last count there were 24 beetles and one butterfly!

Here you can see Earth star's shadow projected onto the wall behind.

This piece along with four others from this recent series of paper cuttings will be exhibited in January and February of next year in Taipei.... but more on that nearer the time.

Rhizosphere

2011-11-15T11:37:00.001+08:00

Here’s a new paintedpaper cutout that’s part of a recent body of work of small floating organic worlds. It’s entitledRhizospere 50cmx30cm.

The Rhizosphere is thethin top layer of soil where many tiny organisms and the roots of plants existside by side.

As a child I remember digging my fingers into the soil and examining the results – bits of decaying plants, tiny bugs, worms, roots, strangely shaped pieces of I don’t know what (maybe bones). This was a mysterious parallel world to my own. Beautiful and strangely alluring.

Is the butterflytrapped or is it the King of this small world?

The shadows areimportant, a colourless version of this world.

Here is Rhizospherebacklit.

Details, details, details

2011-10-20T19:27:00.000+08:00

Here are some details from five of my recent paper cuttings. These organic 'clumps' contain a variety of life. The most identifiable being butterflies. Are the butterflies the king of the clumps or are they trapped in these organic webs. These paper cut outs are about a shadowy world full of secrets and surprises.

Is this butterfly trapped?

The shadow shows the real complexity of these paper cutouts

There are bubbles in there too.

A detail from of the work featured in my previous post, Pink Mist. Can you spot the butterfly in the shadow?

Pink Mist

2011-09-24T10:45:00.000+08:00

Pink Mist is thefourth paper cut from a new body of work.

I’m still trying tofigure out why and how this new body of work came about. I think it is a reactionto the highly rigid structure of my paper cuts. For these new pieces my inspiration came from a number ofsources -

Decaying leaves, fullof holes and patterns. yet still strong and complete. Trees that grow in randomand chaotic ways.

Working onexperimental paintings with the most excellent Thomas Ebele. His workingmethods involves pouring paint and letting it create the imagery. For me thiswas an attempt to play with colour and random abstract imagery. Here’s anexample of his work ‘Bull by the horns’ 2008.

For Pink Mist Ipoured, dribbled and splashed paint onto paper. Then I started to cut into itusing the paint marks as my guide. Into this I also added some imagery – abutterfly trapped in the web of branches.

By cutting and carvinginto the paint the work becomes sculptural and the shapes, lines and colours take on new meanings. Ithen work into the paint to highlight and emphasize the flow, shapes andcolours.

Summer paper cutting workshop

2011-09-16T11:03:00.007+08:00

During the summer I was lucky enough to be invited to do a 1.5 day paper cutting workshop for children at Taipei's Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA).

The kids had lots of fun (I hope!) making all kinds of interesting and fun cuts.

We designed and cut beautiful butterflies,

Our own cartoon characters,

And paper chains.

What did we do with all the paper scraps? - we decorated masks!

The kids' imagination and skills were fantastic and it's amazing how it all feeds into my own artwork. Great Fun! and Great Learning!

Kirie of the World 2011

2011-08-14T22:40:00.009+08:00

Keeping a blog is much harder than it seems. Putting up interesting posts regularly requires the writer to be disciplined and focused. Unfortunately at the moment I am neither!! Must be the summer blues!

Now back to my silk paper cutting art. Currently I am exhibiting with 7 other paper cutting artists in ‘Kirie (paper cutting) of the world’ at the Fujikawa museum in Japan’.

I traveled there to attend the opening a few weeks ago. An awesome experience. Here’s a video to commemorate the show. See if you can spot me. I’m the middle aged British guy wearing a black shirt who at one point wears his paper cut on his head!

The main building of the Fujikawa Museum

Some of my newer work on display. See my previous post for a description of the work.

IIt’s great to see my work alongside such talented paper cutting artists Aoyama Hina, Tatsumi Maasaki, Beatrice Coron, Bovey Lee, Andrea Tezso, Patrick Gannon, Rehane Favereau, …..and myself.

From L-R Patrick Gannon. Tatsumi Maasaki, Aoyama Hina & myself

Artists' demonstrations - Maasaki

Artists' demonstrations - Hina. Her work is unbelievably small!

When I finished my demonstration piece I gave it to this gentleman who'd been patiently watching.

Nature Studies

2011-06-16T14:38:00.005+08:00

Here are some new paper cuts I’ve been working on recently. Although still paper cuts they show a very new direction. I am looking for a freer, more spontaneous and abstract way to create. The inspiration for these new cuts were the natural patterns, shapes and colours found in the skeletal remains of leaves, soft moist green mosses, hard craggy worn rocks and the tiny animals that live within.

Blue Butterfly (73cm diameter): Search carefully for the tiny blue butterfly making its way around a sinewy forest.

Natural green (73cm diameter): Lush green moist moss

Detail

Purple Beetle (73cm diameter): A skeletal leaf was the inspiration for this one. I exaggerated the shapes and colours and added the remains of a few butterflies. The Purple Beetle is in there somewhere, too. Look carefully and you’ll find it!

Detail

Talks and Workshops

2011-06-01T10:34:00.006+08:00

Recently I’ve given talks and workshops about my silk paper cuttings. One was at ARC (a meeting place/ restaurant) where I gave a speech to a group of Taiwanese designers / cutters / art lovers. The feedback was good and fun was had by all. Surprisingly no one fell asleep!

Here's me introducing my work and making shadows.

Designer, Ben, asks a question.

A local TV news programme did a feature on me for the lifestyle section of their show. It was a kind of ‘day in the life of’. I took them to my art shop, places that inspire me and even to one of my favorite restaurants.

Here we are in the artshop where I buy my silk. Standing next to me is the owner, John, who introduced me to silk paper many years ago.

I also did two workshops at ARC – one for kids and one for adults. Both took the theme of paper cutting as a way to tell stories about ourselves. Fantastic paper cuts were created and I think everyone had a good time… I hope! In the Kids’ workshop we cut symetrical figures based on an important experience moment in our lives, e.g. one was about learning to ride a skateboard.

In the Adults’ work shop we focused on round symmetrical cuts that told stories. This workshop was as much about designing the architecture of the work as it was about telling the story.

Typhoon Tales

2011-04-07T10:41:00.006+08:00

Here's the newest piece from my recent show. Entitled 'Typhoon tales' it is cut into a 2m long silk paper scroll and displayed on a black paper background. Photographing such a strong red is frustratingly difficult so the photos don’t show the real colour.

As an expat living in Taiwan two things I'm aware of are the abundance of motorbikes and the annual typhoons. Local TV news crews rush out to the windiest, stormiest point and foolish reporters try to file their live reports. They stand in the howling wind and rain, clinging to some inanimate object while holding a microphone. Their reports always state the obvious, “It’s windy here and the rain is heavy.”

The other thing news crews do is to film other people out in the storm and they’ll always manage to find motorcyclists battling the winds and inevitably being blown off or getting stuck in floods. My question is why go out in such bloody awful weather on a motorbike?

In this silk paper cut my dancing boys fear no storm, but even they are beaten by the mighty typhoon as they get swept along in the wind, rain and flood.

Here's one of the preliminary sketches. I spent a long, long time on the design process making sure that everything would hang together and not collapse. Papercutting is as much about the ‘architecture’ of the piece as well as the image.

New Show!

2011-04-04T11:27:00.007+08:00

I’ve always admired those artists who can keep a regular blog. I, on the other hand find it hard at times to write – Maybe it’s because of the solitary lifestyle of the artist or maybe it’s laziness or not having anything to say.

I suppose my 3 month hiatus includes all of the above and more!

2011 is looking to be busy (but not yet busy enough to give up the day job!) I have my first major overseas exposure in Japan, which is exciting while my Taipei show will include children and adult workshops.

Taipei Tales,

ARC, Taipei, Taiwan

April 2^nd – 30^th, 2011

Kirie (Paper Cutting) of the World,

Fujikawa Kirie Art Museum, Fujikawa, Japan

July 9–September 25, 2011

Here’s the opening party for the ARC show. The press were on hand (I wasn’t expecting that!). Click here to see a video and article in Chinese.

The centrepieces of the show were two x 2m cut silk scrolls. One was a reworking of a previous piece called Boom Boom Vroom! and the other was ‘Typhoon Tales’. Both involve my 'Daniel Dangerous Dancing Boy' characters as they get into all kinds of mischief on their scooters. I’ll write more about them in the next post

Typhoon Tales

Boom! Boom! Vroom!

The Angel of Christmas

2010-12-24T12:40:00.005+08:00

First of all, Merry Xmas and a prosperous new year to all of you who visit my blog. It's always good to know there's someone out there looking at my work while I'm hidden away in my little studio!

Recent work

A friend, who has decided to devote herself to rediscovering her spiritual self, commissioned this silk paper cut, entitled ‘Angel’. Influenced by Shamanism she asked for very specific images to be included in the work.

Here, she is wearing traditional Chinese clothes which are richly embroidered with symbolic imagery. On the front is a stylized rose which represents loving with courage.

As the Angel rises into the sky, she is surrounded by four ducks, which are her ‘Power animal’. These birds inhabit land, water and air and are her soul guides.

As she rises up the sun provides the warmth and energy thst will protect and empower her on her journey.

On another note I'd like to say thanks to the Online Graphic Design Degree for honouring me (along with a select group of other origami and paper cutting artists) the...

2010 Top Origami Paper Art Blog Award

Much appreciated!!

Click on the link for further info

OnlineGraphicDesignDegree.com

Doodling!

2010-11-01T08:56:00.003+08:00

After I finish cutting a silk paper cut I’m always left with thousands of beautifully shaped pieces of silk.

I collect and keep them - boxes and boxes of beautiful scraps, the result of years of paper cutting.

Every now and then I start gluing them onto coloured paper, sketch books, wooden bowls, in fact anything I can get my hands on.

I just let the scraps determine the shapes thus the title ‘Doodling’.

But now I look at them I see all manner of images. What can you see?

Klompen Blog aka Clog Blog

2010-10-04T22:12:00.004+08:00

I have just completed an art charity project to aid children in Maolin township in the south of Taiwan. This was the area devastated by typhoons last year. 70 artists were each given a pair of traditional wooden clogs and asked to decorate them in any way they wanted.

Here are my clogs or klompen. I tried to create a feeling of movement, like water or air. I wanted this to flow around the clogs. If you look carefully you will find several butterflies and beetles. These little creatures are full of life and beauty, just like children. They are curious and a little naughty!

It was a perfect opportunity to use all the silk paper scraps I have left over from my cuts.

The clogs will all be exhibited before being auctioned off, but to tell the truth I have no idea where or when!

Butterfly Flow Opening

2010-09-06T13:26:00.004+08:00

Thanks to all who came to the opening party for my show, ‘Butterfly Flow’. I think everyone had fun! I know I did. It was nice to catch up with friends from all aspects of my life and to meet new admirers of my work.

It’s always difficult keeping up the momentum once a show is up as it’s such an exhausting process getting everything ready. Luckily I’ve got a few commissions to keep me busy, but more of that later.

Butterfly Blast!

2010-09-03T16:47:00.004+08:00

This 100cmx100cm silk paper cut is the biggest and most detailed thing I’ve ever cut. Entitled ‘Butterfly Blast!' here is the piece at my current show. The daybed is where the owner treats customers to tea. Cut into a 230 x 100cm silk paper scroll the piece can be used as a wall hanging or a screen.

Butterfly Blast! shows many butterflies in a woodland setting. The Butterflies are arguing, bickering, fighting, pestering, pushing and pulling. What is it that they’re fighting about? The answer is simple - they’ve forgotten! Now it’s become a habit that they’ve got used to. In fact it’s become a ritual dance!

Gently moving shadows make it seem the butterflies are flitting.

The chaotic energy of the whole piece

A detail.

'Butterfly Flow' show

2010-08-27T22:46:00.010+08:00

My new show, ‘Butterfly Flow’ is starting next week (Aug 31^st – Sept 19^th) at the Piao Piao Gallery at 63-1, Yong Kang St. Taipei. This gallery is in the heart of a vibrant district of eateries, bars, antique shops and galleries. I love this area! For more info on the gallery and the address in Chinese go here.

If you’re in town on Sept 4^th please come along to the opening party starting at 7pm. Hope to see you there!

One of the newer silk paper cuts on display is the latest in my series of circular works entitled ‘Jagged Waves’.

Waves crash against defiantly jagged rocks creating a rugged razor sharp surface. Higher up in the rocks plants and flowers cling to the surface immune to the salty spray around them.

The waves twisting and turning

The swirls and eddies of water

Some flowers

The Breath of the Spider

2010-08-17T23:29:00.008+08:00

I’m working hard preparing for a one man show this September. It'll be a mix of new and revisited silk paper cuts made over the last year or two. It'll include the largest cut I've ever done.

Between the yells and screams of doubt, frustration and cut fingers there are times when I think I’m onto something such as this piece (Click on it to get a better view).

I’ve been working on it for over a year. It’s provisionally called ‘Spider Breath’ (I know spiders don’t really breath like you or I but in my world they do!). This spider breaths and the sudden exhalation of air causes a domino effect of events that creates this silk cut world shown here.

I’ve layered coloured silk to create an exaggerated sense of depth to the work.

There’s a whole ecosystem here. From the roots of palnts…

To a gushing stream…

To the numerous ‘beasties’ that inhabit this place…

And the clouds and rain that bring life…

Textures

2010-08-05T19:36:00.005+08:00

Just took a month long pause to visit home in the UK. From the sweaty tropical balm of metropolis Taipei to the cool greenness of the deep Dorset countryside. What a contrast!

Here are some textures that I discovered and that will at some time or other appear in my work I hope.

The trip was divide between countryside....

and sea

The skeletal remains of a half eaten but still alive leaf held together by thin sinewy threads.

The energy displayed in the seeming solidity of wood always amazes me. The way the surface flows hints of a time when there was much struggle.

I love this lump of softened mudstone crammed full of rock. You can often find fossils in this grey mud.

Waves

2010-06-08T08:18:00.005+08:00

I grew up next to the ocean with all its moods, textures and colors. I’m sure its restless energy is in all my work somewhere, so I decided to cut a piece about it.

This silk paper cut, called Wave, is the fourth in a series of large circular works. It started from a tiny sketch in my sketchbook and I instantly liked its movement and the flow of the lines.

Here are some pictures of the work in process.

Referencing Japanese wave imagery I created two large drawings (this is the second, more refined one).

Once happy I traced the finished design onto the back of two layers of silk and cut it. Here's the work half cut.

Then I played around with the lighting. Here the work is lit from the front creating shadows.

Here's a detail showing the two layers of silk

I haven’t decided on how or if to colour the piece.

Lit from the back the different layers of silk and the luminescence create interesting effects.

When I’ve decided how to colour, mount and light the work it’ll be exhibited in my upcoming show in September.

Nice Surprises!

2010-05-25T22:23:00.006+08:00

A good friend came over one day, saw this, my second butterfly lamp design, and promptly bought it for his recording studio. Let’s hope the fluttering butterflies inspire some great music!

I used an existing Ikea floor lamp and fixed my silk paper cut design inside it. This is the second butterfly design for this type of lamp. Nice 'n' moody.

Then along came a commission from a wonderful lady who gave me just two words to work with – Purple & Dolphins. I’ve never used dolphins in my repertoire of imagery and I’ve never used purple before. Therefore the design and cut took much longer than I thought. Despite being late the lady loved it and promised that it’ll go with her to the grave!! (Don't worry she has a looong time to go yet!)

I layered several colors together to create a sense of movement and depth. Doing commissions such as this really do stretch me in a very good way.

News: I have a solo show coming up at the end of August til mid September. Details nearer the time. The gallery is situated in a cool district of Taipei full of interesting shops, galleries cafes and restaurants. I am really looking forward to it.

'Rice, Metal Bowl' Restaurant

2010-03-22T09:12:00.012+08:00

I’ve just put up a new silk paper cutting in the window of a restaurant in Luodung, a town on the north east coast of Taiwan about an hour’s drive from the capital, Taipei.

Owner Ben (now ex owner!) gave me the opportunity to create a piece for the large front window of this renovated merchant’s house turned restaurant.

I like this restaurant. I like the spirit and passion that created it. I like its naturalness, the history, the wood, the atmosphere, the people and I especially like the front window!

The piece itself contains many stories and layers of meaning. It is about the year of the tiger and the coming of spring. There are symbols of spring everywhere - butterflies, flowers and birds. It’s a sign of hope and renewal. Trees on either side rise up and support a roof. Look carefully under the eaves and you’ll see two birds nesting. Is this Ben and his wife, Ivy preparing for the birth of their Tiger child?

At the bottom there is food that steams and wafts, its aromas evolving into plants and flowers.

There are the playful boys – they are everywhere! One boy holds bowls of his favourite food whilst another is trapped inside the tiger. Was he eaten?

The piece was cut in a way that the colours are different when viewed from inside or outside. I used a mix of silk paper and coloured paper in the work. Go here to see more information in Chinese about the restaurant.

Thanks to Lee Mooney for helping with taking the pictures.

Daniel and Tyger

2010-02-28T22:49:00.005+08:00

Here’s another silk paper cut that was given away as a gift at Chinese New Year. It comes from a new story I’m working on which involves my child character, Daniel, meeting a rather self important ‘Tyger’ in the forest. This silk cut shows Daniel and Tyger at the end of the story. As and when the story is finished I shall show more.

I plan to make the shadows an integral part of the story.

Chinese New Year of the 'Tyger'

2010-02-13T10:27:00.006+08:00

Wishing all of you a very Happy Year of the Tiger and Valentine’s day! Hopefully my tigers will roar this year.

Part of the inspiration for these silk paper cut ‘tygers’ is William Blake’s poem

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

My tygers are half hidden in the forest. The gold one is to remind us that this is the year of the metal tiger – this element gives the tiger its sharpness in action and speed of thought. Tigers born in the Metal year like to stand out in a crowd with an inspiring assertiveness and competitive demeanor.

The red Tyger silk paper cutting is made of several tygers stitched together. Each is slightly different so other shapes and lines can be seen. Seen here it hangs in an open space allowing the viewer to look at it from both sides.

Peering through the fretwork foliage allows the viewer to spy on what’s happening on the other side.

Love Hearts

2010-02-04T22:43:00.006+08:00

I’ve been making a series of hearts for a few months now. The starting point was coming across Percy Bysshe Shelley’s quote ‘Soul meets soul on lovers’ lips’. Once I found one beautiful saying I found others and the hearts followed. It gave me the perfect opportunity to incorporate writing into my work. See if you can find the quotes entwined in the hearts!

Now with Valentine’s day fast approaching I am showing them all. Each has been cut in silk paper in a small edition of between 4 – 8. They are a perfect gift and reasonably priced!

Email me if you're interested in any of them.

‘A Kiss makes the Heart Young’ by Rupert Brooke (25x28cm)

‘Soul meets Soul on Lovers’ Lips’ by Percy Bysshe Shelley (25x28cm)

‘Two Hearts Beat as One’ from a song title by U2 (35x28cm)

‘Love is Blind’ from ‘The Merchant of Venice’ by William Shakespeare (25x28cm)

‘Love is Friendship set to music’ from E. Joseph Crossman (30x30cm)

The Cut Line workshops

2010-01-31T20:53:00.006+08:00

With my current show I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to hold several workshops in Starts gallery in downtown Taipei. One was for adults and one for children. Both workshops were great fun, the participants were keen and during the short time they were there they worked really hard and produced some beautiful work.

With the adults I focused on cutting butterflies using craft knives. This allowed us to explore symmetry and the numerous effects different cut marks can make.

The kids cut out symmetrical tiger faces using scissors (it'll soon be the year of the tiger.). They also decorated masks using scrap silk paper bits (the left overs from my paper cutting). It was a great way to use up some of my huge store of silk paper scraps, which I never throw away! The results were impressive. I just wish we had more time to completely finish them.

The Cut Line

2010-01-17T22:43:00.006+08:00

Here are some pictures of the recent opening of my one man show of silk paper cuttings, ‘The Cut Line’, in Taipei. The day of the opening was a warm sunny day and people were out and about enjoying a brief respite from this cold, wet and grey winter. In the cozy confines of Starts Gallery guests ambled and chatted and, I hope, enjoyed the art. Many thanks to all those who came!

The show included work from the last 5 years though the centrepiece was the recent Butterfly Creation series seen here on the left.

It was interesting to show older work against the newer work.

These are from the ‘Butterfly Creation’ series.

This silk paper cut from the Butterfly Creation series is called ‘Butterfly Cloud’. It's pinned to a large scroll in a way that it is suspended bout 1 inch away from the surface. This gives it depth and allows shadows to play on the scroll.

Over the next month or so I’ll focus on different work in the show, some of which has not been seen before.

The Cut Line

2010-01-05T12:46:00.009+08:00

What! It's 2010! Why didn't anyone tell me? Why didn't I know? Oh yeah, I remember, I've been stuck in my studio buried under an ever increasing number of silk paper cuts. I'm preparing for an upcoming show, the opening reception of which is Saturday Jan 9th 2010. Please come if you can. It's at Starts Gallery and is open on Wednesday, Saturday & Sunday (2:00 - 6:00pm). Here's the address

地址：台北市和平東路二段28號B1,1F & 2F (一樓與地下室展示場) (二樓演講廳)
28, Section 2, Ho Ping East Road, Taipei

Here are some pics of my studio in its clean state! You should see it when I left yesterday - I had to shuffle, duck, twist and stretch to get out of the place.

The ever prolific Beatrice Coron dropped by the other day to say hello and see what I was up too. Based in New York she was on a flying visit to Asia so dropped in to see her old friends in Taiwan as well as me. She showed me some of her amazing paper cutting art in the form of artist books, fans and a self made magazine. This is an artist who is totally dedicated to her art! Check out her comprehensive website to see what I mean.

Butterfly Lamp

2009-11-24T22:09:00.004+08:00

FINALLY! After months of dithering I finally finished making this lamp. I cut the image out of silk then glued it to the inside of a white lampshade and voila! It’s done, finished, and complete. The reason I’m so happy is that my studio is littered with half finished projects which sit around gathering dust. At least there is now one project less to worry about!

The lamp is 55cm high and is lit by two light bulbs. Only when the light is on will you see the silhouette of the silk cut. When the lights are off only the white lampshade is visible

As with a lot of recent work my fascination with elaborate butterflies continues. In this one the butterflies float on wafting breezes.

My website has recently been updated so why not pop over and take a look.

Butterfly Creation

2009-11-09T22:55:00.005+08:00

October was a month of upheaval as I moved my art studio out the apartment to a bigger place. Of course all kinds of complications arise and, as I sit here in the new studio, I realize that the tool I really need is still at home!

Adding to the confusion is a lack of internet access which means I haven’t been able to blog for quite a while.

Despite all that I've still managed a bit of silk paper cutting. Here is the latest piece called ‘Butterfly Creation’ (diameter 65cm). This first picture is of the work in progress - half cut. It took several weeks to cut as I could only work a couple of hours a day to avoid permanent damage to my eyes.

Here's the finished work hanging in an open space. At 65cm diameter it's pretty big. A giant swirl of butterflies swarm together riding thermals of air or clinging to each other. They seem unsure as to where to go next.

Why butterflies you ask? Taiwan, where I live and work, is famous for the sheer number of butterflies that can be seen...

... but to me they represent a fleeting moment in time. Their lives are short and yet they are incredibly tough despite their fragile nature. Their beauty is intoxicating as they waft along on breezes searching for food and mates.

I hope you enjoy them.

Love hearts

2009-09-23T16:09:00.003+08:00

Ahhh! Love! Lovely Love.

As old as humanity itself. Written about, cried over, argued heatedly, said endearingly and so on and so on.

For my art ‘love’ is the passion and the energy which drives me to create.

Here are two beautiful sayings on love. Can you see them in amongst the twisted energy of the silk paper cut?

Love is Blind.

Soul Meets Soul on Lovers’ Lips

Typhoon Relief

2009-09-08T00:05:00.007+08:00

August was NOT a good month. Health issues raised an ugly head creating a period of anxiety and worry. Tests revealed no major problems, which brought a sigh of relief. When things like that happen one’s attention becomes very distracted and unstable.

Meanwhile Typhoon Morakot, which though it did not affect us here in Taipei, devastated parts of southern Taiwan. One village with 500 people simply disappeared as the mountain behind it turned to mud and buried the place and its inhabitants. I cannot imagine the pain caused by such a disaster.

Last Saturday to show our support for the relief effort 16 artists spent a whole day creating works of art, which were then auctioned off in the evening. It was a fantastic experience. I’ve never seen artists work so hard to produce so much. By the end of the evening we’d made over US15,000 and was deemed a wild success. I’m so glad I participated.

My silk paper cut took 3 days to prepare prior to the event (I was the only non painter). Titled 'Hope' the tree represents a new beginning. In Taiwan’s mountains once the trees are felled the ground becomes very unstable. Put the trees back and life returns.

A great atmosphere!

Artists working hard

Sophie

Charles

The Shadowed Artist

2009-07-31T18:28:00.004+08:00

When I started blogging I promised myself at least 2 postings per month. Sometimes that gets hard, but when it happens and it’s and out there for all to see life becomes a little more satisfying. So, before July closes in six hours or so, here is my second post for this month.

I was always a little nerdy as a teen. I didn’t dare to have my ears pierced or to dye my hair though I secretly envied those who did so. More recently it has been tattoos. I love unique tattoos that tell stories or have a history. A friend, ‘M’, has endless tattoos running up his arms and onto his shoulders. Each of them has a story to tell. Then there is Charles, whose work involves images of crows and dragons. He’s taken it one step further and tattooed his characters onto his arm. I am envious of this life long commitment to art and skin. Another artist who interests me is Rice Freeman-Zachery whose amazing art focuses on journal writing. Not journal writing in the conventional sense but journals woven and stitched onto clothing and quilts and I’m sure her tattoos are part of her life’s journal too.

And there is me. Even as a performance artist in the early to mid 1980’s I was too cowardly to get tattooed, dye my hair or get a piercing. I still am, so what is there left for me to do with my body..?

Shadows!

Here are pictures of me hiding behind some recent silk paper cuts (Cloud). It looks as if I really am Lost in Forest Wild! (which is another recently finished work) The covering of temporary shadows has given me a brief glimpse of what it’d be like to be covered in tattoos. It looks exotic enough right now, but the problem with tattoos is if they can keep their meaning in the future. Luckily for me I can just turn the light off and my shadowed body disappears instantly!

Butterfly Cloud silk paper cutting

2009-07-24T11:52:00.006+08:00

Recently I've been thinking of my silk paper art work and my relationship with it. It all started with an interview published on Who Hub (You can read the interview here). Then I bought some spotlights and started seriously exploring shadows and translucency in my work. By hanging the silk paper cuts in space and lighting them in various ways it really opened up a new dimension to what is normally seen as a 2D artform. Now I have discovered a whole new direction within my silk paper cutting work.

As an example here's a new piece I've been working on for some time. Called Butterfly Cloud it is approx 65cm diameter and cut in four colours. Clouds are light as are butterflies. They seem to hang effortlessly in space and yet they are constantly moving and evolving as if possessed by a life giving energy.

The first picture shows the blue version hanging and lit from the front which throws a shadow on the wall behind.

Here's the same one but lit from the back creating a very dark yet graphic image. There are two butterflies enjoying the cloud.

There's a butterfly fluttering in a gap in the clouds. It is almost like a cave with tree roots spreading through the open space.

For these two pictures I layered two colours together slightly off centre and backlit the work. The result is always unexpected and revealing. I like the translucence and the way the colours play off one another.

A Birthday Commission

2009-06-20T12:31:00.007+08:00

Now and then I get a request for a commission. Since I love telling stories I jump at the chance to do something for a particular person.

This one, just finished, was commissioned for the 50^th birthday of a doctor. He practices western medicine but was born, raised and trained in Taiwan. Therefore the imagery used is a mix of western and Chinese symbolism.

The picture shows a crane sitting atop a staff. Two snakes are entwined around the staff. The crane is holding a lotus flower whilst clouds swirl around a lantern.

The winged staff with the snakes is called the Cadeceus. It is the symbol of medicine and medical practitioners. In Greek mythology, Asclepius was the patron of medicine and son of Apollo. The staff represents his authority and the snakes signify renewal as they are able to shed their skins. The ‘L’ on the staff is the roman numeral for 50 – the doctor’s age.

On top of the staff sits a Crane. It is one of the most favoured of all Chinese bird symbols. It’s the symbol for longevity as well as representing health, and happiness. The crane is holding a lotus flower, which symbolizes longevity and purity. Interestingly every part of the lotus plant, from roots to petals, can be used for food or medicine.

The clouds symbolize wisdom and nobility whilst the lantern is life giving, a beacon that provides, safety and hope.

The Chinese characters at the lower right are the Doctor’s name and title whilst those on the left say, ‘Happy Birthday!’ Also, hidden in the clouds is the doctor’s Chinese nickname.

I am always interested in taking on new and exciting projects like the one above, so get in touch and lets see what we can come up with.

Cloud

2009-06-15T20:26:00.006+08:00

In the beginning there was, well, an awful lot of cloud and ether. The clouds swirled and mixed creating a potent brew of life forms. Out of this biological stew came all kinds of beasts - veggie beasts, pesky beasts, spikey beasts, watery beasts to name but a few. Some good, some bad, some indifferent to what was going on around them, but all essential to the creative process.

This silk paper cut says more about what's going on in my head than any religious idea of creation. I like the idea of an internal energy constantly churning, never settling. An energy full of anomalies that take the form of a variety of physical forms. Stories give structure to all this, so use your imagination, take a close look and make your own.

This new piece has been hanging around the studio for a few weeks. Then one day the sun shone and so I hung it and was wowed by the shadows and transparency of the silk. There are two layers of silk paper that hang loosely together. With the light flooding through and gentle breezes moving of the work, it creates an ever changing glimpse into some uncharted cloud or forest.

Those bugs fascinate me with their minute perfection, coloured bodies, scratchiness and how they can be found in every nook and cranny you dare to look.

These pictures in low light clearly show the intertwined imagery of the different layers of silk paper.

Lost in Forest Wild Part 3

2009-05-31T15:04:00.007+08:00

Nearly done!!! This is a project I've been working on for 4 months so far. It's a kind of fairy tale cut out of silk paper. By gluing several sheets of the paper together together, before cutting out the image, the paper can stand by itself. The idea that I can join all the silk paper cuts together into a kind of concertina book.

The story so far (see previous posts on March 10 and April 24 for parts 1 & 2):-

Daniel idly wanders into a forest where he is attacked by a gnarled, hungry tree. The unfortunate boy (Daniel) is overcome and finds himself being absorbed into the tree's pithy wood.

But Daniel is not as weak as he seems. Despite his dreamy looks there is a strength that dwells inside him. Exerting all his strength he breaks free of the branches (above).

Then he forces his way up through the tree towards the light of the sky.

Once at the top he rejoices in his freedom. The winds come to whisk him away to safety.

Just to make the project even more difficult for myself I am now cutting out a page of text to accompany each picture. When will it ever end!!!!?????

Show Opening

2009-05-24T07:41:00.005+08:00

These are pictures from our 'successful' opening last weekend. 100 guests turned up - they drank all the wine, ate all the snacks, created a fantastic atmosphere, but didn't buy much!!! Despite that we all had a fantastic time. We were lucky enough to have Mia and Scott from Moving Sound give a performance. They were joined by singers Ayesha and Anya. My work became backdrop to their atonal chants. Truly wonderful music!

This large hanging piece "Lost in Forest Wild' (version 1) seemed to attract most attention. I put it at the last moment just to what it would look like. Other works which I laboured over (especially the framing) didn't get half as much attention.

General views of the opening.

The 'culprits' (l to R) Debby, Thomas, Roma, Me

The Five Elements

2009-05-13T18:38:00.007+08:00

If you are in Taipei this upcoming weekend then you are very welcome to join the opening of the joint show titled 'Five Elements'.

I'll post pics of the exhibition once I get a chance to take some decent pictures!

The show title is a very loose way to involve all five artists. We've all interpreted it in different ways. For me the Anais Nin quote sums up my approach best - "The artist is the only one who knows that the world is a subjective creation, that there is a choice to be made, a selection of elements."

Lost in Forest Wild part 2

2009-04-24T23:21:00.006+08:00

Here's the second installment of my story, 'Lost in Forest Wild'. A three part tale composed of 10 silk paper cuts (see Part 1 dated March 10 below). It's inspired by fairy tales, nightmares and childhood memories of walking through dark woods as a dare.

The story continues:-

Having wandered aimlessly for a long time, our foolish hero, Daniel, finds himself lost in a forest. It's a dark and hungry place with not a breath of fresh air nor the rustle of a rabbit in the grass. All is dead or that's what he thinks it is. Gradually Daniel becomes entwined in thorny branches and long strands of grass. It's only when he realizes that he is being attacked that he tries to flee. But it's too late. The trees have woken and are desperate for lunch!

One ancient gnarled tree will do anything to get Daniel. With all its strength it quickly encircles the boy, stifling his screams. Shapes in the branches seem to suggest other, equally terrifying beasts.

Sharp scratchy tendrils tear into his flesh and overwhelm the poor boy. They cut down to his bones and greedily drink the life force within him.

Poor old Daniel. The tree has absorbed him into its pithy flesh. He almost looks like an apple as his face becomes ossified and grainy. Does he have a chance to escape I wonder?

Check in soon to find the answer to Daniels dilemma!

Daniel is swept away

2009-04-07T17:05:00.008+08:00

I have a real problem finishing work off. I spend hours designing and cutting a piece, then when the cut is almost done I get bored with it (or is it fear?) and so I put it to one side and leave it until another time. This piece has been hanging around for about a year and I've finally gotten around to finishing it. Yippee!
As usual it is a silk paper cut (red and gold silk paper mounted on white). This time I experimented by adding an extra layer of gold silk behind the red image to emphasize the flowing water.

The story is simple, but as yet unresolved. Daniel, the clumsy boy he is, has tumbled into a raging torrent. Swept away, his calls for help are unheard above the roar of the water.

The waves see their chance and crash down on him pulling him deeper under the water.

Daniel is overwhelmed and gives in ... or does he? Is this the end for my hapless hero? I don't think so ... I have some ideas as to how he escapes, but I'm not gonna tell!

Lost in Forest Wild!

2009-03-10T23:15:00.004+08:00

Here are the first silk paper cuts of a story that I'm currently working on. They are, as yet, unfinished and fairly unrefined (that's the hard/ tedious part and comes later). The story involves my character, Daniel, who gets lost (surprise surprise!). Some of the imagery maybe familiar as I started the idea for this story more than a year ago and did some preliminary silk paper cuts then. Hopefully the whole story will be exhibited in May and I hope to use lighting to its full potential to create dramatic shadows.
For now here is the Title page - 'Lost in Forest Wild'. You even get a bit of my Taipei nighbourhood thrown in if you look carefully.

Here's a bunch of bugs, but can you see the artist's name?

Here's Daniel fleeing the trees. They want him!

Now they really have caught him. What can he do to escape..?

You'll just have to wait and see!

Analu Prestes

2009-03-04T16:08:00.009+08:00

It's almost impossible to be truly unique anymore as I found out several times recently. First, I did a post on my new moleskine sketchbook (see Feb 5 post) only to discover a million billion other people using the very same sketchbook and they're all using it better than me! Then I start playing with light and shadow on my silk paper cuts (see Jan 18 post) only then to come across the Brazilian artist Analu Prestes and her fantastic paper cuts. She's had the benefit of exhibiting her cuttings and lighting them to create stunning shadow play. Check out her work at Flickr and her Website. She describes her paper cutting as 'Alumbramentos'. I'm not sure what that means, but her work is impressive in scale and variety. Here are some examples.

It's interesting how, after cutting the paper, she gently lifts it giving it a 3D effect.

I like the way the work is hung away from the wall allowing shadows to form. Some are lit from above and some below. Some walls are curved while others are painted black. Each giving very different effects.

Dancing and Chatting

2009-02-11T18:18:00.007+08:00

The roots of paper cutting go way back in history to the time paper was invented in Chinas. This is a fragment of a 1000+ yr old paper cut discovered in a tomb; it was preserved by the dryness of the air. It is of monkeys (or the monkey god) joyfully dancing around flowers.

This image became the inspiration for my cut, "Dancing and Chatting" (unfinished). It shows my Dancing Boys and Gals in a circle dance. Some are having a good time while others are not. Each pair is talking, hence the red speech bubbles. For this cut I thought of all the things I overheard at clubs whilst a reckless young man. I was never any good at dances, discos, clubs - whatever you want to call them - I couldn't move in any kind of rhythmic fashion, I couldn't hear what people were saying, I didn't have a warm inviting face (I was concentrating on trying to 'dance'!), and the smoke just gave me asthma attacks!

"Don't pick on me." "What?!"

"Look at you." "This isn't for me."

What do you remember talking about?

As a follow up to my Moleskine post read about Aimee's adventures with hers. Her amazing moleskine / journal is fantastically colourful and varied - just what a molskine is for! Check it out!

Silk 'n' Moleskine

2009-02-05T12:22:00.003+08:00

I've always liked the feel of a new sketchbook with it's fresh smell and the potential of so many blank pages. My choice has always been a Moleskine sketchbook as it is the prefect artist's objet d'art - perfect size and beautiful paper (check here for more info on artists who use Moleskines). The first thing to do was to put my mark on it, so I glued a silk paper cut on the front. Now my Moleskine is sitting here, in front of me, waiting for the artist's first scribbling. But this artist is afraid lest he might despoil the purity of the white paper! WhatamIgonnado?!!

The new Moleskin is on the right. On the left is a collage of an exploding Dancing Boy made with scraps of silk paper. Why exploding you ask? To be quite honest I have no idea!

The Year of the Ox

2009-01-29T21:39:00.004+08:00

Belated Happy New Year of the Ox! This is the most important festival of the year here in Taipei. The city becomes deserted with everyone returning to their ancestral homes. This gives us lots of time to wander and enjoy the empty streets. Here is my son, Adam, standing in front of Taipei city hall admiring the enormous paper cuttings without getting run over!

On New Year's Eve after the traditional evening meal with the in laws we returned home for midnight when all the windows were opened at 12am to let the New Year in and to say 'Hi' to the various Gods. That's also the time when the people set off the traditional firecrackers, leaving a lovely pungent smell of gunpowder in the air.

Last year was the year of the Rat. 'Coincidentally' we caught a rat in our house on the first day of the year of the rat!! We live on the 12F of a modern apartment building which is a heck of a climb for a little rodent. Anyway, I proudly boasted of my capture until someone told me that if the rat was killed (which it was) our fortune would leave the house. The credit crunch certainly saw to that!! Hopefully the year of the Ox (which is my sign) will bring us better luck. So far I haven't seen any sign of ox droppings in the kitchen....Yet!

Silk Shadows

2009-01-18T13:09:00.005+08:00

After a chilly week the sun came out today and while basking in the warm sunshine I took a few photos of my new 'Bug cut'. Since working on the silk paper cut 'Taipei Living' (2006) I've become interested in bugs - their long legs, bulging eyes, and general scuttleness fascinates me. The art work for 'A Walk on the Wild Side' (see previous post) had lots of bugs hidden away. This new cut can actually stand up as it's made from two pieces of silk glued to card. Boy, it was really hard to cut as it was so thick!

I'm thinking on new applications for my silk paper cutting and I'm really interested in getting my cuts to stand up and using light to play with the cut and shadows.

A walk on the wild side and then dahn the river!

2008-12-29T15:04:00.006+08:00

I've just had a story published in a magazine here in Taipei. Based on an actual encounter with a territorial wild boar in the mountains of Taiwan, it tells the tale of how two lost, hapless middle aged expats escaped a terrible ordeal by the skin of their teeth! I illustrated the story with two silk paper cuts.
The first cut called 'A walk on the wild side' shows the lost duo being pursued by the 'man eating' wild boar and fleeing for their lives!!

The second cut, 'Dahn (Down) the river' shows the two still lost, but making their way down a river as they know it will lead them to the ocean nearby. In hindsight it was the hidden dangers that could have caused more serious problems, especially snakes that like to hangout on river banks. Luckily it was a cool day so they were hiding. Search carefully and you'll see many hidden creepy crawlies lurking in both pictures.

As usual I cut the illustrations using red silk paper which was then mounted on white silk. Gold silk was added to the water in 'Dahn the river' to emphasise the turbulent flow. If you want to read the full story of this 'epic adventure' click here and you'll find my article on p18. Enjoy!

Oh, and before I forget... Happy New Year for 2009!

Decoupage

2008-12-17T16:57:00.004+08:00

Since I'm a pretty frugal person (though my wife would say otherwise!!) every time I finish a silk paper cut I'm left with heaps of beautifully shaped scraps. I hate to throw them away so I carefully collect and store them. I realized I needed to use them in some way, so I started sticking them onto unpainted bamboo bowls and plates.

This one I did months ago, but I decided to add a poem to it to see how the shapes and writing interacted.

Here are some very recent examples, but instead of using scraps I purposely cut flower shapes out of silk paper and carefully glued them to the plate.

This last one is actually two layers of different colour silk paper slightly offset to give a blurring effect.

Now all I have to do is set up an Etsy account and try to sell the stuff! That'll be my next project.

Vietnamese Onomatopoeia

2008-11-28T18:42:00.005+08:00

I cant say 'onomatopoeia' but I know what it means. It is a word or group of words that imitates the sound it's describing, such as, 'boom', 'clank', or 'bang'. But more of this later.

Living here in Taipei one cannot help noticing the constant stream of motorbikes that zip in and out of traffic, twisting and turning, going up and down and around to get somewhere fast. To my ordered, sequential mind this equates to total chaos!

Just a few weeks ago I was in Vietnam on business and discovered that the chaos there was far worse than Taipei. As soon as I arrived at Hanoi the airport taxi driver had to maneuver carefully around two unconscious motorcycle riders whose bikes, loaded high with various goods, had bumped and spilled their loads all over the road.

Hanoi was worse than Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) with riders coming from all directions especially at intersections. Traffic lights seemed to be for reference only. But the real revelation about Vietnam's bikes were the horns. Everyone constantly toots, peeps and parps. Some prefer many short sounds - 'Peep Peep Peeeeeep'. Others prefer one long 'PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!' While creatives have composed their own signature peep - 'Peep, Peee, Peee, Peee, Peee, Peeep!' Apart from the bikes most other vehicles have their own distinct horns, from the big bus yodelling, 'Par-AU-AU-AU-AU-Au-au.' To the old worn out horn that just never gets there, 'FLUR-R-R-Pppph.'

I found a small French owned cafe in the old part of the city and tried to write down all the horn sounds I could hear. Here they are illustrated with help from one of my 'Dangerous Boys'. Click on the picture to get a clearer image.

Out of my studio window I can see...

2008-10-27T20:21:00.004+08:00

Recently I've spent a lot of time gazing out of my office / studio window. Not good for work or the silk paper cutting, but it allows me to gaze at the heavens and the wonders they bring. I'm also lucky enough to look out at the tallest building in the world, the Taipei 101. It's so tall that the top of the building has its own weather which streams in from the hills behind it.

This first picture was taken in June from my studio. Every afternoon there was a thunderstorm. This one seemed to be forming right over the 101, the clouds churning and darkening until they burst. Awesome stuff.Then just last week a rainbow appeared and seemed to move closer and closer towards our apartment building until it was about 500 metres away. It was the closest I'd ever been to the end of a rainbow. It too was awesome!

Kako Ueda

2008-10-20T22:29:00.007+08:00

Kako Ueda is a Japanese artist who, for many years, has made her home New York. She cuts in paper and does something that I've been experimenting with recently (so far UNsuccessfully!) and that is painting on the paper cut.

Some of her work is mounted and framed, but some cuts are pinned to the gallery wall which emphasizes the organic nature of her work. It only took one glance at her website to realize that some of the work she produces and some of mine have great similarities.

Her heads, full of organic stuff, are like some of the heads I have produced in the past.
Here's one of Kako's.

But compared to hers mine is quite restrained.
A couple of mine.

I love the energy and visceral nature of the complex designs she produces and then to add colour to emphasize all of the above. It's Hot stuff!! Check out her website

A Walk on the Wild Side

2008-09-29T14:13:00.007+08:00

I found this article in a recent edition of the Taipei Times. One of the Taiwanese indigenous tribes has an annual celebration where the men go into the wild central mountains hunting wild boar. Here we have a group of young men with their glorious porky catch.

Quite coincidentally not so long ago I went walking with a friend on the north east coast. It's one of Taiwan's national parks. Rugged mountains with fantastic views of the Pacific ocean. It's challenging stuff especially for us pedestrian walkers. Anyway to cut a long story short we got lost and trapped on a very narrow overgrown path on a steep sided valley. We didn't realize we were in boar territory. As it turned out this was Mr Boar's path and he wasn't happy when he saw us. A big grunt, I mean a very BIG grunt alerted us to his presence and there he stood, blocking our only means of escape. He was mean looking, assertive and had the physique to back up his grunt...

...We realized that to escape we'd have to plunge down the valley side to the river below. Images of us being gored by a large pig kept the adrenalin flowing and we were into full flee mode. It must have looked quite funny to see two middle aged, white guys tumbling through the undergrowth in total disarray. Mr Boar didn't follow us, he had better things to do. Needless to say we survived our ordeal. I decided to write about our little adventure and to illustrate it with a silk paper cut for a local magazine. Here's the cut. I scanned it in two halves as it is quite big. I'll let you know when the article is published.

Paper Pulp Exhibition

2008-09-20T22:10:00.004+08:00

Over the summer I managed to hook up with an innovative UK arts organization based in the gorgeous county of Dorset. (This is where my ancestors came from in the 17thC. The Artsreach organization are doing a travelling exhibition around the villages of Dorset entitled Paper Pulp. Twelve artists are exhibiting with paper being the common element between them. In each unpronounceable village Artsreach set up the exhibition for a few days with an accompanting paper workshop before heading off to the next one. This goes on for six weeks throughout October and November. I've got five pieces in the show and the fact that they are cut in silk paper does not seem to worry the curators.

So, if by any chance you are travelling through the leafy green thatched villages of Dorset then drop in and take a look. Take in a pint (or two) at the local pub while you are at it. I myself will have to be content with observing everything thousands of miles away in sultry Taipei!!!

Trying to get back into the swing of things!

2008-09-09T18:28:00.005+08:00

It's taken a few weeks to get back into the flow of things here in Taiwan. Coming back from a cool English climate to the constant drip drip of sweaty Taipei has been hard to adjust to, not only for my art but also for my 'real' work. Nevertheless there are a few art projects on the go at the moment and as they come to fruition I'll write more about them. In the meantime let me introduce you to a few of the many artists out there who I find quite inspiring.

Check out the excellent blog Tlacoland (I've got no idea what it means either!) Written by Jazmin Velasco (thxs for awarding me the prestigious Brillante Weblog by the way!). I adore her Mexican Wrestlers especially the awesome Machete in his fearsome mask. Her blog is a cionstant source of fab musings on life 'n' art.

There was an international art fair here in Taipei last week. There were galleries from all over Asia representing the latest trends. They came from Japan, Korea and of course Taiwan. Found the work of a young Taiwanese artist, Wu Geng Zhen, very interesting especially his paper cuts. A nice fusion of old and new with hints of manga. Can't find a website for him.

Another recent discovery are the paper cuts of Elsa Mora. Originally from Cuba she now resides in LA. Her cuttings are amazingly delicate and beautifully cut. They have echoes of traditional European fairy tales which give them an innocent yet distinctly edgy feel.

Over in Japan the ever productive Patrick Gannon continues to amaze me with his commitment to his Japanese influenced paper cutting art. With two shows in the US and one in Japan running simultaneously I hope this is his big break. Check out his comprehensive blog.

On Holiday!!

2008-08-09T18:16:00.005+08:00

For the past month we’ve been back in the UK basking in the ‘cool’ British weather soaking up country life on a grand scale. From our base on the southern English coast in Dorset we can happily see the Milky Way at night and watch shooting stars and satellites pass over head. The only noises to keep us awake at night are the nearby sheep or the incredible silence. This is definitely NOT Taipei where seeing one star in the sky is enough to cause excitement!

Some highlights of our trip so far include stay in the ruins of the 12C ruins of the Llanthony Abbey ruins in the Welsh Black Mountains. We stayed in the top of an ancient tower reached by a narrow twisting spiral staircase. (You can see our window in the pics.) We had to descend the 48 steps to get to our bathroom, which was shared with other guests. If the bathroom was occupied... Bummer!

The breakfast was hearty and the surrounding countryside reaching up to barren moorlands.

Then there was the fossil hunting on Dorset beaches – great fun. Just a couple of hours and look what we found. Recent bad weather had loosened the pyrites fossils from the mudstone cliffs. There’s nothing like coming across something so ancient and so beautifully detailed.

Of course I forgot to mention the typical changeable British weather and the high cost of everything which made us wince! Just one more week left and then back to Taipei. Sob!

Commissions

2008-07-03T13:41:00.002+08:00

In the last week I’ve completed two commissions. The first is for an acquaintance who is soon to leave Taiwan after working here for four years. I often use the image of a path as a symbol of journey through life and experience. Her experience here has had its ups and downs and so I’ve shown her letting go of the books that represent her career here. There are symbols of Taiwan – 101, the clouds, food, cycling etc. The tree of life is another image I often use as a metaphor for continual change, security (see the birds nesting), strength and beauty. In this picture ‘S’ is urging ‘M’ to fly with him to a new beginning. I wish them well on their journey.

The second silk cut also uses the metaphor of the path as part of life’s journey. The arch represents the portal through which M & T pass to move on to the next stage of their life journey. He carries a map as he loves travelling while she carries a notebook representing her love of blogging. Again there are images of the places closest to them – Taiwan, Japan and Hawaii. The lantern, hanging from the arch, could be the earth with clouds swirling around it. The constant movement of cloud and air around the globe is the ever changing energy of life. The pattern below the picture is old Chinese money representing wealth, health and happiness.

Adam's Lusitania picture

2008-07-01T21:25:00.002+08:00

My son Adam has been recently very ‘into’ shipping disasters such as the Titanic and the Lusitania. Without copying he reproduced this near perfect rendition of the sinking of the Lusitania. Every parent thinks his / her child is a genius, but mine really is!!

His perspective is excellent and the amount of detail on the ship is just awesome. It’s odd though, that the survivors all have no faces. Click on the pictures for much clearer images.

Happiness of the Eyebrows!

2008-06-19T20:09:00.003+08:00

I've just spent the last 5 days in rainy Shanghai and while rummaging for paper cuts (didn't find any)I found an interesting book in English. So now I can let you in on some of the meanings behind some popular traditional Chinese paper cuts.

Before you read the explanations look carefully at the paper cuts and see what you read into them.

This one is A Snake Circling a Rabbit. I initially thought this was all about danger, fear and the inevitably of death… How wrong I was!

The description for this one is long but in a nutshell it describes peasant families trying to marry off their sons early. To marry off a 15 or 16 yr old son meant finding a mature wife 2 years older who could look after her husband well. A girl born in the year of the rabbit is older than a boy born in the year of the snake. Hence the saying, “If a snake circles a rabbit the family will surely be rich.” Therefore, making a paper cut in the shape of a snake circling a rabbit to paste in the bridal chamber speaks louder than words.

What do you make of this one?

This one has the brilliant title of ‘Happiness on the Eyebrows’. The description says – ‘The two eyebrows of the person are cut into a pair of flying magpies as are the arms, which add a festive atmosphere to it. The key point is that it is a masculine symbol. Under his crotch lie lotus flowers which symbolize a female. As a whole, it is a picture depicting copulation between a man and a woman. The guava and lotus flowers have the meaning of giving birth to a child.’

Dahn the 'ole!

2008-06-11T12:11:00.009+08:00

When I was five or six years old I dug a hole in a neighbour’s dirt driveway. I was all of 6 inches down on my epic dig when the neighbour returned home. She seemed intrigued in my hole but was concerned that I was going too deep and would end up in China. I was shocked that I could do this. Little did I realize I would eventually end up in this neck of the woods. Not quite China, but Taiwan is close enough. This memory is the theme of this symmetrical silk paper cut.
Click on the pictures for clearer images

Since it involves a journey through the earth, it can be looked at upside down or downside up.

Daniel is fleeing the trees who grasp and scratch him. They don’t like him and he doesn’t like them either.

He dives down a hole, a badger hole. Deeper and deeper he goes.

This is where the badgers live. They gaze at him from the comfort of their sett.

Out he pops at the other end of the hole. Everything is upside down. That’s because he’s in the land of the Dancing Boys! He watches aghast as they ride their bikes, crashing into things. Bugs scuttle across the floor. Poor ol' Daniel what has he got himself into?

I cut this piece in two colours, red and black. I am thinking of mounting the red one between two layers of silk and displaying it as a shadow screen. Here's a sample pic of it. I love the shimmering, blurry imagery.

The Long March paper cutting project

2008-05-29T11:49:00.002+08:00

Several years ago I saw an installation of paper cutting from the county of Yanchuan in Shaanxi province. It involved a group of Chinese artists from the Long March Project working with local people on a paper cutting project. The variety of images produced was stunning. However, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that 4,000 local paper cutters were involved! After years of searching the web I’ve found maybe 20 artists working in this medium and they’re of all nationalities. But to have 4,000 (predominantly female) paper cutting artists in one Chinese county is amazing. Then I discovered that in this part of China paper cutting is a very important skill for women to have as it demonstrates artistry, patience, creativity etc. All attributes that make finding a good husband all the more easier. Check out these two links for more information Link 1 Link 2

More recently the Long March Project artists have been working with educators and schools to come up with a paper cutting curriculum for schools in the area. The Long March artists see this as a way to search for possibilities through which folk culture and art can effectively express and continue Chinese traditions. Take a look at these students’ hard at work or click here for more info.

You Make My Day!

2008-05-22T23:02:00.008+08:00

You Make My Day Award. Yay!!The badgers are grinning in their dark setts tonite as they proudly acknowledge that they have made someone’s day. This doesn’t happen too often as they’re secretive animals and don’t try to attract too much attention. The ‘You make my day’ award has been bestowed upon them by the most excellent Tokyo based paper cutter Patrick Gannon. The badgers will celebrate with an extra helping of soft squidgy, moist slugs.

Many thanks Patrick.

Here are a couple of pics taken at last weeks opening of the art and antiques show. All photos taken by Roma Mehta. It was before the opening started so everyone was quite sober.

The (also most excellent) curators Philip & Milena

Some of my work

Artists Thomas, Michelle and (right) Constance. Guest Vikram (sitting)

Prish and friend with Thomas' paintings

The opening went well. Lots of contacts were made and fun was had by all. Not sure what was sold as I concentrated on the wine and chatting!

Art and Antiques

2008-05-14T10:44:00.002+08:00

Been out of the loop for a while following the sad passing away of my Father-in-law. Anyway I’m back and trying to get focused again on art and life.

Some of my more decorative pieces are part of a show coupling traditional Chinese antiques with contemporary fine art. Eight artists are showing. I haven’t seen how they are going to marriage the art and antiques together yet, but I'm curious to find out as there is a lot of art and a lot of antiques to stuff in. The opening is this Friday, May 16, so if you are in the Tienmou area of Taipei drop in, chill out and check out the art. Food and drinks will be available.

Here’s one of the pieces on display. It’s part of a series on the theme of ‘Elements’. This one is air – moving, flowing, rising, falling, cooling, twisting, etc. It was cut in four colours of silk, then painstakingly cut up and re-assembled. Boy oh boy did it take a long time!

Hot Off the Cutting Board!

2008-04-30T16:37:00.005+08:00

Here are some pictures of my latest silk paper cut entitled, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. VRROOOM! Click on the pictures to get a better look.

It took longer than usual 'cos there are so many other work and family related things going on at the moment. In fact I'm disappointed to that I've only managed three blog entries this month. I'll try harder in May. Sometimes life manages to get in the way big time leaving all else a little bit meaningless.

I'm sure the Dancing Boys wouldn't let such things get them down. They'd simply get on their 50cc bikes and ride like the wind through the jostling streets of Taipei with a ciggy dangling from their mouths.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. VRROOOM! is 190cm long by 30cm wide. It's not finished yet and I've got no idea how I'm going to mount it yet, but I like the idea of it as a long scroll to be rolled up and put away.

Boom! Boom! Vroom!

2008-04-17T16:58:00.004+08:00

Taipei is the home to the world’s tallest skyscraper, the 101. From my studio window I gaze out at it. It’s so tall the top seems to be in a different climate zone with swirls of cloud often hanging around it.

When they were building the 101 they realized that it was so tall it was going to interfere with the flight paths of planes from the Taipei city airport. Now planes take a wide arc around it but I always wonder what if one pilot forgets the new flight path.

When you visit the 101 it really is an incredibly well built and run building. Ordered, clean, calm, efficient and smooth. A world far removed from the surrounding streets where hordes of motorcyclists jostle and weave for the advantage of beating the next traffic lights. Some bikes spew acrid smoke while others twist and turn, mounting sidewalks for shortcuts with seeming impunity. Their riders casually smoke’n’ride, shirts flap in the wind, flip flops hang precariously close to the tarmac. It seems that, on average, once a month I come across a motorcyclist sprawled on the ground, the result of a bump or clipping a car or a shunt.

Everyday I see the survivors hobbling around with scuffed legs and arms the result of a ‘tarmac tussle’. I often ask myself if they’ll ever ride again. The answer is probably yes. I modeled my characters, the Dancing Boys, on these people – carefree and careless.

Here’s a detail of a rough sketch for my next project featuring the Dancing Boys, ‘Boom. Boom! Vroom!’ (click on it to get a clearer view). One has crashed his scooter into the 101 which is feeling the full effect of the bump. Below ground cockroaches scuttle around out of sight. Meanwhile high in the sky another carefree and careless Dancing Boy is bare back riding a plane as it hurtles through the sky. He’s being chased by others who gleefully prance along in the plane’s jet stream. Then there are the rap dancing Dancing Boys who gaze in wonder at the catastrophe unfolding before their eyes. But it doesn’t stop them. They see this kind of chaos happening every day in their world.

Once the sketch is done I’ll trace it onto silk and start cutting out the image. I just gotta make sure to cut it so that the writing comes out positive!

Here’s one I did earlier..!

2008-04-05T19:30:00.004+08:00

There are times when one gets completely stuck and frustrated when trying to finish an artwork. This silk paper cutting (Noodle Mania) focused on the joys of beef noodle soup, which on a cold winter’s day in Taipei is the perfect way to warm up. The bowls of noodles are at the centre warmed by flames from below. The steamy aromas rise and envelop the dancing boys who eagerly breathe them all in. The result of this is the Dancing Boys’ hair extending and twisting in some kind of rapturous ecstasy.

This silk paper cutting has been going on for almost a year, but somewhere along the way I completely lost interest in it. But when you spend so much time designing, drawing up and cutting out a piece it gets hard to come to terms with the guilt of time wasted.

At one point I crumpled it all up and found myself peering into a forest-like mass of silk. Hmmm, there’s potential there somewhere.

Anyway I did, at least, get some nice photos at various stages of the cutting. There’s the design drawn on the back of the silk paper. Four colours of silk paper were cut at the same time, then the image was cut up into its individual elements and attempts were made to reconstruct the piece.

Alas, by then my muse had gone and that’s the way it is right now. I haven’t given up all hope yet and the bits lie strewn around my small studio hoping that sometime soon it all might click.

Daniel is Swept Away

2008-03-24T18:50:00.003+08:00

I’ve always been fascinated by Japanese prints or Ukiyo-e, especially the highly stylized imagery used to portray water.

Trust Daniel to accidentally fall into a Ukiyo-e torrent and get swept away, only to finally succumb to the turbulent currents… or does he?

Before

After

I originally designed the three silk cuttings to explore the patterns and complexity of portraying the water and Daniel simply fell in. Then I felt sorry for him and devised his escape, but that never got beyond the sketch stage.

These three silk paper cuttings have yet to be finished and are still held together by ‘spars’ of silk which I’ll cut off before mounting the work. I laid the work on white silk to take the photos so there are shadows.

The Gentleman Badger

2008-03-19T18:57:00.004+08:00

The badger has always been a motif in my work. From my teens, when I used to go badger watching with my dad deep in the English countryside, I’ve been fascinated by these secretive, powerful nocturnal animals. Their gentle, friendly faces hide a powerful set of jaws lined with some awesome teeth. Their stumpy bodies and short legs cleverly disguise the fact that these are powerful digging and fighting machines. On the whole though they are passive, but don’t expect a cuddle!

In my work the badger dropped its earthly trappings and gradually took on the role of this artist’s psyche. Hidden and secretive, but always observing, they keep well away from unpredictable humans. At first, in the late 1980's, the badgers had their own cartoon strips, but now they inhabit the world of my silk paper cuttings. They seem to be quite at home in the confused twisting innards of iridescent silk. Click on the Dancing Boys below and take yourself badger watching to see how many you can spot. There are 10 to find.

And if you are really keen go to my website to find more.

Liu Ren's Paper cuts

2008-03-12T10:11:00.003+08:00

Beijing city government has promoted traditional folk arts by encouraging artists to set up shop in an area of old hutongs in Beijing city. These are traditional court yard houses which are rapidly developing in the name of modernization. One of these hutong is occupied by Chinese paper-cutting artist Liu Ren. Liu Ren set up a paper-cutting home museum in 1999 for the purpose of carrying forward the traditional handicraft and sharing with others the joy brought by paper-cutting. It seems she regularly holds workshops at her home.

Her work has a graphic quality that really appeals to me. Its organic nature and imagery is not rigid and formalized though it obviously relies on a rich corpus of traditional symbols.

See more of her home by following this link

Living in Taipei

2008-03-04T12:41:00.008+08:00

The grey murk of a long spell of torrid winter weather has finally lifted and the sun has magically reappeared to reveal Taipei in all its ‘splendid glory’. There’s a hint of sarcasm there, but just a hint. This silk paper cut done just over a year ago is called Bugs, Bowls ‘n’ Bikes. It incorporates four elements of living in Taipei, which is where my family currently lives. Starting from the centre are the bugs which during the summer are found happily scuttling around the streets, but most annoyingly in my kitchen!
Then there’s the food. Watching freshly cooked noodle soup on a cold day is a wondrous steamy sight.
Finally there’s the over abundance of motorbikes which are everywhere and I mean everywhere. You’ll find them zipping along the sidewalks and even in the middle of quiet parks someone will try to make a short cut across the grass.

Surrounding all this is a ring of grey misty cloud which represents Taipei’s hot humid weather.

It's all a mish mash of exotic sights and smells which even after living here so long don't fail to stir the senses. Hope you enjoy!

An inspiration in my life

2008-02-26T20:15:00.006+08:00

This is the culprit and inspiration for my Joyful Boys' silk paper cuts! My son, Adam, has an amazing dance that is a kind of therapeutic acting out of some scenario or idea he has in his head. Like those trance like tribal dances, he is completely oblivious to those around him. However when you ask him what was going on he doesn’t reveal some deep spiritual connection with some higher being, it’s usually him fighting a monster or some kind of wild ‘Polar Express’ like train ride!

Such is an eight year old’s mind.

Adam’s movements are coupled with the Taoist principle of experiencing new things through the mind of a child (awe and wonder). These are the elements that create my joyful boys. Their bodies are full of cosmic energy (and badgers) as well as wide eyed innocence. Check out my website for more Joyful Boys.

Silk Paper cutting decoupage

2008-02-20T20:42:00.002+08:00

Here’s some more decoupage using all those scraps left over from silk paper cutting. However this time I also used some more complete cuttings that ended up in the reject box. I cut and trimmed them and stuck them to large bamboo plates. The leaf one was originally from a larger cut done as part of a series of silk cuts based on the four elements. The dancing boy only got as far as the sketch stage when I originally designed him. Since the design fitted the plate’s size it only seemed logical to cut it out and glue it on. If you’re interested in purchasing one of these then please contact me for further details. Comments please!!

Daniel's Path

2008-02-13T19:36:00.004+08:00

It took a while, but here’s Daniel’s journey so far. Cut in silk. The work is not finished yet and I haven’t decided how to mount it. The story reads from the bottom left and the bottom right – then bottom centre up to the middle then out to the mid left and right. Finally moving up to the top centre at the top of the tree where Daniel gazes up into the blackness (this is one part I have yet to complete. What’s he looking at?). Here's a poor picture of it. The silk cut is in fact squared up and symmetrical, but when I was trying to photo it the wind just kept blowing the goddam thing around!

Smooth as Silk

2008-02-05T23:14:00.000+08:00

This article about yours truly recently appeared in the Feb issue of Taipei's Centered magazine.

Here's the complete article written by Lee Mooney.

Smooth As Silk

Should he require quick inspiration from his surroundings, local artist Tim Budden need only look out his studio window, from which he enjoys an enviable view of Taipei 101. Often veiled in mist, the city’s most famous landmark, not surprisingly, has become prominent among the local motifs that Budden has assimilated into his silk cuts, his unique variation of traditional Chinese paper cutting. What is surprising is that it took so many years for the long-time resident to find the local link he needed to resurrect the artistic pursuits that he had, more or less, neglected since arriving in Taiwan in 1989.

“[Originally] I wasn’t interested in Chinese art at all,” Budden says, from his studio in the East Taipei high rise he shares with his wife Christine and son Adam. “It’s very constricted, rigid and male. I don’t like male-dominated work. You look at any classical Chinese artist, there’s always the classic image of the scholar. He’s male and he’s got a beard. He produces paintings and he has a lot of students – all male – and in order to become an artist, they have to copy everything he does.”

Artistic failure was something Budden had never experienced in his native Wales or in his early career in London... After graduating in 1986 with an MA in Fine Arts from the University of Glamorgan (Wales), Budden embarked on a promising career in the UK, working for theater companies as a sculptor, scene artist, and designer, while at the same time pursuing his ambition to be a cartoonist. Roger Sabin, in his book A History of Comic Art, lauded Budden as a ‘rising star’ in recognition of a Gothic comic character and series the young artist had created. Other works by Budden were also exhibited in group shows in the UK and Europe.

Succumbing to youthful wanderlust, Budden arrived in Taiwan to visit his parents, who were living here as expatriates. His parents have long since returned to the UK. Budden’s “visit” continues, but his artistic pursuits strayed soon after arriving. “When I arrived in Taiwan, there was nothing in this culture for my art to connect with,” he recalls. Nevertheless, his new home and its “foreignness” intrigued him enough so that he decided to stay. Like many native English speakers in Taiwan, Budden turned to language teaching and eventually writing, as the author of the popular children’s textbook series, Say It. Despite this success, the connection he sought for his art remained elusive. ‘There was a time when wood block prints interested me and I did try to do some prints of [local Chinese] gods and I would change things a little bit, incorporating my own imagery but still nothing clicked,” Budden recalls. At last, in 2004, the link he’d been searching for arrived when he discovered a traditional art form that flourished mostly in the small villages of China.

Paper cutting has existed in China for thousands of years and by the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE) had already become a popular art form, especially for Chinese New Year celebrations. While professional paper cutters, often employed in large workshops, tend to be male, paper cutting in China’s rural countryside was traditionally a female art form. Ironically, it was an interest in what motivated these women that proved pivotal in Budden’s blossoming interest. He explains, “Paper cutting is classified as folk art. It’s considered very low art. It’s used for decorating windows, for Chinese New Year, for weddings, for symbols of spring. I just don’t find the work of the masters interesting because it’s formalized and built on craft and skill, whereas in the paper cutting I’m interested in, these, primarily, ladies coming at the art from the point of view that they have a story to tell.”

A gift of silk from a friend and a request that he create something out of it not only reinvigorated his newfound passion for his art but took it into a completely new direction – elemental silk cuts. “What I like about the silk,” Budden explains, “is its quality, its iridescent sheen, and its traditional phoenix pattern with its movement, vibrancy, and energy. Silk is also very strong. One of the problems with paper is that it disintegrates very easily,” he adds. Silk, because of its durability, is often used in the mounting of Chinese scroll paintings. Only such a strong material would hold up to the constant rolling and unrolling of the scrolls.

Budden typically spends about 30 hours on a silk cutting piece. After selecting the silk from a local shop, he draws a section of the entire pattern on tracing paper. Then, using colored pencils, he draws the entire design on silk. Since he usually does several versions of the same piece, underneath the top layer of silk are other pieces of varying colors. “The more colors you have, the more difficult,” he says of the process that then involves the painstaking step of cutting the design into pieces with a sharp scalpel, which are then mounted onto board prior to framing. To his knowledge, silk has never before been used in the traditional art of paper cutting.

During his initial foray into silk cutting, manic outbursts of creative energy and output led Budden to an important realization: he’d have to think more about the process so that images wouldn’t fall to pieces from careless design. “When these non-masters [ladies from China’s rural countryside] cut the paper, they have to do it in such a way that it doesn’t fall to pieces. They have to add these links, so there is a lot of engineering involved. They have to think about how to tie the whole image together …” A cursory glance at some of Budden’s work might lead one to believe that he has an obsession with noodles or steam, but the careful design of these are in fact integral to holding the entire image intact. Likewise, in another piece, only a careful observation and knowledge of the process reveals that a seemingly insignificant twig in fact serves the crucial function of holding the piece together.

As he’s grown more comfortable working with silk cuts, Budden has begun to incorporate more familiar imagery. “There is certain imagery that goes through all my work – clouds, ether, steam – have been in my work since my days in the UK,” he says. Clouds, revealing his roots as a cartoonist, have been especially prominent. “Clouds feed us with water but they’re also a place of mystery, of fog and mist and the way they move. They’re very organic. The imagery of the clouds in my work now is more related to the cloud imagery in traditional Chinese paintings. Eastern art becomes highly stylized, just as cartoons become very stylized images of people and things. This kind of stylization produces a new kind of imagery and energy.”

Though he has never spent time in rural China and is unfamiliar with the cultural references that inspired the decorative paper cuts, Budden has discovered, through reading and pouring over countless pictures, narrative themes that reflect what he wishes to bring out in his own art. “Narrative is important to me because I used to be a cartoonist. In my silk cuts, I’m also telling stories. I could see that there was a narrative in the pictures I saw, even though I didn’t know what the story was, and I could allow my own ideas to flow and give my work meaning. That’s what I like about art, to be able to approach it with your own ideas, even if you don’t share a common background with the artist.”

A common theme in the traditional paper cuts and paintings of China is the idealized innocence of childhood and domestic life. This is also a theme that runs through much of Budden’s work. “At the moment, I’m using the image of the child, which comes from the old Chinese paintings. In these pictures, there are 100 children and they’re all playing. The idea was that people would have these pictures in their house because [the images] represented babies and healthiness. All the kids in the picture are very cherubic, round, bouncy, and cuddly. I like the idea of this fantasy, of this innocent, cherubic child.” Even in communist China, the fantasy of cherubic innocence prevailed in propaganda posters of young boys in astronaut outfits.

Budden’s son Adam has influenced much of his father’s work that incorporates this theme of idealized innocence, most notably in Dancing Boys, a celebration of youthful male insouciance, described in one review as “child-like creatures full of sinuous anarchic energy that reaches every corner of their bodies. Veins, muscle and bone are hinted at – all beautifully patterned and flowing – pulsing with a vibrant energy as they experience the world around them.”

While his son Adam was the model for the image in Dancing Boys, it is the artist’s embrace of the youthful narrative theme that propels the spirit of the work. “I’ve used the image of the child in my work a lot,” he says. “Taoist thought is that childhood represents the ideal state because the child approaches everything very innocently. And the reason I use these dancing, happy-go-lucky, slightly naughty children is because they absorb what’s around them and they seem untouched by that and they can see it in an innocent light.” Though Budden is quick to embrace any ideology that upsets the order of a strict hierarchical or patriarchal system, he eschews politics in his work at present. This is consistent with the spirit of innocence he conveys in Dancing Boys. “I like that state of innocence. I think that’s partly the way I’ve tried to stay myself in Taipei, by not getting too involved in the language, in politics.”

Being an expat himself, Budden is especially sensitive to how the local surroundings provide symbols for the narratives in the lives of other foreigners who have called Taipei home. Such people often want something more meaningful than a photo to symbolize their experience here and seek Budden’s assistance in weaving a silk cut narrative out of the myriad impressions that color their stories. Says Budden, “I found that there was a real need for people to have something sight-specific about their lives. Through interviews, I get some ideas of what kind of people they are, the kind of things that interest them, of what they do here, or what kind of family they have. All the symbols I use mean something but only the people [who are interviewed for the commission] may know what they mean.” A look at several of his commissions reveals images that symbolize a child born in the Year of the Monkey; another interested in soccer; a Hello Kitty fan; places of employment; scooters; shapes of faces; domestic symbols; the Tree of Life; and, of course, local landmarks such as Taipei 101. “So often I’ve chosen the image of 101 because it’s such a vast thing. And it has a very distinctive shape. It has a tree, bamboo-like quality. So often in my commissions, it’s looming, growing out of the ground, twisting over other parts of the picture. Sitting here [in his studio] you realize that the top of 101 is in a different climate zone. It gets very influenced by the hills behind it. It’s often enveloped in clouds and you can really see them moving around it, shifting, being blown around. That kind of energy and movement inspire me.”

An environment that in the past was bereft of artistic inspiration for Budden now at least provides him with enough stimulation to add local color to the silk cut narratives he creates for his clients. With his art again at the center of his life, he enjoys a contentment that once seemed almost unattainable. Owing, perhaps, to his British reserve, he tempers his enthusiasm with some sobering realizations. “Now the worrying thing is that I don’t fit a stereotype. I’m the wrong age. I’ve just started trying to produce my art. I’m in my 40s. I’m the wrong race. Now the big thing is the Chinese market. If you’re a mainland Chinese artist, you get 20 extra points. But if you’re a British artist who’s living in Taiwan, and is 46, you lose points. Also I’m doing something that is a very female art form and I have very little in common with the kind of people who traditionally produce this kind of work.”

Each silk cut Budden produces is testament that he has indeed found the cultural links that are necessary for him to create the art he wants in Taiwan. Likewise, he enjoys a stable and nurturing family life. His wife Christine has fully supported and encouraged him in his artistic pursuits. Despite the cross-cultural assimilation into his artwork and his fondness for the people of Taiwan, it would be inaccurate to say that he has totally embraced the local culture. “Part of the reason I’ve never really learned [Mandarin] is because I need to keep a distance. I think it is, partly, because I realize I am of another place. There are many things here that I don’t need or want to understand because I need to keep that distance. It’s enabled me to stay outside of it and look at things with different eyes. Maybe as an artist that’s what I need to do - view things in a different way.”

Any lingering cultural conflict that Budden may still experience now fuels rather than frustrates his art work. As he says about the images that are prominent in his silk cuts, “Organic forms are very much a part of my work … because they refer to an energy that’s within all of us. We’re in a constant state of turmoil, I think, and it’s a positive energy. It’s how you use that energy. To try and capture that energy in a positive way is how the whole art form for me evolved.”

Daniel's Whimsical Adventure

2008-01-28T11:54:00.000+08:00

Here are some sketches for a Daniel story I’m working on at the moment. I try to make the sketches as detailed as possible because I need to work out how all the elements physically connect to each other. Otherwise the silk cut might fall to pieces during the cutting process. That’s why paper cuts are full of decorative elements whose sole purpose is to hold everything together. I’ll probably cut it in black silk.
It tells the story of a young Daniel wafting carefree, blown by gentle breezes.

Unaware of where he’s going he finds himself caught in a tree and is dragged into it.

Sucked upward into the tree Daniel finds himself trapped in the tree’s core. He’s scratched and scraped but not down…just yet. His past life as a badger has left something in him and he manages to break out.

Daniel escapes the core and heads towards the light. Once free, he clambers into the open and enjoys his freedom once again. He climbs upwards to get closer to the sky, waiting to be carried away on a thermal of soft warm air.

2008-01-28T11:26:00.000+08:00

Found this pic in a recent article in the Taipei Times about Din Tai Fung (see my homage to the restaurant below). There seem to be many ways to spell it. The restaurant produces about 15 million steamed dumplings annually and now the restaurant uses a computer to ensure the dumplings are steamed to perfection. It is one of the top 10 restaurants in the world according to the New York Times.

Click here for the full article

PHOTO courtesy of AFP

Silk paper cut hommage to a great restaurant!

2008-01-21T11:55:00.000+08:00

There’s a restaurant in Taipei that has to be the best dumpling restaurant in Taiwan. Not only for the food but also the noisy, chaotic atmosphere and the fact that you can see the many cooks preparing food in the steamy kitchens. The dumplings are cooked in baskets piled high on steamers. When done waiters carry these stacks of baskets around the restaurant delivering them to the customers. The restaurant also does a great noodle soup with coils of pale noodles and a spicy soup full of shredded egg and meat.

In this silk paper cutting called ‘Ding Tai Fung’, four dancing boys pay homage to the food and atmosphere of this place. The four boys are reacting to different things they see that hopefully emphasizes the noisy hubbub of the restaurant. On their heads they balance stacks of baskets and in their hands they hold bowls of noodle soup, the steam of which rises and envelopes them.

Just writing this is making me feel hungry!

2008-01-17T11:30:00.000+08:00

Ever wondered what a paper cutter does with all the bits? Probably not, but never mind. I bought a plate made of bamboo and stuck on the silk bits left over from the cutting process. Just like decoupage. I let the scraps dictate the shapes made on the plate and what was once destined for the bin now has a new lease of life. The problem I have now is that I've got tubs of scraps and can't use them up fast enough!

Daniel #2

2008-01-10T22:39:00.001+08:00

I cut Daniel in four different colours of silk. The gold version is below. I then took the whole process a step further and glued three of the layers of silk together, but slightly offset from one another to create a blurry image with a greater sense of depth.

Daniel

2008-01-08T21:43:00.000+08:00

This is Daniel. He’s part of the new direction I’m working with my cuts which I suppose is story telling. Anyhow Daniel is a central character in the story so far. Daniel was in a past life a badger who’s now been reincarnated as a boy who just seems to get lost all the time. However, the echoes of his badger past always stop him getting into too much trouble.

I cut Daniel in 4 colors. Here he is in gold silk. In this cut he is caught amongst some fierce looking branches in a rather foreboding forest. He’s being grabbed and torn at on all sides. Daniel’s torso is full of energy and he has heart. He’s a passionate boy, don’t you know. He’s also very careful with his hair, which again is an echo of his badger past. Badgers are well known for the distinctive black and white stripes on their heads.

This is the first cut I’ve also added writing too, which now is much easier to do than in past failed attempts. Maybe it’s because I have a greater understanding of the engineering needed to keep a silk cut together.

The Badger Awakes!

2008-01-07T15:47:00.000+08:00

Welcome!

Well this is a first attempt at my own blog to try and wake the world up as to what this silk and paper cutter is up too.

As soon as I get over my badger like shyness I hope to be posting regularly.

See You SoonTim a.k.a. Brock