Chinese New Year of the 'Tyger'

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.

Lost in Forest Wild Part 3

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!!!!?????

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

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!

The Long March paper cutting project

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.

Hot Off the Cutting Board!

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.

Here’s one I did earlier..!

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.

The Gentleman Badger

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

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

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!

Silk Paper cutting decoupage

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 Whimsical Adventure

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.