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!!!!?????

Show Opening

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

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

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

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!

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

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.