Folk art leaf papercutting (wip)

50cm x 35cm

I've started cutting the other side of the leaf and have also decided to fill in the four outside corners. This is my progress so far. I'm holding my own verdict on it at the moment - still not completely convinced about the design, but fortune favours the brave. So we'll see.

Folk Art papercutting (front and reverse) work in progress.

This piece is going to be in the shape of a leaf. Showing the reverse side gives you an idea of how I go about drawing out a picture, but also, what the final piece will hopefully look like! The paper is matt black scherenschnitte paper - a German product which I can't find anywhere anymore and am rapidly running out of - boo hoo! So I'll soon be switching to fadeless art roll paper which isn't quite as velvety black. On the positive side, it comes in lots of colours, is slightly thicker and comes in a roll so I can go bigger if I want to, so we'll see how it goes. I never use scissors or tweezer scissors, just an Xcelite craft knife suits me best. This picture measures 50cm x 35cm.

Upstairs Downstairs papercutting (50cm x 35cm)

I've just added a print of this one to my Etsy shop. The original has already sold to a lovely and talented mosaic artist in Washington State, USA. The print is the same size as the original artwork. I had a lot of fun cutting this one. Scouring magazines for interesting items to furnish the house with was good fun too. Some of the items can actually be found in my own house, like the piano, the rocking chair, the woodburning stove and a couple of the cats! But alas, no chickens or geese.

Actually I'd quite like to live in this house!

Picking Hearts Folk Art papercutting (14.5cm x 21cm)

I made this one today. In total it took me about 3 hours, including drawing the picture out on the reverse side. The design evolved as I was drawing it. Initially it was just going to be another tree, but then this idea popped into my head and here it is! I'm pretty pleased with the end result. It's nice to use colour for a change.

This is the finished papercutting on a black mount. It measures 14.5cm x 21cm (A5).

Birds in a flower tree papercutting (work in progress)

I've been intending to try a papercutting on coloured paper for a while, so this is kind of an experiment. I think the green and red look good together. The size is A5.

Flowers and Birds

Here is the finished papercutting. It measures 6" x 6". It gives the impression of being symmetrical, but isn't. I hope my friend likes it!

Papercutting ("wrong side")

I thought it might be interesting to post up the same picture from its reverse - you can see my (uncut) drawing on the right. I've never made a white papercutting for mounting on black, but having seen this one, I think I may give it a go. Somehow it looks more delicate than black on white - just an optical illustion of course.

I'm cutting this piece to give to a good friend who's going back to live in Japan.