Horse in Woodland

Sorry I haven't been able to blog for a while.  The run up to Christmas is always crazy with orders to complete and fairs to attend.  I've had some very tight deadlines to deal with as well, but it's all been good fun and I think I've produced some of my best work recently.  The piece below is my last commission prior to the winter break.  After Xmas I'll be back working on an album cover, illustrations for a Passover prayer book (also known as a Hagaddah) - as well as a large number of brand new pieces for a solo exhibition in Hampstead in February.  So I'll take these few days to have a break and then it's back to the scalpel for me!

Have a great Christmas and New Year everyone!

Suzy x

Horse in Woodland

20cm x 29cm

© Suzy Taylor 2011

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Events

Saturday 26th November and Tuesday 29th November

Papercutting Workshop at The Make Lounge, Islington (sold out)

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Friday 2nd December

Mercy & Pearl indoor market at The Arts Depot, North Finchley

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Thursday 8th December

Papercutting Workshop at The Make Lounge, Islington (places available)

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Saturday 10th December

We Make London Christmas Fair at The Arts Centre, Battersea

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Month of February 2012

Solo Exhibition at the Oak Studio, Hampstead

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Windsor Contemporary Art Fair

As you know I've been really working hard to show a good body of work at the Windsor Contemporary Art Fair.  Well, I'm heading off there now to set up.  Tonight is the private viewing and then it's all open to the public tomorrow.  If you're in the neighbourhood, or fancy a little trip out over the weekend, please come and visit me at Royal Windsor Racecourse!  Will blog again after the weekend.  Wish me luck!!!

Family Tree papercut

I've just got one more working day to go before I have to organise myself for the Windsor Fair on Friday.  So today I managed to get this piece drawn and cut!  I've had the idea for a family tree knocking around in my head for a while.  It was just a matter of getting it onto (and out of) paper!  The little character portraits are fictitious, but there's no reason why they couldn't have been real silhouettes of real people - I just didn't happen to have any.  But I do want to do my own family now - maybe for my parents Golden Wedding in March - hmmmmm.

Family Tree 

20cm x 27cm

Hot Air Balloon

I'm on a mission to produce as many pieces as I can between now and the Windsor Fair which starts a week tomorrow.  I think I've mentioned that I want my work to be "affordable" so I'm trying to complete pieces within the framework of a day - or 2 days at the most.  Anyway, I drew and cut this piece today.  I reckon I've spent about 8 hours on it in total.  It's exhausting working this way, but for a short period of time it's do-able.  Off to bed now!

PS: If you like my blog, please head over to my FB page and "like" that too! http://www.facebook.com/craftysooz

Hot Air Balloon
26.5cm x 18cm

A full day's work!

Made both these little papercuts today.
Such a backache now!

Indian Elephant

11.5cm x 11.5cm

Long-Necked Cat with Birds

11cm x 11cm

Apple Tree completed

Here's the finished piece.  I'm very happy with the way the leaves look on the tree.  Think I may have to do some more like this!

If you are interested in commissioning a papercut or would like to be added to a mailing list for details of exhibitions and papercutting courses, please email me at:

craftysooz@gmail.com

Apple Tree papercut commission

I've been commissioned to design an apple tree papercut, incorporating a quote by W B Yeats.  The request was that the design have a William Morris "feel" about it.  So here are my work in progress pics.  I hope I'm achieving the William Morris effect.  The font is similar to the fonts that Morris himself used.

This time I've decided to hollow out the leaves.  Not something that I've attempted before but I think it makes a huge difference to the whole look of the piece.  The inner circle surrounding the tree measures 19cm diameter.

Schoolhouse Papercut - version III

I've cut this schoolhouse papercut a couple of times before and as it's been quite popular, I thought I'd cut it again for the Windsor Fair.  The first time I cut it, the trees were bare and, although it sold, I always thought it looked a bit sinister.  So the next time I cut it, I put leaves on the trees.  This time I've also added a couple of extra pictures hanging in the upstairs room of the schoolhouse.  So effectively, each version has been very slightly different to the other ones.  Here's the link to the original if you'd like to play "spot the difference"! http://suzy-taylor.blogspot.com/2010/08/folk-art-schoolhouse-papercut.html

The Schoolhouse

20cm x 20cm

Peacock

Here's a little papercut I made this evening after dinner.  Took me about 3.5 hrs.  Sore hand now.

Peacock

11cm x 11cm

Cat with Birds papercut

This is another piece for the Windsor Contemporary Art Fair.  I managed to draw and cut it all today - a total of about 4.5 hrs work.  It's my first attempt at drawing and cutting anything bigger than a bird (!) and is based on a drawing of mine that I found in an old sketch book.  I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out - although my son says the cat "looks sinister ... but in a good way"! Ha - oh well.  I'm going to mount it on cream pastel paper and frame it in a black IKEA frame to keep the costs down - both for me and for the buyers at the fair (hopefully!).

I'm thinking of subtitling it "Resignation" because clearly this feline is no longer a threat to his little feathery friends.

Cat with Birds

"Resignation"

19cm x 31cm

Pink Heart Papercut

This year for the Windsor Contemporary Art Fair, I'm going to concentrate on making smaller papercuts which will be available at a more reasonable price tag.  I've made a start with this little folk art heart papercut.  It took me about 6 hours in total - including the drawing.  I've mounted it on a deep blue.

If you are interested in commissioning a papercut or would like to be added to a mailing list for details of exhibitions and papercutting courses, please email me at:

craftysooz@gmail.com

Workshop 5

Here are the pictures from my most recent workshop at The Make Lounge.  Even though I provide templates, I always try to urge people to attempt their own design.  This week every single one of them did exactly that and with amazing results too! (Alexandra - if you're reading this - please email me a photo of your VR piece so that I can include it in the montage!!!)

If you are interested in commissioning a papercut or would like to be added to a mailing list for details of exhibitions and papercutting courses, please email me at:

craftysooz@gmail.com

Life is Good Papercutting - work in progress

Here are the most up-to-date pics of my most recent piece.  I've nearly finished it and then I'll have the challenge of mounting it and sending it safely in the post!

The difficult part of cutting this piece is the fact that I have to keep turning it and also I sometimes have to lean on the cut part in order to cut a new bit.  Usually I'll lay a piece of paper over the papercut (under my hand) to protect the part that's delicate.

If you are interested in commissioning a papercut or would like to be added to a mailing list for details of exhibitions and papercutting courses, please email me at:

craftysooz@gmail.com

Papercutting Workshop

Here are the gorgeous papercuts that my workshoppers made at The Make Lounge on Saturday.  Beautiful results for first-timers!

Workshop follow-up

I held a papercutting workshop at The Make Lounge on 11th August and one of the lovely ladies who attended was so inspired that she went off and made a gorgeous papercutting for her boyfriend.  I just wanted to share Jo's artwork with you.  I think it's fantastic - after just one 3 hour lesson - WOW!  Keep it up Jo. x

New Courses - mailing list

My new studio at my new house will be ready in a few weeks and the plan is to run some papercutting courses (and possibly some other crafty courses such as sewing, quilting, silver clay, knitting etc) in there.

If you would like to be added to a mailing list so that I can keep you informed directly about what will be happening in the wilds of Oxhey (!), please email me your information (ie name and email address) by clicking on the link below.

I promise only to email course details!

craftysooz@gmail.com

How to make a papercutting template

As some of you probably know already, I've recently started teaching papercutting workshops.  I like to encourage people to design and cut their own papercuts, but sometimes people like to start by cutting one of my templates.  The question that seems to pop up most often is how do I get my design on to a small piece of origami paper?

I thought I would share my method with you.  It's not very sophisticated and a little laborious, but it works for me and as yet I haven't discovered a better way.

So here goes:

Step 1

Scan your black and white image and save it in photoshop.  Then, using the image settings, change the colour of your scanned image to a very light grey and save it.  Make sure the size of the image is the same size or smaller than the piece of origami paper that you want to use (eg 15cm x 15cm).

Step 2

Print the light grey template image on regular A4 printer paper. It doesn't need to be a high res image - although you'll get a crisper looking template if it is.

Step 3

Take your piece of origami paper and lay it colour side down exactly over your printed image.  Oh yes - make sure the origami paper that you use is coloured on one side and white on the other! Tape it in place (top and bottom, or in the corners) with very small pieces of masking tape.  Make the sure the masking tape barely touches the origami paper - you want it to just about hold it in place.  Too much tape on the origami paper will mean that you print on the tape and not on the paper!

Step 4

Place your paper back into your printer and print the same grey template again.  NB: Make sure you know whether your printer prints the front or back of your paper so you know which way to put in the paper with the origami piece taped to it.  I have to put mine in face down in my paper tray with the top of my image towards the rear of the tray.  When your paper emerges from your printer, the image should now be on the origami paper.  You can remove the masking tape and there you go!

Hope it works for you!

The Make Lounge papercutting workshop (Tuesday 19th July)

Here are some photos from Tuesday's workshop.  Another really great group.  Most people tried their own original papercuts - with some really good results too!  Hope they're all proud of themselves.

Sophie and Sofia cut beautiful versions of my templates - not easy choices but they cut them really well.

Rebecca (bottom right), after much trial and tribulation with the drawing bit, created a beautiful picture of her new cottage.  I think it's perfect.

Jenni (bottom left) is making a gorgeous picture of three owls on a branch.  I hope she sends me a picture of the finished piece - it's going to be amazing.

Clare (top left) created a multi-layered piece using one of my templates and some of her own images.

Ashley (top right and bottom left) created two personalised pieces to give as wedding gifts.  Really beautiful.

Michelle (top row) started by cutting one of my templates and then very swiftly moved on to creating a gorgeous piece as a present for her friends.  A natural papercutter!

Lucy (middle left) was inspired to come to the class by the promotional image on The Make Lounge website. So she cut her own version.  I love the colour scheme she's chosen.

Hannah (middle right) cut one of my templates in gorgeous shades of pink.  It looks so different to my usual black version, but I love it.

Mims (bottom row) cut a delicate butterfly.  She did a really great job and surprised herself with her result!

Owls Papercut - final piece

I've just finished the specially commissioned owls papercut.  Very pleased with the final result - hope my client likes it!  She's secretly ordered it for her fiance - hope he doesn't read this blog! Oops.

The Make Lounge Workshop (Saturday 16th July)

Just wanted to show you the wonderful work produced by the ladies and gents at the Saturday workshop.

The piece at the bottom left (above) was just a practice exercise - but it was so pretty I had to have a photo of it!

Zoe was illustrating a piece of writing that she'd written herself  - I think this is as good (if not better) than anything I could have produced myself.  A natural!

Papercut Owls - commissioned piece

I've been commissioned to make a papercut of two owls on a branch with the name "Jonathan" incorporated into the design.  It's quite a small piece - just 7" x 7" - but I'm pretty pleased with how it's turning out.
Please click on the images for larger views.

My initial - and very rough - sketch that I'm working from!

Hello - I'm back!

Hello.  It's been nearly a month since my accident and I'm feeling much more human again.  The whiplash is still bothering me quite a bit, but I've been told it's a lengthy recovery for that, so I'll just have to be patient.

Last week was the Summer Boutique pop-up for We Make London at The Oak Studio in Hampstead.  A lady bought the original framed papercut of my "Life is Good" piece - so that was pretty exciting.  I also ran a workshop there on Wednesday night which was really fun.  I particularly want to thank Mary at We Make for  being so super organised and generally very fab!  The crafts journalist, Clare Kelly, also attended and she'll be writing a review of the workshop for the Course Notes feature for the online magazine, From Britain With Love.  So I'm looking forward to reading that when she posts it up.

Also I was able to run another workshop at The Make Lounge in Islington last night.  I'm really enjoying the teaching and the results that people come away with are really fantastic - especially as pretty much all of them have hardly ever used a craft knife before. Unfortunately I only had my mobile to take photos with as I forgot my camera, but you can still see their great results.  Fab group of women - there was much laughing going on!

Looking forward to the next one this Saturday.  If you're interested in participating, there are still a few places left on Tuesday 19th July (pm) and Saturday 23rd July(am).

Here are the pictures from The Make Lounge workshop

Reasons to be grateful

Some of you may have noticed that I haven't blogged for a few days.

On Thursday morning I was driving home after dropping my 4 year old at nursery.  Just a quiet local street and a car came out of nowhere and plowed straight into the side of my car from a side turning without stopping.  It really was one of those moments where you can see it all happening in slow motion, but can do absolutely nothing about it.  All I could think was "she's going to hit me, she's going to hit me".  She hit me so hard that my car (actually my husband's car) spun 90 degrees, the rear window completely shattered and the drivers door completely caved in and got jammed shut.  The other driver couldn't find her number plate afterwards.  A passer by found it embedded in the side of my car! Amazingly neither of us were seriously hurt - especially amazing as the other lady had a baby in the back of  her car.  The worst part for me is the whiplash that I'm experiencing as a result and my nerves are definitely a bit shot - but a good dose of valium is sorting that out!

I also want to mention the kindness of all the local people who came out of their houses to help us.  It was pouring with rain and at least 4 or 5 neighbours came out with umbrellas, drinks of water and most importantly kind and calm words.  They took control of the situation as both myself and the other driver were in a state of shock, and having such kind people look after us until help arrived was very reassuring.  One lady even took me into her house, wrapped me in warm towels and gave me a cup of tea until my parents arrived to take me home.

By the way, the police were contacted but didn't think it necessary to come.  Apparently, if both parties can walk away and traffic isn't disrupted, then they won't bother turning up.  The witness who phoned them was told that it would cost them too much money - nice.  Makes you wonder what they're there for!

Anyway, the result is that I'm just not producing anything at the moment as my hands are just shaking too much when I'm not on the valium, and when I am on the valium I'm completely spaced out or asleep.

But - I am alive and let's face it, that's always a plus!!!

But I hope to be back producing again in a few weeks, but in the meantime I hope you all understand if things go a bit quiet here.   And for those of you who already knew about this, thanks for all your lovely emails - very much appreciated. xxx

Hampstead Papercuting Workshop - 10% off!

If anyone fancies booking onto my workshop at The Oak Studio in Hampstead on 6th July, you can get 10% off if you book via the We Make London Etsy Shop.  Don't be put off that the price is in dollars!

Wine Shop commission - papercutting (wip)

I've started cutting the design for the wine shop logo.  I'm pretty pleased with how it's looking so far.  I've had some lovely comments on my Flickr pages but I just want to say that I'm not finding it nearly as tricky as (a) I thought I would, and (b) as it must look!  I'm not saying that to be boastful or anything like that, I think I've just continually challenged myself over the past few years so that now I just feel comfortable tackling more difficult and intricate projects.  Anyway, here's the progress so far.

Papercutting Workshop for Beginners

Last night I held my first ever Papercutting Workshop at The Make Lounge in Barnsbury Street, Islington.  I have to admit I was pretty nervous about it - having never done anything like that before.  But as soon as I started talking about papercutting, all the anxiety went away and everyone just got down to work.  There were 10 ladies altogether - some came with a few ideas and some came with no idea what to expect and no idea where to start.

I had produced a few templates for them to work from as well.  A blank piece of paper is a scary thing to be confronted with especially when you don't really know how to approach the drawing as a papercutting.  It was interesting for me as a teacher to see what problems were thrown up to the beginners.  Actually they were the very same problems that I had struggled with myself as a beginner, but had forgotten.  

Anyway, after 3 hours or so, they all managed to produce at least one 15cm sq papercutting - and some of them produced more.  The photos are below - I think you'll see that some of the results are really fantastic for beginners!  I hope they all enjoyed themselves.