Forest Gin Commission

A few months ago I was asked to step in and help out a lovely guy and his wife who've developed an artisan gin.  They gather all their botanicals from Macclesfield Forest in Cheshire.  The brief was to create something that looked organic, rustic, wild and very non-corporate.  After a few sketches being emailed back and forth, we decided to go with an all-over bottle print based on the flowers and fruit of the ingredients in the gin itself.  They also wanted to incorporate some sort of animal.  After Googling and Wikipedia-ing Macclesfield Forest, it wasn't hard to discover that a native animal of the forest is the Weasel.  Not a common animal to find on a bottle of gin - or any other packaging for that matter!  Which made it the perfect candidate for my client.  So below are some of the images of the process.  We're all thrilled with the final artwork and now I can't wait to get my hands on a bottle of the gin as soon as they're printed and filled!

Octopus

I've recently discovered how to frame pieces in a floating frame - I'm usually the last to catch on with these things!  Anyway, I've decided to make an Octopus piece for the upcoming Christmas Fair at RHS Wisley in November.  Here's what I've done so far.

Recent Work

So I'm a very naughty blogger - have been so busy that things just haven't been posted here for a long long time.  Here is a selection of a some of the work I've been up to recently!

Hamsa II

Hamsa I

New Folk Art Papercuts logo 2014

Zentangle-inspired African woman

Treble Clef (for Ketubah)

Street II (in progress)

Old English sheep-counting rhyme

New Zealand 'Koru' spiral

How to mount a papercut - the easy way!

Probably one of the most frequently asked questions I get, is how on earth do I mount my work - as they're so fragile.

Well, after many experiments, this is the most trouble-free method I have worked out and doesn't involve spray-mount or handling a sticky, gluey papercut.  Fool-proof!

1.  You will need two pieces of mounting paper/card.  One piece will be the piece you mount onto and the other piece is a 'template piece'.  They need to be exactly the same size and make them larger than you actually need the final piece to be.

2.  Lay your template piece of paper on the table and place your papercut (right side facing down) on top of the template.  Place it approximately where you would want it to be mounted.

3.  Now for the gluey bit.  I use liquid pritt - but any white or clear tacky glue will do.  Be VERY sparing in the amount of glue you use as you don't want your paper to ripple on the surface.  Using a very fine paint brush (or cocktail stick), dab tiny dots of glue over the back/wrong side of your papercut.  It's amazing how little glue you actually need to hold it in place on your paper.  Don't take too long at this stage as you don't want the glue to dry.  If your papercut moves a little, reposition it at this stage into the right place.  Do not lift it.  You can just slide it.

4.  Take your other piece of paper/card (the piece for the actual mounting).  Align the corners of this piece with the corners of the template piece and gently lower over your gluey papercut.  Now you can smooth over this piece without having to rub your hand over your actual papercut.

5.  Turn over your paper and VOILA!  Your papercut will be stuck to your mounting piece in the correct position.  EASY PEASY!  As you made the papers larger than you needed, this will also allow you to trim down the backing to the correct size or square it up if you went slightly wonky in the glueing process.

6.  If any parts of your papercut are still flopping about, you can gently lift them with the tip of your blade and dab a little glue underneath to stick.

Hope that's all clear.  Sorry no photos to demonstrate.  Will try and get some next time I mount something!

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