Folk Art Cockerel, House and Flowers - a new papercut

I thought I'd show you the very beginnings of my newest papercut.  As is usual for me, I can't really tell whether I'm going to like it yet, but I will persist and see how it turns out.  I'm a little worried that the cockerel looks nicer as a drawing than it will as a papercut.  I need to finish the bird to be sure.  

Here are the images from the reverse and correct sides.

Natasha Newton (The Blackbird Sings) blog feature

Over the past few months I've been answering some interview questions for the wonderfully talented Natasha Newton.  She's written an entire feature about me on her blog, which is a very big deal for me and a huge honour.

Here's the link to Natasha's blog and the papercutting feature.  Enjoy the read!

http://theblackbirdsings.typepad.com/the_blackbird_sings/

Two Birds © Natasha Newton

Alphabet Birds Papercut (Completed)

Here's the finished piece.  I decided that from a design point of view it was better to cut away the border and also the ground with the birds as well.  I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out - especially for a fairly quick papercut - about 8 hours of cutting in total. I've been playing around with it in photoshop - it looks nice in blue too.

Click on the image for a larger view.

Alphabet Birds Papercut

We've been getting loads of huge magpies in a garden lately and they've been scaring off the little chaps.  So I bought a bird feeder to encourage the tiddly ones back in and I've hung it from our apple tree.  It's been a very popular addition and so far this week we've spotted blue tits, great tits, wrens, robins, sparrows, blackbirds, jays and even a woodpecker and a fantastic emerald green parakeet! (I know!!!).  Anyway, I was feeling inspired by all the wildlife in my garden, so this newest piece is for the little guys in my apple tree. 


So this is the drawing for the new papercut.  You'll notice that all the letters are in reverse and drawn back to front.  This is because the drawing is on the wrong side of the paper.  

The size is A4. 

... and here is the top section cut, as seen from the correct side.  I'm not sure whether I'll keep the frame or not, so for now it stays.  It also keeps the whole thing a bit more stable during the cutting stage.

Friendship Papercut

This is my newest papercut and actually the first thing I've done in ages.  The school holidays mean that everything goes on hold for about a month!  Anyway, all my children are finally back at school which means that a good period of productivity should begin! This one is available as an A4 print in my Etsy and Folksy shops.

If you're in the mood for a little game, try and spot ....

7 birds

3 butterflies

1 ladybird

1 caterpillar

1 beetle

1 coily wiggly worm

1 dragonfly

1 grasshopper

1 bee

1 rhinobug

and 1 spider!

Windsor Contemporary Art Fair

Now that I'm back online I can also tell you all about the WCAF which was held a couple of weeks ago on the 12th-14th November.

This was my first ever art fair and I have to admit that I was really nervous about it. 

Although my work had been selling well on Etsy, I'd never put myself out there in the public before with all my artwork in one place.  

When you exhibit at an art fair, in a way you are setting yourself up to be compared with 100 other artists.  And by "compared" I don't mean in style, because everyone is so different, but rather a comparison of standard - well that's what I was doing anyway! 

But thankfully I needn't have worried so much - I did pretty well for a first fair - I sold a few originals and lots of prints and cards.  

Another big upside to doing fairs is the contacts you make and the lovely people you meet.  All the other exhibitors are really supportive of each other and are very willing to give invaluable advice to newcomers.  Please take a look at the images below and check out the other artists.

So all in all it was a really enjoyable weekend and I'll definitely be applying again to exhibit next year.

My stand at the WCAF

Please check out my favourite artist at the fair - the lovely, sweet Helen Rhodes

Her work is just stunning - I would've bought her whole display if I could!

http://www.helenrhodes.com/

Another favourite artist at the fair - the amazing Darren Dearden

His work is huge and completely brilliant.

http://www.darrendearden.co.uk/

And yet another family favourite at the fair - artist Jo Bunce

She also paints amazing flowers - just gorgeous!

http://www.jobunce.co.uk/

Computer Hell !!!

Oh my gosh - I've been in computer purgatory for the last 3 weeks - what a nightmare!  Yes my pc finally fried itself and it has taken 3 weeks to get a new one and be properly back online.  As much as I love my Blackberry, there are certain things that just can't be done. Like updating my shops - and PRINTING!!!  Of course this all happened just a week before I was due to exhibit at the Windsor Contemporary Art Fair.  Luckily my fab friend, Tania, came to my rescue and printed out all my giclee prints for me on her computer.  

The downside of course is that I've lost a whole load of images which are gone forever in the internet ether because my hard drive wasn't salvageable.  Yes, I know I should've backed everything up ... but I didn't.  

Lesson learned - enough said.