Here is a photo of what I have been doing this week. I have got the oil paints out for the first time in about a year, and it has reminded me how lovely they are to work with, like spreading soft luscious butter and I just love walking in to a room and getting that smell of oil paint, it immediately makes me happy.

This week I have taken a break from paper cutting. Although I really enjoy it as I work mainly with white paper I was beginning to feel the absence of colour. To that end I have been doing some quick sketches just to add some colour back into my life. I am sure that I will be back to cutting paper soon feeling refreshed and renewed and just a bit more colourful.

Still Cutting

Shadow

This week I am still obsessed with making shadows from my paper cuttings, anyone looking through the window after 7 ‘o’ clock would think a mad woman lived here, the lights go off and the torches come out. My biggest problem at the moment is making the paper stiffer after cutting. I have tried thinned down PVA and spray starch but they destroy the quality of the paper so this week I shall be trying anything I can think of to give the paper a longer life.

Also, this week Artist Helen Cocker has begun an on-line exhibition called Lend Me Your Hand and accepted my film as one of the pieces! I was very excited because it has some amazing work showing on it so please check it out here http://lmyh.tumblr.com/

Shadows

Over Christmas I  have been experimenting with paper cutting. This lead me to realise that actually I was more interested in the spaces that were left behind and the shadows and markings they created than the actual picture I was initially pursuing. In creating something that was only about shadow led me to experiment with different lighting and effects that they can give. I have gone from thinking that my finished piece would be the end of a project to realising that in actual fact I have only scratched the surface of a subject that has now opened up so many avenues.