“I found I could say things with colour and shapes that I couldn't say any other way... things I had no words for.”
Georgia O’Keefe
My Creative Process
Making papercut art makes me so happy. I get very absorbed in the process and the hours fly by.
Creating something new begins with an idea and quickly transforms into a sketch.
The sketch is transferred to black card and is cut out using an extremely sharp craft knife to make a ‘skeleton’ image.
I then add colour blocks to the reverse side, and piece by piece the image comes to life! I often compare the satisfaction of slowly revealing it to that of completing a difficult jigsaw.
When I make greetings cards I use a slightly different method, which you can read about here
My story
I haven’t always been a papercut artist. I worked in scientific research straight after university and then became a science teacher for 10 years, which I loved. After having two kids and moving to Cornwall, my priorities changed and teaching no longer felt right.
Papercutting was just a nice distraction from nappies and tantrums for a while, but as I practised more, and gradually improved, I began to wonder if I could make it into a business.
The first design that used my “black skeleton” technique
I made a few commissions for friends and family, and at the start of 2020 I opened up my Etsy shop with a few designs in it. In the last 4 years I have introduced a range of custom portraits, greetings cards and workshops, and I’m always looking ahead to the next venture…
One of the first designs in my Etsy shop