I HAVE A LONG-STANDING INTEREST in the art of paper cutting. This sounds obvious, but paper cutting and silhouettes are not the same. A silhouettist not necessarily a paper cutter, nor does a paper cutter aways work in silhouette. A silhouette is a shadow portrait and can be made by cutting, painting, photographing or drawing the profile. Paper cutting, on the other hand, is a broad and interesting genre of art covering much more than silhouette. The two arts clearly overlap, but are not the same. I call these pieces paper cuttings, rather than silhouettes, since they are not shadows.
Paper cutting and blue sky
I have a strange relationship with this kind of paper cutting project. Although I'm a silhouettist I've never regarded myself as a paper-cutting artist. I always say I'm a reluctant paper cutter
Abstract poetry?
In this portrait of my niece I abandoned the poetry for a set of abstract shapes
Alice
This cutting is a one-off, not really a poem at all (except perhaps poetry in shape... )
Why So Blue?
Empty black roads, missing white vapour trails, why so blue?
Fonts and layout
Varying the fonts makes the design more interesting and the cutting much harder
A lockdown poem
At the start of lockdown I began to think I would have time to create many more of these poetry silhouettes.
In reality the opposite happened. The loss of all the events I was working at completely destroyed any creative impulse
Bone Dry Paper
Scissors cut though bone-way paper & forget the smell of the rain
Drawing for Bone Dra Scissors
Drawing the image beforehand makes everything come together more easily when cutting. I can't find any way to cut a poem freehand.
This was the first time I tried to make a cutting from my own poem
Scissors and magnifying glass
When cutting paper with scissors it's easier to cut the spaces within and leave the outline to last
The Child is a Flower
The child is a flower, untroubled by seasons, With sadness untasted, happiness is doubled
Cutting a poem silhouette
An experiment in keeping the face as a true silhouette, feeling my way to define the relationship between the words and the image
Not Long to Wait
Not long to wait for a private portrait, personality in profile.>To smile or not to smile?
The artist's interventions add extra dimensions, revealing what's to know beyond the shadow
Holding a paper cutting
I never want to frame a paper-cutting. To stick it down on paper seems somehow to defy their nature.
This makes it very hard to know how to exhibit them. What do I fo with it?
Light and shadow
Like any silhouette cutting, when you shine a light to reveal a shadow, it often seems more real than the cutting itself
Rich, deep and Read
Blood runs through my veins, rich deep & red.
Words run through my brain, rich deep & read
Three-dimensional paper cutting
Paper cuttings are like little paper sculptures. Although flat, the three-dimensionality of the object itself it really important
Desire or Destiny
Desire or destiny, a perfumed letter.
Hands & heart held, believe in better
Compared to her Spirit
Compared to her Spirit, even Rainbows seemed Black and White
Paper cutting on a table
I've always enjoyed poetry, but the first time it occurred to me to put a poem inside a silhouette was when a poet on an island in Montenegro write a poem for me
Prison Island
The dungeon of light creeps into me, but how do I creep into them, except die & become black rainbow, ever-enchanting the backwards gaze of tragic biblical characters? Some time later, on the Prison Island, I say "Hello, a silhouette for you?"But you, poppy seed, imagination, sleep, ignore me
THESE GALLERIES ARE DISPLAYED for artistic interest. Many of my art works are available for sale. Others have been sold, bartered or given away over the years. If anything catches your eye, or if you’d like to arrange a studio visit (either real work or virtual) do please get in touch. While the most recent galleries represent ongoing work, you can browse collections of art from various projects over many years here.
