Commissions
Most of my work can be produced to commission - I’m very happy to work with clients, whether individuals or organisations, to produce unique papercuts and books. This may be based on existing pieces, or I may be asked to create something completely bespoke. Often text is the chosen starting point - a favourite piece of poetry or even found text might be the anchor for the piece. The imagery I use, or the form of the book may reflect something about the commissioner or the setting for which the piece is intended. There may also be particular plants, animals or birds that have special significance around which I can build a composition.
I work with individuals but also with organisations; for example, I was commissioned to produce papercut baubles by ‘Craft’ Magazine as part of a subscriber offer and the Northumberland National Park commissioned me to make a series of papercuts featuring some of the indigenous wildlife of Northumberland to be given as prizes to the winners of various National Park awards.
‘Curlew’ commission for Northumberland National Park Authority.
The commissioning process is broadly the same for all my clients; it begins with a discussion of the brief, including the size and setting, and I then work up a drawing which will form the basis of the piece. The largest piece I’ve done to date was a papercut 3metres by 1 metre wide so it’s pretty flexible in terms of scale! There’s more on the commissioning process below, and please do get in touch to discuss it in more detail.
Commission - ‘Into the West’ in situ.
Some happy customers…
“It is so beautiful - we absolutely love it! It will be a much cherished piece of art. Thank you so so much.”
— Mrs F H
“It is so beautiful. I can’t stop looking at it through the tears in my eyes and seeing all the different little details and nuances in it…Thank you so, so much for creating such a beautiful thing for me.”
— Ms L M
How it Works
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![A drawing featuring a range of spring and summer flowers with a scalpel]()
Drawing up the brief
based on your chosen elements, I draw the whole piece before I start any cutting. This is then sent to you for any changes. If it’s a book piece, I’ll send sketches of the structure and how I envisage it working.
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Cutting and preparing
Once I've finished cutting the piece, I send a photograph so you can see what it looks like before confirming your colour choices. For book works, I usually send photos of the piece loosely put together before committing to finalising it.
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The finished piece
Now you can see the finished papercut, you can decide on the colours, and how you want it to be mounted. With book works, the colour will usually have been part of the original brief, but can be added before it’s bound.
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The Final Piece, handpainted.
If you want your piece painted, I use gouache paint to achieve a lovely matte quality and a clean vibrant colour. I can also use inks to provide a more tonal look.
Next Steps
The last decision is framing; there are various ways to showcase your unique papercut, from floating it between two sheets of glass, using box frames, even mounting it on pins to create depth and lovely shadows. With book works, these are usually presented in a perspex case.
Prices
Prices depend on both the size and the complexity of the design. As a guideline, they start at about £60 for a unique small box-framed papercut of a single flower, for example the ‘Daisies’ papercut below is about A5 size (21 x 15 cm) and is hand cut and hand painted. The largest piece below is about 100 x 55cm and would be around £1000 (plus framing costs). Please do get in touch for a quote - I’m always very happy to discuss it !
