A HEAVENLY PAPER CUT

The first question to ask is, who are Heavenly? And secondly, why choose to do a paper cut of them? 

Q1. Heavenly were a 1990s indie pop band, originally formed, in Oxford, in 1989 and comprised Amelia Fletcher (vocals/guitar), Mathew Fletcher (drums; Amelia's brother), Peter Momtchiloff (guitar) and Robert Pursey (bass). Heavenly is no more, but Amy and Rob continue to make music under the name of Tender Trap.

Q2. Over the last 5 years Amelia and Rob have become good friends.

I have not done paper cut art for some time now, but I can tell you, it is a lot easier cutting paper than it is carving wood! The process is quite involved ie the cutting side of it, but the results can be very rewarding. Here are a few pictures, showing the process.  Why not try it yourself; you don’t need to be able draw that well, but you do need to be able to handle a very sharp scalpel!

THIS OLD NEWSPAPER CLIPPING WAS THE CATALYST

I THEN IMPORTED THE IMAGE INTO PHOTOSHOP AND USED THE RUBBER STAMP FILTER. (YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A POINT WHERE THERE IS ENOUGH DETAIL TO STILL RECOGNISE THE FACES BUT, AT THE SAME TIME, NOT MAKING IT TOO DIFFICULT TO CUT THE PIECE OUT).

ONCE YOU HAVE THE PAPER CUT FINISHED. YOU CAN EXPERIMENT WITH LIGHT AND SHADOWS AND PHOTOGRAPH THE RESULTS.

THEN ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS TO CHOOSE YOUR BACKGROUNDS. BE AS CREATIVE AS YOU WANT. BUT BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR PAPER CUT, AS IT CAN BE FRAGILE!

Check out a professional paper cutter from this blog. Someone who knows what they are doing http://timwhittondesign.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/interview-with-artist-jessica-palmer.html

Have a look at my Bob Dylan paper cut blog for more info.
http://timwhittondesign.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/bob-dylan-paper-cut.html

Check out Tender Trap:

BLOWIN' IN THE WIND - BOB DYLAN ART

Earlier this year I got hold of this unusually shaped piece of Plane tree timber. It has a big crack in it and it reminded me of avocado, cut in half. But it also reminded me of a tree that had been struck by lighting. I wondered what I could do with it, eventually, after much thought I came up with this. Plane tree timber is not the best timber to cut letters into, cutting into the grain the wrong way makes it very difficult to get sharp letters. But this was the result, I hope you like it.

"Blowin' in the Wind" is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1962 and released on his album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in 1963. Although it has been described as a protest song, it poses a series of rhetorical questions about peace, war and freedom. The refrain "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind" has been described as "impenetrably ambiguous: either the answer is so obvious it is right in your face, or the answer is as intangible as the wind".

In 1994, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2004, it was ranked No: 14 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

THE ROOT OF THE MATTER

The famous comedian, Tony Hancock, once said that if you stare at wallpaper for long enough you can see faces in it. Also it is not uncommon for newspapers to print pictures of donuts, pancakes, crisps and all manner of funny shaped vegetables and claim it resembles a famous person or religious icon. On a recent trip to the woods in Kent, I came across this amazing up-rooted tree. What an incredible twisted maze of roots. But as I studied this wonder of nature and looked closer, I too began to see faces appear. Can you see them too or is it just me.

BOTHY AND THE SEVEN HEADED DRAGON

In the last week or two I have become a volunteer at the Garden Museum. The Museum is located on Lambeth Road on the south bank of the Thames, right next to Lambeth Palace by Lambeth Bridge. The garden is planted on a very ancient grave yard, and I have been told that the occasional human bone has been dug up whilst planting.

On the first day as I was sweeping up some leaves, I overheard someone reading from an information sheet about the tomb of the Tradescant family. My ears pricked up when I heard the words seven headed dragon.  For those who have followed my blog, you will know that several posts have been dedicated to the search for the dragons of London. Here I was standing next to a seven headed dragon and a lady dragon at that, and I had completely missed it. I have meet several lady dragons in my life but they have only ever had one head, but that’s another story.

*The great stone tomb of the Tradescants, is one of the most important churchyard monuments in London. It was commissioned by Hester Tradescant, widow of the younger John after his death in 1662. The panels carved into the sides of the monument depict objects from the Tradescants’ collection and images of ruins. Dr Roger Bowdler of English Heritage has described the tomb as pivotal in the development of the English churchyard tomb. It was one of the very first examples of a prominent monument to be built in a churchyard, as opposed to inside.

On the west end of the tomb, which faces away from the church you will see a skull lacking a bottom jaw, and a seven head monster described by the 17th century antiquary John Aubrey as “ an Hieroglyphical Dragon” (meaning symbolical or emblematic).  According to Topsell’s History of Serpents (1658) dragons are the watchers and keepers of riches and treasures. This may suggest the dragon here is to protect the rare species of plants that had been collected, on the many adventurous and hazardous travels of the plant seekers. On the tomb you can read these words:

            “Know stranger as thou pass, beneath this stone

            Lye John Tradescant grandsire, father, sone

            The last died in his spring, the other two

            Lived till they had travelled art and nature thro’

            By their choice collections may appear

            Of what is rare in land in sea and air

            Whilst they (as Homer’s Iliad in a nut)

            A world of wonders in one closet shut

            These famous Antiquarians that had been

            Both gardeners to the Rose and Lily Queen

            Transplanted now themselves, sleep here, and when

            Angels shall with their trumpets waken men

            And fire shall purge the world, these hence shall rise

            And change this garden for a Paradise.”

 

Next to the tomb of the Tradescants, you will find resting place of another famous family. Admiral William Bligh, of mutiny on the Bounty fame also has a tomb in the garden. Admiral William Bligh, who became an Admiral after the mutiny lived in Lambeth. Just a short walk up Lambeth Road opposite the Imperial War Museum you will find his blue plaque. Another interesting fact: After the mutiny Bligh was appointed governor of New South Wales, so the Garden gets a lot of Aussie visitors to see 'Governor' Blighs tomb.

The Bothy

According to Wikipedia, a bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are to be found in remote, mountainous areas of Scotland, Northern England, Ireland and Wales. The Garden shed in the Garden Museum is known by some as the Bothy. It certainly is small and basic, but you couldn’t describe it as being remote or in a mountainous area.

  Anyway I knocked a carving so any would be travellers looking for accommodation for the night would know where to stay. One such local traveller turned up at the weekend a Mr F. Fox. On the Lambeth road side of the garden are few very tall Plane trees and when autumn comes the garden fills with Plane tree leaves, which are a real problem. It just so happened, I had a piece of Plane timber, so I used it to carve the sign. It seemed kind of apt and I carved a leaf on as well. Normally I would plain smooth the timber, but this time I left it rustic, I think its better.

So why not give the Garden Museum a visit and see for yourself. At the very least visit the Cafe inside and enjoy the lovely food on offer. This culinary heaven has just been placed in the top ten museum restaurants in the world. Taste the food for yourself and see why.

* Source: www.gardenmuseum.org.uk

TEMPEST - BOB DYLAN CARVING

BLOG POST No. 70

This week sees the release of Tempest, the 35th album by Bob Dylan, at 71 years of age,  that is some achievement. The album is a superb addition to any record collection. Anyway, I carved this little tribute to Mr Dylan. The timber is Elm, a wood I have not carved before, a little hard to carve, especially with regard to the detail, but I was happy with the end result.

The last track on the album is 'Roll On, John' a moving tribute to John Lennon. Here is a Lennon carving I also completed recently. Carved into Yew.

This and and some of may other work can be seen and purchased at:

buymycarvings.blogspot.com

ABNEY PARK - THE SEARCH FOR SAMUEL BAGSTER

SAMUEL BAGSTER

My wife Judith has an aunty called Joy Bagster. Joy, like my dear wife is from the Dublin, Ireland. On a recent trip to London. Joy and myself, made a visit to Abney Park Cemetery, in search of the graves and final resting place of long lost relatives. In Joy’s case these relatives turn out to be quite famous.

Abney Park Cemetery is in Stoke Newington and is one of the Magnificent Seven London cemeteries. A total number of 196,843 burials have taken place there as of the year 2000. In 1832 Parliament passed a bill encouraging the establishment of private cemeteries outside London, and later passed a bill to close all inner London churchyards to new burials. Over the next decade seven cemeteries were established: Kensal Green Cemetery-1832,  West Norwood Cemetery-1837, Highgate Cemetery-1839, Abney Park Cemetery-1840, Nunhead Cemetery-1840, Brompton Cemetery-1840, Tower Hamlets Cemetery-1841. Many famous people have been buried there and if you like looking around over grown grave yards, this is just the place. It comes complete with a derelict chapel in the middle of it. A perfect back drop if you wanted to film a Hammer Horror film.

But myself and Joy weren’t here to film a horror film, we were in search of the Bagster clan and in particular Samuel Bagster.  

SAMUEL BAGSTER

Samuel Bagster was an English publisher and printer. He was born in 1772 and died in 1851, the second son of George and Mary Bagster of Lyme Regis, Dorset on the south coast of England.

When Samuel was seven years old he was sent away to school with the Reverend John Collett Ryland, Baptist minister and father to his more famous son (also) John Ryland. On leaving school, Samuel became an apprenticed to a bookseller in The Strand, after which time he took the entrepreneurial step of opening his own bookshop at No 81 The Strand on 19th April 1794, when he was still only twenty-one years old.

SAMUEL BAGSTER FAMILY GRAVE. UNDER THE DAME YOU CAN SEE THE FAMILY MOTTO IN LATIN.
WHICH I BELIEVE MEANS "MANY TONGUES ONE FAITH"

Unsurprisingly, given this very specific Christian background, Samuel committed to never selling any book which might be considered questionable in taste or subject – an approach which set him apart from the general run of society. It wasn’t long before Samuel soon turned his attention to the publication of bibles, bringing out a Hebrew bible, the Septuagint (Greek) version, and the English version, with 60,000 parallel references, followed by his great polyglot bible, which in its final form showed eight languages at the opening of the volume. As the firm grew over the years Samuels children joined the family business and it became Bagster & Sons.

INSCRIPTION FOUND AT THE FOOT OF THE GRAVE

Samuel married Eunice Birch on the 19th December 1797. Eunice was said to be a “brave” woman of equally high principles and a steadfast faith – a real helpmeet to her husband throughout their long married life. They had twelve children together. Eunice died on the day before her hundredth birthday in 1877.  Only a few months earlier she had been honoured by a personal visit from Queen Victoria, who knelt at Mrs Bagster’s bedside to receive the blessing of her “revered and venerable servant”.

Abney Park Cemetery 

Below you can see some other of the pictures I took on the day. The day was overcast most of the time, so some of the pictures are in black and white, which I think work with the subjects.

CROSSES AND ANGELS

I LOVE THE WAY TREES AND PLANTS WRAP THEMSELVES ROUND THE STATUES

TWO GREAT HEADSTONES, I REALLY LIKE THE ONE WITH THE OLD CAR

THESE SMALL HEADSTONES ARE PAUPERS GRAVES

ISAAC WATTS

Isaac Watts (17 July 1674 – 25 November 1748) was an English hymn writer and theologian . A prolific and popular hymn writer, he was recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", credited with some 650 hymns. Many of his hymns remain in use today, and have been translated into many languages.

Derelict Gothic Chapel in middle of the Cemetery 

WILLIAM BOOTH, FOUNDER OF THE SALVATION ARMY

FOR MORE INFO VISIT: www.abney-park.org.uk

ALPHABET TREE - LONDON PLANE

London Plane tree’s, are among the most numerous trees found on London’s streets. It was first planted here in about 1550, but most will be a little less than 300 years old. If you walk along any street and pick out the most impressive tree you see, the odds are that it will be a London plane. It is as common in Paris as it is in London; in fact it is more common. Not that the French call them London planes. The French just call them planes, or platane. Istanbul, on the other side of Europe, is also rich with planes.  

The bark can often be seen flaking off, and in doing so, sheds pollutants that may interfere with air reaching the trunk. This is one the reason why the tree has thrived in London during the periods of serious air pollution. 

THIS PICTURE SHOWS ALL THE KNOTS AND HOLES IN THE WOOD

This particular piece of London Plane came from Nunhead Cemetery. It was cut down about a year or so ago and has been in the cemetery drying out. You can see when the timber was first cut how red in colour it is and what amazing patterns can be found. The timber should really be left for two or more years before carving it. But I couldn’t wait that long and had to start carving straight away. The wood was still green and moist, so it was difficult to cut the letters as sharp as I would of liked. But I was fairly happy with the rustic type finish; I hope you like it too. 

THE WOOD REMINDS ME OF GIANT STEAK

ALIEN TYPE IMAGE ON THE LEFT 

RECENT COMMISSIONS

Here are a couple of pieces I have just finished, from people I meet at the Nunhead Open Day. The first is for a garden in Sicily, Italy. The second is one of my wooden bricks, with hearts carved on top.