Laser-cut paper artwork: new try

Last couple of years quite a few people asked and suggested that I should sell my original paper cut artworks.  I have done before, and regretted that I'd sold.  Then, I have looked for a laser-cut service near by my town.  This Autumn, at last, I found one which does for custom made order, especially, for artists as well.

They have done excellent job; the laser-cut paper artworks are incredibly precise, but the difference is the thickness of the paper.  I use rather thin paper to cut the intricate images.  The laser-cut machine can cut the same job with much thicker paper.  I chose 270gsm (90gsm black paper for my original paper cut).  I can't cut such details with thick paper like this.  Besides, the paper, which was used for the laser-cut, is eco-friendly.  Chlorine free pulp is not surprising, but the paper is also made with spent brewer's grain.  The team of the laser-cut studio told me that it smelled nicer when they cut the paper than usual paper.

The photo above is a 10x10cm small artwork, can be used as an Christmas ornament, or can be framed. The frame is double glazed and place a thin washi Japanese paper behind the lase-cut piece.

The one below is the larger one (28x28cm) but still not large.  The original pieces are the same size.  

Forthcoming Christmas & Winter Fairs 2017

I haven't updated this blog for a long while.  In fact, I've been working on to create my new website, but it's not ready yet.  Most updated site is on Facebook Page.  Please check it on Facebook, Mari Wirth -Tree Leaf- .

I'd like to thank you all who supported all year round and wish a Happy New Year!

Cardiff M.A.D.E. Winter Affordable Art Show

Saturday 25th November 2017

7:30pm (Private View)

until 31st January 2018

Cardiff M.A.D.E.

41 Locharber Street, Roath, Cardiff, CF24 3LS

Past Events This Winter:

Snapped Up Christmas Market

Saturday 9th December

11am-5pm

Printhaus

70 Llandaff Road, Cardiff CF11 9NL

Ichi Artisan Winter Market 2017

Hello, everyone, Artisan Winter Market last Saturday,
I am very glad that our first event, Ichi Artisan Winter Market last Saturday, went well despite the bad weather. I would like to thank you all who liked, shared, came to the fair.

There are a lot of things to improve, but our effort got paid off!

I've got still two more occasions to have a stall. But most of the stress is gone :)

Thank you ever so much!

Saturday 18th November
10:30am to 4:30pm
St. Catherine's Church Hall
Kings Road (Pontcanna End)
Cardiff CF11 9DE 

In fact, I am one of the organisers of this special fair for the ever first time.
We are fortunate to have excellent popular artists and makers.  It will be very exciting on the day!  We have been updating the information of our stallholders on social media everyday.  Please check us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Facebook: Ichi Artisan Market @ichiartisanmarket

Instagram: @ichiartisan

Twitter: @ichi_artisan

GIFT Penarth Contemporary Craft Market

Saturday 25th November

10am-5pm

Penarth Pier Pavilion

The annual Christmas market at the iconic Penarth Pier Pavilion comes back.

PADLT Christmas Fair
Saturday 11th November
10am to 1pm
Stanwell Baptist Church Hall (on the left side of the Paget Rooms)
Victoria Road, Penarth

Penarth and District Lesotho Trust is a charity funded organisation to support young people in Lesotho.  Part of the sales of us, stallholders, goes to them as donation.

Christmas Art and Craft Fayre by Penarth Creative Collective
Saturday 4th November
10am to 4pm
at St.Augustine's Parish Hall
Albert Road
Penarth

One of my fellow artists has organised this fayre for the local artists.

A new group exhibition, 'Bloom' at Cardiff M.A.D.E. from 18th May 2017

It will be the third time to take part in the group exhibition at Cardiff M.A.D.E.

This time I brought 2 new larger screen prints and 3 previous small screen prints.



'BLOOM' Spring Affordable Art Wall
at Cardiff M.A.D.E.
41Lochaber Street
Cardiff
CF24 3LS

Opening event: on Thursday at 18:00-21:00

March&April from British Wild Plants Calendar 2017

Blackthorn

Prunus spinosa

Order: Rosales

Family: Rosaceae

Genus: Prunus

habitat: headgerows, open woods, sunny meadow edges

 widespread and common throughout the UK isles

Blackthorn starts blooming in early spring before its leaves come out.  There are other early spring wild flowers like snowdrops, daffodils and so on, but when blackthorn is in full bloom, I feel spring really arrives.

The flowers are tiny (around 2 cm) with white five petals are thickly together on branches.  They tend to grow in colonies, which look white walls or waterfalls(because leaves are not coming yet and flowers cover their trees) alongside meadows or sunny fields.

I'm excited when seeing blackthorn bushes full in bloom and looking forward to the spring coming soon after the wet cold winter.

Sloe (blackthorn's fruits; from calendar 2014)

The fruits are called sloe, well-known as the ingredient for sloe gin, are tiny dark blue (almost black) ball-shaped.  The fruits get ripe towards the end of September until the first frost some time around November (here in the south east Wales we hardly have frost in November, even throughout the winter).  

Bees have started working busy outside.  They must have been waiting for the blackthorn's aromatic flower nectar.  It won't be long!

A new papercutting plot: Spring

After the hectic time, my feeling is settled down to concentrate on new work.

My theme still sticks to wild life, fauna and flora, in the changing seasons.  So, the upcoming work is 'spring' (a title is still not yet given, though).

It takes a while, until the draft for papercutting is done.  This is (picture below) a part of the draft for 'spring'.  Trace on a sheet of black paper, then start cutting.

January&February from British Wild Plants Calendar 2017

Common Hogweed

Heracleum sphondylium

Order: Apiales

Family: Apiaceae

Genus: Heracleum

habitat: in meadows, open woodlands, on roadside verges

distribution: widespread and common throughout the UK isles

Common hogweed is a carrot family, common hogweed is found almost everywhere in the UK.  As the winter here, south east Wales, is mild, delicate buds comes out from the grounds in the late winter such as common hogweed as well as other wild plants.  

Seeds are elliptical and hairless, of which umbels radiate outward from the centre of each stem.  In early summer to summer tiny white flowers in umbels blooms among other carrot family plants.

Giant hogweed is in the same family, but it was introduced as one of the ornamental plants to the UK, and naturalised.  Its appearance is similar to common hogweed, but it is impressively gigantic (2-3 meters) and grows mostly at riversides.

So, this image can be seen in the winter when  we walk in meadows.  The sees pods are almost fallen on the ground but some seeds are still on the umbels.

Today, it was cold but dry and sunny afternoon.  The January blue sky was above the wintry meadow with the mixture of brown of dead plants and green of grass and ever green.



*I had used one vinyl plate for each print before, which means I put a lot of colours on on plate.  For this year's calendar, though, two plates were used for each print.  To be noted; one wild plant print is for 2 month.  I will update the plant story in January (now), March, May, July, September and November.

December Calendar 2016: Holly

I haven't updated for a while.  This is the story about the december plant of the last year.

December: Holly

Winter Feature

Ilex aquifolium
quifolialesOrder: Caryophyllales
Family: Aquifoliaceae
Genus: Ilex

habitat: sunny to shady space
distribution: widespread throughout the British Isles

Holly is the send time for my calendar series.  This holly is very common in the UK, and we can find everywhere in gardens, parks, woodland, etc.  Addition to that, I know now, these prickly leaves belong to young shrubs.

They can become quite tall tree up to around 15 metre. As they grow the leaves become not prickly, just like camellia's ones.  (Though, there are many species with not prickly leaves.)

Our holly trees had fairly amount of red berries in the autumn.  Alas, they were eaten up by birds before I needed them for decorating my Advent (Christmas) wreath.