paper cutting – Lavender Hill Hippie

Trainspotting

May 11, 2018March 16, 2019 Lavender Hill

I’ve always had this ‘thing’ for trains. When I was very young my dad would take me to his fishing spot and we’d have to cross over railway tracks in the middle of a dense forest. It was at a time when trains had an engine at one end and a caboose at the other end. What a thrill it was to stand alongside my dad waiting as the train (somewhat) rushed past so we could cross over and continue to the fishing hole but not before my dad pointed out the caboose man and encouraged me to wave; and the caboose man waved back! wow…remember the younger you and that feeling of joyful wonderment?

After that I always waved at the caboose man whether he could see me or not and then I waved at the engine man and hoped for a blast from the horn. After these summer days ended a train set showed up under the Christmas tree! How Santa knew will forever remain a mystery.

On Grey Road 9 hidden for most of the year behind dense forest is CN Caboose 78111. Remembering those summer days with my dad and a time when trains had a caboose and a human being who through a simple wave and smile put some magic in childhood….

CN Caboose on Grey Road 9

If you like what I do and would like one of my paper-cuttings visit my e-shop or if you would like to commission a paper-cutting contact me.

By the way I still have the train set and it has a red caboose.

Spring Daffodil

May 3, 2018March 16, 2019 Lavender Hill

Finally one of the many daffodils of Lavender Hill is in full bloom! I spotted it while driving out this morning on my way to the Holstein General Store to mail my first paper-cutting commission to Vancouver. (how exciting is that!)… and as I drove past this daffodil all I could see was a black and white cut out image that my mind started to fill-in with glorious yellow. I had to cut it! Not the flower, I had to rush home and make a paper-cutting!

I grabbed my camera and a photograph…did a line drawing…created the digitized coloured layers….& cut! Easy peasy eh? 😉

I’m dedicating this daffodil paper-cutting to Liz & Barney, the original owners and builders of Lavender Hill, for without them this little daffodil would not have inserted its glorious beauty into the landscape today.

The white horse on Grey Rd 109

May 1, 2018March 16, 2019 Lavender Hill

On the way to ‘town’ there is a pasture where a white horse may be seen amongst a few donkeys often under or very near a massive decayed tree… the scene always brings a quiet contentment…that memory inspired this paper-cutting.

White Horse on Grey Road 109

Thank you for your interest in my paper-cuttings. If you would like to buy one of my paper-cuttings, some are already available to purchase from my Lavender Hill Hippie e-shop.

Rural Landscapes

April 28, 2018March 16, 2019 Lavender Hill

I live rural…you know…in the country…out in the boonies…in the middle of nowhere…and I love it!

I love rural landscapes; farms, rolling fields, century-old stone and log houses, grain elevators, silos and barns ~ big, massive, painted, unpainted, shingled roofed, steel roofed, red, orange, green…all those sensuous colour and texture combinations; ordered chaos.

These are a couple of digital works-in-progress of rural landscapes still waiting to become paper cuttings:

Ramhill, a black-sided red-roofed hip barn sits alone in a low-lying field under massive hydro towers. It had company a few years ago when a log cabin stood nearby. Slowly it (the cabin) was dismantled and trucked away; rumoured to have been reborn on another parcel of land…I wonder what will become of Ramhill.

East of Ramhill this jumble of farm buildings can be seen if you head north on SDRD47 and look east. I was attracted to the green roofline, the white hip barn and the variety of structures on the landscape.

On an outing the other day, I finally took a photo of another jumbled rural landscape of red-roofed barns and assorted outbuildings. This wasn’t the first time for this picturesque, pastoral scene to catch my eye. Indeed I had stopped earlier in the week alongside the road and as I jostled for my phone a car approached and slowed the female driver offering assistance thinking I was lost or in need of help ~ so sweet eh?! I smiled my ‘I’m okay’ and then to my disappointment my aged phone didn’t have enough memory for a photo…argh. Packed my camera this time and hoping to get a drawing down soon.

In the meantime I’m anxious to get these cut out of card stock and sandwiched together. I love how these flat digital images come to life in 2D paper cuttings.

New Works (while I wait for the lavender to green-up)

April 28, 2018March 16, 2019 Lavender Hill

One of the neighbours south of Lavender Hill keeps hens and roosters that, although at a distance, add to that quintessential country sound. During a visit I took some photographs that inspired these two paper-cuttings of a rooster and a hen: