a paper cutting exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery

I've been looking forward to this exhibition for a while as I love paper (!) and it features the fantastic work of Rob Ryan.  What I didn't anticipate was that it would also feature work by the very talented Su Blackwell and that there'd be some pieces I'd be familiar with from books on papercutting.

The piece by Rob Ryan was especially created for this exhibition.  It's huge!  [note: I don't know those people, I just thought it gave a good idea of scale with them there!]

When you enter the exhibition you pass through this enchanted forest.  The branches are suspended from the ceiling and hover just above the floor.

The above piece is one I've seen in a book or on the internet.  I love it and it was great to see it 'in the flesh' as it were!

The black swirls above were enormous - I'm trying to choose wallpaper for our living room and would love this!  [Sophie wasn't impressed!]

Yes, that motorbike is life size and made of paper.  There's a skeleton elsewhere in the gallery made by the same artist.  Amazing.

The First Cut

I won't share any more images as I don't want to spoil it for others who may go to the exhibition (Sue?!) but will leave you with some images of Su Blackwell's work, which made me want to have a go at paper cutting some time next week :)

The Sketchbook Challenge

Woo hoo!  I finally did some drawing in my sketchbook!

I was very brave and took my sketchbook over to the Manchester Art Gallery.  I went to see the Mary Greg Collection which I'd read about on the internet and is housed in the 'Gallery of Art and Design', my favourite room of the whole gallery!!!

I sketched a cabinet I liked, followed by the image of a bird on a piece of fabric.

I love the shape of this bird, and the pattern of circles on his body.  My next stop is Platt Hall Costume Museum which has recently been renovated and has loads of fabric designs.

Mary Greg, the wife of Thomas Greg who owned Quarry Bank Mill in Styal, collected a variety of objects that most people considered 'everyday' such as spoons, keys, wooden animals...  which gives great insight into everyday life of the time, and means many of these objects are now quite rare.

I'm including these as part of my sketchbook exploration of the theme 'Highly Prized'.