![\"beetroot\"](\"http:\/\/www.pikaland.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/beetroot.jpg\")
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I was attracted at once to Sarah Dennis’\u00a0paper-cutting work when she sent me an email \u2013 and so I invited her to talk a little bit more about her process! I enjoy seeing how others interpret their style in various ways, especially\u00a0if that means going for your strengths instead of measuring yourself against other people’s standards \u2013 like what Sarah has done.<\/p>\n
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Name:<\/strong> Sarah Dennis Well, I have red hair and I feel like the red fox is my spirit animal! I\u00a0 love orange, green and turquoise and seeing these colours together makes\u00a0 me just so happy. If you were to take a peek into my wardrobe you would\u00a0 find only these colours in different combinations. I feel like I can\u00a0 speak fluent french but in truth I can’t speak a word, I just like to\u00a0 pretend. I also like eating, cycling and dancing!<\/p>\n I live in Bristol and I love it here! I have just bought my first house\u00a0 with my boyfriend Tom, so it looks like I’ll be sticking around these\u00a0 parts. I moved in just the other day, so my daily routine is a little\u00a0 unsettled. In the flat where we used to live, I worked from home. I had\u00a0 turned the downstairs dining room into a studio, which was great, it was\u00a0 a nice big space with loads of light. Tom also worked at home some days\u00a0 so I didn’t get cabin fever too badly. Our new home is quite old and in\u00a0 need of some serious love, and I keep getting distracted sanding\u00a0 floorboards and digging up the garden, so I’m currently on the look out\u00a0 for a studio in Bristol. It will be really nice working around other\u00a0 artists again. Bristol is the perfect place to be a freelance\u00a0 illustrator, there are lots of artist studios and support networks with\u00a0 lots of opportunities to collaborate with other people in the community.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I am. It was initially quite hard to find enough work but in the last\u00a0 few years I’ve been managing to get by on my illustrations, which is\u00a0 great. For the first few years I had a part time job as well, but I\u00a0 never felt like I was fully applying myself as an artist, so I got my\u00a0 portfolio up to scratch and decided to dedicate all my time to making it\u00a0 work. I put a great deal of effort into sending out postcards, writing\u00a0 emails and connecting with as many people as I possibly could. Slowly\u00a0 the commissions started to come in and it all snowballed from there. It\u00a0 was a great feeling to be finally working on projects that I had dreamt\u00a0 about while at university. I still have the occasional quiet patch, it’s\u00a0 the nature of being freelance but it always passes and it gives me\u00a0 valuable time to set myself personal projects and work on my artwork.<\/p>\n I have never been great at working with paint, I would always end up\u00a0 with more of it on my hands and on the floor than I would on the paper.\u00a0 I’m capable of making quite a mess so I like working with a materials\u00a0 that won’t drip or spill. The good thing about paper is you can make a\u00a0 mess but it doesn\u2019t stain the carpet! And the result is very neat which\u00a0 I like. When I was at university I did more collage based work, I used to\u00a0 collect envelopes, wallpaper samples, old books or whatever I could find\u00a0 and would make my illustrations either digitally or by hand. It was\u00a0 after I saw a great exhibition at the Bristol Museum on oriental\u00a0 artwork, where I discovered Chinese paper cutting, my head exploded with\u00a0 inspiration. After this, I started adding more and more detail to my\u00a0 work and using a paper cutting technique within my art and illustrations.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Last year I was lucky enough to publish my first children’s book\u00a0 ‘Cinderella’. This book is like no other I\u2019d seen before. I designed the\u00a0 book so that between each double page spread is a delicate paper-cut\u00a0 page which interacts and cast shadows over the background illustrations.\u00a0 It has always been an ambition to publish a children’s book and I was so\u00a0 thrilled to be able to combine my illustration’s with my paper cutting\u00a0 skill. Its was very satisfying to hold the final book and to see it in\u00a0 shops.<\/p>\n I do, although for my more detailed artwork I normally develop ideas on\u00a0larger bits of paper to get the sense of scale right. But the sketch\u00a0book for me is about about keeping a personal doodle diary and sketching\u00a0 down ideas that emerge at random times.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I love nature, sometimes just watching a documentary will inspire me to\u00a0 create a new piece. I’m really interested in the natural patterns that\u00a0 emerge in nature: from the fractals in Romanesco broccoli to the\u00a0 flocking of birds and fish. I also love to think a lot about the\u00a0 incredible journeys that creatures make to survive. I have recently\u00a0 discovered an artist, philosopher and professor called Enest Heckel. In\u00a0 the 19th century he discovered and named thousands of new species. He\u00a0 has hundreds of detailed illustration of marine creatures. I have\u00a0 recently bought a selection of books all about his work, the detail,\u00a0 composition and alien nature of some of these creatures just blows me\u00a0 away. His work has inspired me to take an even deeper journey into the\u00a0 ocean.<\/p>\n I have done a few different jobs in the past, and I know that working\u00a0freelance as an artist and illustrator is what I want to continue to do.\u00a0 I believe the harder you work on what you love the more likely you are\u00a0 to land your dream project and have success in your career. I also read\u00a0 a lot of design blogs and talk to other artists, friends and family who\u00a0 help me keep focused and motivated.<\/p>\n The scalpel, can’t live with out it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I see myself in my new home, hopefully not surrounded by boxes but in a\u00a0 lovely space that I have created to live in. I hope to a have a new\u00a0 studio space thats large enough for me to start making large paper\u00a0 sculptures. I have recently started running paper cutting workshops and\u00a0 would love to have my own space where I can run classes and even have a\u00a0 space that other artists can use to teach their own workshops. I hope to\u00a0 be working on new and challenging illustration project’s as well as\u00a0 having my own shop on my website, not just selling prints, but lamp\u00a0 shades, cushions and cards.<\/p>\n I have starting planning a project where I work on a larger scale on a\u00a0 theme of jellyfish and light. My dream is to develop these ideas as part\u00a0 of an artist residency in Japan, I love paper and have begun a journey\u00a0 into finding the perfect paper to work with. I’m really interested in\u00a0 Japanese washi paper, I would love to learn the process of making my\u00a0 own. I feel that making the paper from scratch and knowing more about\u00a0 the material and its history would really benefit my practice and feed\u00a0 my knowledge of working with paper and progressing as an artist.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n One of my favourite creatures is a kakapo, its a flightless bird which\u00a0 almost looks like a cross between a parrot and an owl. Its only defence\u00a0 mechanism from predators is to stand still pretending its invisible.\u00a0 Unfortunately this tactic has not worked out very well for the poor\u00a0 kakapos and they are almost extinct. I adore them, I have made myself a\u00a0 kakapo plush toy which sits in my room and looks after all my things.<\/p>\n [separator][\/separator]<\/p>\n
\n Location:<\/strong> Bristol, United Kingdom
\nLinks<\/strong>:\u00a0Website<\/a>\u00a0| Blog<\/a> |\u00a0Shop<\/a><\/p>\nTell us a little more about yourself!<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Where do you live? What stands out about living where you are, and what\u00a0 is your daily schedule like?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"photoradish1\"](\"http:\/\/www.pikaland.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/photoradish1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Photoradish2\"](\"http:\/\/www.pikaland.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/Photoradish2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"PhotoRadish3\"](\"http:\/\/www.pikaland.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/PhotoRadish3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"radish\"](\"http:\/\/www.pikaland.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/radish.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAre you a full-time illustrator? How did you begin finding work\/commissions?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Your portfolio is filled with paper cuts as your medium of choice \u2013 what\u00a0 led you to it, as opposed to other medias?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"cinderella\"](\"http:\/\/www.pikaland.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/cinderella.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s your favourite project so far?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Do you keep a journal\/sketchbook, and would you mind if we had a sneak peek?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Sketchbook1\"](\"http:\/\/www.pikaland.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/Sketchbook1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"sketchbook2\"](\"http:\/\/www.pikaland.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/sketchbook2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhat or who inspires you?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
What keeps you motivated?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
What\u2019s your favourite tool?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"P2170036\"](\"http:\/\/www.pikaland.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/P2170036.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhere do you see yourself within the next few years?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
What will be your dream project or collaboration?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Jellyfish\"](\"http:\/\/www.pikaland.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/Jellyfish.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Jellyfish-HR1\"](\"http:\/\/www.pikaland.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/Jellyfish-HR1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nTell us something random about yourself!<\/strong><\/h3>\n