Vasilisa and the Witch's Fire

Recently I have developed and finished a new piece of laser cut book art.  Vasilisa and the Witch's Fire depicts a scene from the Russian fairytale Vasilisa the Beautiful, a story that sees its heroine Vasilisa overcome the obstacles put before her by the witch Baba Yaga.  

Uneditioned version

Uneditioned version

Uneditioned version

The lasercut booklet illustrates the heroine's escape home across the forest at night, armed with a mysterious glowing skull.  It's an eerie tale that has not left my imagination since I read the tale as a child.

Two versions of this piece have just been finished: an unlimited edition fold-out concertina version that comes in a dark yellow dustjacket (seen above); and a limited edition version, which has clothbound hardcovers that fold over the booklet and turn the piece in to a cube (below).  The latter are in an edition of thirty.

This version represents a bit of a departure from the fold-out concertina books that I usually create, as this one folds itself up in to a self-supporting structure.  It took a lot of experimentation before getting the paper hinges just right, but I think it was worth it.  Below is a short video of this new lasercut version:

(if the embedded video below doesn't work on your browser then you can find it on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dqmSRaxryc, or by searching for the title of the book)

Limited edition version

Editioned cube version, seen from above with spotlight

Both versions:
uneditioned copy on the left, and the limited edition 'cube' version on the right

More information on both copies can be found on my online shop at 

 https://joannarobsonillustration.bigcartel.com

Thanks for looking!  If you have any questions, comments or thoughts about any of the artwork then do feel free to get in touch with me via the shop link above or through the comments section below.

The Six Swans - pt 2

Hooray! This side project is finally finished and copies are now available.  Here are some of the great new promo photos taken last weekend - 

The Six Swans is a laser-cut paper sculpture, made from a single sheet of folded black paper.  It's inspired by a Brothers Grimm fairy tale of the same name (and a story that scared me as a kid).  The fairy tale tells of the plight of six princes, who are turned in to swans by their wicked stepmother.  Their only hope for the curse being lifted is if their sister can produce six shirts for them sewn from nettles.  She must also keep a vow of silence for seven years, or else her brothers must remain swans forever.

This piece of work is a bit of a departure from the laser cut work that I usually do, but it was great to try out this idea.  I wanted to create more of a 3D effect with the cut-outs, so the action is less confined and can jump out of the folds, but still wanted to continue using only one single sheet of paper as the basis for the work.

The Six Swans are in an edition of fifty and are available to purchase online now at http://joannarobsonillustration.bigcartel.com/

The Six Swans

Here's the prototype of a new laser cut piece I've been working on recently:

height - 28cm; width - approx. 25cm

Even as I was designing it, I knew that there were going to be problems ahead with the structure, and it took many revisions on the laser cutter before finally it looked like it was strong enough to be folded up and to stand by itself.

There's only the packaging to finish, and then a small edition of them will be available to purchase very soon!

Watch this space....

On Opulance illustrations

Illustrations for Hope Whitmore's article On Opulence, published 6th May 2013.

Full article at http://hopewhitmore.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/on-opulence/