butterflies, birds and nice things.

I really like the idea of incorporating birds or butterflies or flowers into my design for some reason, no idea why! I've just been drawn to them..

Last year my friend Anna bought one of Rob Ryan's books and she showed it to me, and said it had been really inspirational to her (she studies Contemporary Crafts) and that I'd like it too. Thinking back to it, I really liked Rob's designs, some of them are extremely beautiful.

I've always been into quite quaint and traditional/handmade looking design, I love Cath Kidston's designs for example, and Rob Ryan portrays this in his work too..

I love the type/illustrations that Rob creates, they're really interesting and unique looking.

Below is an image I found on the internet (from a Blogger user actually):

They're birds made from Japanese paper, I think they're incredible and I'd love to make something like this, but I have the feeling that unfortunately it wouldn't be acceptable as work for this module as they're not exactly 'sculptures' as such.

Another sort of paper bird I have found on the internet are these adorable creations:

They're sculptures of birds made from recycled papers, like book pages or maps for example; stitched together with embroidery thread, and given wire feet. I think they're adorable, and would love to make something similar for my project, however I dont see how I'd be able to differ it very much from the original design, so that idea is out of the window..

I've also come across the company 'Lladro, who are based in Kent, UK. They don't work with paper, but they have created some amazing sculptures in the sort of style that I have grown to love.

For example, this is a fibre optic, made to measure Lladro 'Niagara Chandelier':

It consists of 300 identical porcelain fairies that are about 3 inches tall, and it would cost about $90 000!! Awesome repeat pattern right there.

I'd like to make a paper sculpture running somewhat along these lines, so these discoveries have been really inspirational.

laine.x