Snippets from the studio: What I've been working on and what's coming in August (+stamps!)

A very, very overdue update from Laura.

Hi friends,

I’m so grateful that a whole bunch of new folk have found my newsletter list and Substack recently, so thank you for seeking out my work and sticking with it. I know, ‘newsletter’ is a strong term as I have been incredibly flaky since I set this up a couple of years ago, but I am finding myself in the predicament of most artists trying to balance making the actual art with filling the world with noisy, rambly content. Writing and posting things can often distract me from just getting on with the thing I’m supposed to be doing, and the work I make is often very slow, so I’ve been trying to keep my head down and not worry about keeping this newsletter a regular occurrence. Anyway, excuses aside, please know I am apologetic, and I appreciate you being here! Let’s get on with the updates…

Paper Cut Stamps | Upcoming shop update on the 25th

It is baffling to me how far and wide these little stamps have travelled around the internet since I started making them in between projects last year. It’s not often that something you enjoy working on resonates with so many people, so (at risk of making stamps my entire portfolio/personality) I’ve been continuing to make small collections of them, slowly but surely. I have a set of four that I’ve just picked up from the framers, all inspired by spots around Scotland that I can’t get out of my head, including the Isle of Mull, Unst in Shetland, and closer by, the quaint village of Dunkeld.

Alongside these, I have a print version in the works - it’s going to have a lovely neon spot layer to it as I used a bit of neon gouache in the originals to give them a lovely glow. I recently tracked down the most specific tool, handmade by a brilliant man in Kyiv, Ukraine, which will help me to add the tiny perforated holes to these prints. It’s a little wooden press with lots of rods to punch holes through paper, and I am obsessed with it. It’s so well crafted as a piece of kit, and I knew as soon as I saw Nikolay’s work that it would add a nice touch to these prints.

ALSO I have some gorgeous risograph printed cards of these tiny stamps, blown up to capture all the beautifully papery textures with this fun and unpredictable print method. I need to thank my friend Eline for her risograph knowledge and suggestion to print them at this scale, and Risotto Studio in Glasgow for printing them with so much care!

So, I’m pleased to say these new things will all be added to my online shop on the 25th of August, at 5pm GMT. The original pieces usually don’t hang around for long so you may want to turn up promptly if you have your eye on one!

After this initial shop drop I will make some more before Christmas time and release them around October/November. I’ll keep you posted… I’m hoping I can make lots of new scenes for you!

Edinburgh Market this weekend

After a beautiful weekend exhibiting just next door in the Burrell Collection a few days ago, I’ll be hopping across to Edinburgh tomorrow to take part in another Tea Green market at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. You’ll find me there on the 9th and 10th from 10-5pm both days. Please come and say hello if you’re in town for the festivals, or Oasis! I will have some special Edinburgh framed stamps, along with my prints and cards. Any remaining originals will be up online in my shop update (on the 25th).

Image from: https://www.crossway.org/books/we-sing-hcj/

My Debut Illustrated Children’s Book!

Earlier in the year, I had the pleasure of illustrating this brilliantly thoughtful book for singer and writer Kristyn Getty, which will be published by Crossway on September 2nd. Crossway make the most stunning books, and as a Christian myself I so appreciate their attention to detail and love for design in their projects. It was a real pleasure to work with them and my art director Erik on this one, and, although it took a bit of digging deep to get it all finished in time, I’m really proud of what came together in the end. All the illustrations are a combination of paper cut pieces with painted backgrounds, so each page took its time, but we were so keen to celebrate handmade details and bring some depth to the spreads, and I think we did that! You can preorder the book here - preorders really help to gather some momentum when the book comes out and catch the attention of other publishers, so if you’re hoping to own a copy I would be so grateful if you could order it before the release!

I’ll share more about this project in the run-up to it coming out, but here is a wee look at one of my favourite spreads for now.

That’s all I have to share for the time being! I will aim to be a bit better at keeping you in the loop as we go through the rest of the year, but thank you again for reading and supporting the tiny things I create. So far, it’s been a busy but fulfilling year working on various projects and growing my miniature collections, so I’m excited to see where things go from here.

Take care,
Laura

P.S. I graduated recently! I am now a Master of Children’s Book Illustration which is hilarious… very grateful for my time at Cambridge School of Art and all the inner turmoil and creative wonder it brought to the last 2.5 years!