Following the family tradition
I come from a family of silhouette portrait artists. My grandfather began cutting in 1921 and on his death my uncle took over his studio at Brighton and continued until his early death in 1974. It wasn't until later in 1990 that I found his paper and decided to create a range of contemporary designs. As this was pre-internet days there weren't any papercutters around that I knew about and so I had to work it all out for myself. Because of this I think, and hope, that I have a unique style.
I initially sold my papercuts around Britain at craft fairs and continued doing this for 16 years or so. I met my wife to be at one of these fairs. When we married, a workshop with retail space became available at Kirkharle Courtyard (the birth place of Capability Brown) and we decided to take it on together. We ran a successful shop there for 11 years but in 2017 moved our shop to Heatherslaw at Ford and Etal Estates in Northumberland. This was a return to the area we started our businesses in nearly three decades earlier.
Many people are interested in the family tradition of my papercutting as my grandfather alone claimed to have cut more than a million portraits, and many of our visitors remember seeing him work. There were many silhouette artists around in those days (before polaroid photography) and the whole subject is nostalgic for many. Because of this I have framed in the shop a number of photographs showing my relative's studios, scissors and also some shots with famous people such as Morecambe and Wise.
As Heatherslaw is a very serene place out in the beautiful Northumberland countryside, our aim is always to produce a pleasant friendly atmosphere for our visitors, many of whom are on holiday from outside the UK. My Etsy shop has been set up to enable them and their friends to buy my work after they arrive back home.
For more information on my family tradition and Heatherslaw please visit www.johnspeight.co.uk