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FEATURED WORK

Small Common Octopus, 2016. Handmade papercut.

Small Compass Jellyfish, 2016. Handmade papercut.

Kingfisher in Flag Irises, 2016. Handmade papercut.

Spiny Starfish, 2016. Handmade papercut.

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Hello! I'm so happy that more people have chosen to follow me lately, so I thought perhaps it was time for a bit of an introduction post again. I tried to take a non-awkward photo but apparently this is impossible, so I settled on this one. However the second one is my favourite because I think I have a bit of a Mr Burns from the Simpsons vibe going on 😉 My name is Eleanor, but everyone calls me Ellie. As you can probably see I am an artist who makes illustrations, paper art and prints of the natural world. I am particularly fond of sea creatures, birds, and insects especially moths, and recently I've been fascinated by reptiles and amphibians. I think I've always wanted to be an artist, although when I was 8 dreamed of being an astronaut but I think that is quite usual (still up for it though!), and when I was 14 I briefly wanted to be a vet but this was quashed by my maths teacher who said there was little chance of that happening. Which is fine, because I think I make a better artist and teacher then I ever would have been a vet, and I still get to learn about animals through my work. I am lucky enough to have lived on the edge of the beautiful Lake District in Cumbria, UK since I graduated from art school in London and promptly ran away because I wasn't made for the art world. I then spent 8 years doing everything from working on parades and carnivals, working for a puppet theatre, making animations, films, and running a gardening project before my daughter was born 5 years ago and I decided to focus more on drawing again. I work part time as a picture framer, and I also freelance teaching art in the community and in schools. In my free time I like going to circus classes (late starter to this at 30!) and I love hooping, dancing, playing the ukulele badly, watching Harry Potter on repeat, reading and sewing costumes. - I also collect antiquarian books, especially about natural history, and this is a common theme in my work, as well as finding and retelling the stories of women whose artistic and scientific contributions have been somewhat uncelebrated (#superniche). - So thank you for all your feedback, it’s lovely to hear that people enjoy my work 🙂

Two little mushroom papercuts that I made last year, framed in lovely gold moulding offcuts from @tinnersrabbitpictureframing. Silly maker of mushrooms photo for scale 🍄

150 paper moths dipped in wax and displayed at Ulverston’s Candlelit Walk last night, made by workshop creators or myself. Thank you to everyone involved organising Candlelit Walk last night, and an extra special thank you to anyone who came to the workshop to make a moth - I have had so many lovely comments from people who really liked it and it was a wonderful opportunity to share my mutual passions of moths and paper art with people ☺️ Photo by @lost.in.the.apothecary 💙 #papercutting #papersculpture #art #collaboration #mothmonth #mothlove

The life cycle of the Emperor Moth, papercut on to screenprinted gold paper. I’m really excited about this new place I’ve discovered in my work, finding a way to bring together all my favourite things - art, natural history and antiquarian books. This piece is inspired by Maria Sybilla Merian, a female entomologist from the early 18th century who dedicated her life’s work to studying metamorphosis 📚🦋🖋

Apparently it’s #publishersbindingthursday today which is perfect considering I’ve stayed up burning the midnight oil making these giant gold moths inspired by ‘Butterflies and Moths of the United Kingdom’ by W.E.Kirkby. I can’t find a publication date, but it has a name written inside from 1929, so it’s been sharing it’s Lepidoptera knowledge for quite some time 🦋

EMPEROR MOTH | Saturnia pavonia A large, furry moth with four recognisable 'eye' spots on each wing, the Emperor Moth is widespread but often not very plentiful in numbers. The male is slightly smaller and more of an oragne shade, with feathered antennae, while the larger female is a grey shade. They are found on heathland, sand dunes and fens from late March to May, and their caterpillars over winter as chrysalides. The females are particularly difficult to see as they lay low in garssland, and are only found by the males due to the scent they release as pheremones which the males pick up with their antennae. Males have been know to travel up to five miles to find a female! #mothscount #mothsmatter #mothmonth

NETTED CARPET MOTH | Eustroma reticulatum The Netted Carpet Moth is one of the UK's most endangered moths and its main breeding area is in the Lake District (where I live). Its very beautiful, although I have yet to see one in it’s natural habitat. A member of the Geometridae family, research has shown that it’s caterpillars feed only on the delicate Touch-me-not balsam, which is also at risk.

ELEPHANT HAWK-MOTH | Deilephila elpenor This spectacular pink and green/yellow night flying moth is a fan of plants such as Honeysuckle (Lonicera) and Rosebay Willowherbs (Chamaenerion angustifolium) which is one of the caterpillar foodplants. Their amazing caterpillars - which people sometimes confuse as small, short snakes - also like to eat gooseberry and are known for being found on fuschias in people's gardens.

NARROW-BORDERED BEE HAWK-MOTH | Hemaris tityus . One of my first moth fascinations, I fell in love with the way these stripey yellow and black moths look like bumblebees, including their delicate black lined, transparent wings. Nationally scare, the Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk Moth larval food plants include Devil's-bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis) and Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis) which can be found on wild grasslands. . They look very similar to the Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moth whose wings are outlined in a browner/red colour, and who caterpillars' feed on Wild Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum).

LIME HAWK-MOTH | Mimas tiliae The Lime Hawk-moth is one of the larger macro moths, with a wingspan of 55 – 70mm. Their name comes from the fact that their caterpillars feed on Lime trees, but they also consume Alder, Elm and Birch. They are recognisable by their bright green colour with yellow stripes, and their blue horn which darkens as they get ready to pupate. The pupa spend the winter in loose natural litter, and the adults fly between May and early July, having only one generation each year. In the UK they are most common in the South of the country, although they have been reported as far North as Yorkshire. Sadly they aren't common in Cumbria though!

MOTH MONTH | Today marks the start of Moth Night - a three day celebration of moths from 26th - 28th September to share the fascination of moths through public events and encourage people to submit their records to aid with moth research. You can learn more at www.mothnight.info Being a huge moth fan three nights just isn't long enough for me so I have decided to do Moth Month - a month (and a bit) of sharing moth related artwork culminating in an installation of papercut moths at Ulverston's Candlelit Walk on Thursday 31st October. For Moth Month I am planning to... . * Create 20 pieces of moth inspired artwork as illustrations, prints, papercuts and paper sculptures to celebrate 20 years of Moth Night . * Share information and facts about moths from my own research and pages such as Butterfly Conservation . * Post photographs of the moths I find during this period, and facts about these species . * Blog about key species, moth conservation issues, and scientists and artists who have been inspired by moths . * Offer people the chance to create their own paper sculpture of a moth at the free Of Moths & Magic, Candlelit Walk workshop on Saturday 13th August to be displayed at Ulverston's Candlelit Walk I will also be offering the artwork I make during this period for sale at very reasonable prices! I am hoping to put 30% of any sales made towards a project sharing the diversity of these beautiful creatures in creative workshops and an exhibition next year. I hope some of you are as enthusiastic about moths as I am and this idea has you all aflutter too! #mothnight #mothmonth #mothlove

ULVERSTON WORKSHOP | I’m excited to tell you I’m running a free workshop making paper sculpture moths to display in a collaborative installation at this years Ulverston Candlelit Walk! Learn about moth biodiversity while making your first insect sculptures, and you’ll be able to take one home with you to keep. Join me from 2pm - 5pm on Sunday 13th October at the Red Rose Club. You’ll also have the opportunity to make silhouettes of toadstools and toads for the community shadow screen...so much creative fun to be had! Donations appreciated towards covering costs ☺️

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