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STORIES IN PAPER

Papercut illustrations by Ellie Chaney

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Examples of Winged Insects of the British Isles

Insect poster final

‘Examples of Winged Insects of the British Isles’, 2017.

Digital illustration using handmade papercuts.

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I’m so excited to be featured on the @paperartistcollective feed this week, and would like to say a big thank you to them! It’s SUCH an honour to have my work shared alongside so many incredible paper artists and I throughly recommend going and following the account if you are passionate about paper art 🙂

There have been so many jellyfish off the North West coast lately, including Moon Jellyfish and Lion’s Mane Jellyfish! They are inspiring me to make a more accurate jellyfish papercut, but for now here’s my large jelly papercut from two years ago 🌊

It’s a bit quiet over here as I’m working on making a book at the moment, illustrating river life. The White-clawed Crayfish is the only native crayfish to the UK, and is endangered.

Following on from the last 'Deep Sea Stories', today looks at the amazing giant squid! - True to their name, the giant squid is a massive member of the cephalopod family. The largest giant squid recorded so far was almost 13 metres long. Their anatomy is similar to other squid with two large eyes, eight arms, and two extremely long tentacles. These feeding tentacles are covered with sharp-toothed suckers which they use to catch prey up to 10 meters away. Their huge eyes help them to see in the dark of the deep sea and aid them in hunting food. - We know very little about these giants of the sea as they live deep in the ocean and are very rarely filmed, seen or washed up on the shore. They are thought to live in the ocean worldwide, but are most often washed up on beaches of the Pacific Islands and New Zealand. They rarely do so in the polar regions, suggesting they prefer warmer waters. - When giant squid specimens are found marine biologists can look at a small calcareous structure called a statolith in the squids brain which helps it to orientate itself. These form 'growth rings' like a tree helping to age the squid, and the oldest giant squid found was estimated to be only five years old. - Giant squid are thought to eat shrimp, other squid, and deep sea fish. As mentioned in the last deep sea story, sucker marks have been found on the skin of sperm whales, suggesting they may be on the whale's menu and have to battle to escape. However although remains of giant squid have been found in the stomach of sperm whales, sperm whale has never been found in the stomach of a squid, so perhaps they do not often win or eat large whales. - There are many sea legends that are thought to have originated from giant squid, such as the Kraken - a huge monster that lives in the ocean near Greenland and sinks ships. - However, amazingly they are not the largest squid, as the colossal squid is thought to reach possibly over 14 metres long!

Happy Earth Day! Today I've added another image to my 'Deep Sea Stories' illustration series. Sperm whales usually dive to around 300 - 800 meters, but they can dive as far as 2,000 meters when hunting. This makes them one of the deepest diving mammals, and they can hold their breath for 1 - 2 hours. One of the whale species that has conical teeth rather then baleen, sperm whales mainly feed on medium sized squid, but they can also eat giant squid, colossal squid, rays and octopus. The area around a sperm whale's mouth is often covered in scars from fighting with others, but in rare cases rings of scars resembling suckers have been found on specimens suggesting battles with giant squids in the deep!

For anyone near by, my exhibition of sea creature papercuts and prints at Ford Park Cafe in Ulverston, Cumbria finishes on Saturday! • It’s been a good day! I completed two commissions, the sun has been out and we even managed to plant some flowers. It feels like spring is finally here! It’s been a challenging winter indeed - my daughter and I have been constantly plagued with illness for three months and frankly it’s been exhausting. I’ve found after commissions, day to day business tasks and my job I’ve not had much energy for making new work. I think sometimes you have to accept these phases, and hold on to the knowledge that they’ll be another period of creative energy soon. In the world of Instagram where it seems everyone is so endlessly productive, it can be difficult to remember that art, though wonderful, isn’t everything. I often feel like I work too slowly, but with so many other demands on my time I’m just trying to be content with doing my best 🙂 Saying that, I’m really hoping this week is the turning point for us health wise and that soon I’ll be a bit more in to the flow. Happy spring everyone! 🌱🌿 #papercut #papercutting #illustration #naturalhistoryillustration

Playing with making mandalas and bug patterns earlier in the week 🙂 #illustration #papercut #insect #naturalhistory

I’ve been busy with commissions lately, so here’s an old photo of Spiny Starfish (which I actually call ‘Jaunty Starfish’ in my head because it looks like it’s dancing) 🌟 #illustration #papercut #papercutting #nature

Papercut Paper Nautilus or Argonaut, a pelagic octopus. The female secretes a thin, paper-like shell to store her eggs in. This chamber fills with trapped air allowing her to float on the current. I'm working on adapting this papercut in to a pop-up to make a book called 'A Curious Compendium of Cephalopods' 🤔🦑🐙 #illustration #papercut #papercutting #acuriouscompendiumofcephalopods #storiesinpaper

My exhibition 'Detail in Nature' at Brockhole on Windermere comes to an end tomorrow. I'd like to thank @brockholelakedistrict for having me. I've really enjoyed exhibiting my work in such a beautiful place and have met some lovely people. If you'd like to catch my work before it comes down, it will be there until 3pm tomorrow 🙂 Photo credit: Lindsay Ward #papercut #papercutting #illustration

Next in my mini series of 'Deep Sea Stories' is the Viperfish. • There are thought to be at least 6 species of Viperfish, also known as Sloane's Fangfish, and they have been found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean. During the day they stay in the deeper ocean levels at around 1500m, but they will travel to a shallower depth at night, often following prey such as the Lanternfish on their daily migration to the oceans surface. Viperfish have a jaw that is adapted to hinge open allowing them to consume larger prey. Their teeth are so large they have to curve them around their head so they can close their mouths. Viperfish use photophores (light-producing organs) to lure prey - their dorsal fin is located behind their head and the first ray is a long spine with a photophore attached like a hanging light. They are able to turn this light on and off as they hunt. They also have photophores along the bottom of their bodies. We know relatively little about them due to the fact that they are unable to survive for longer then a brief period if captured, but it is estimated they can live for up to 30 years. • #illustration #ink #drawing #naturalhistory #deepsea #ocean #deepseastories #storiesinpaper

I spent the afternoon making a study of the Lanternfish in silver ink - a small fish that is thought to be a crucial part of the food chain throughout the ocean. Here's what I learnt about Lanternfish today: Lanternfish are one of the most common fish in the world, living in oceans worldwide. During the day they live at depths of 300m but at night travel up to the oceans surface. They are also bioluminescent, producing a glow using light organs. There are 246 species in 33 genera, and it is estimated that lanternfish make up to 65% of biomass in the deep sea. There is also a theory that they are eating vast amounts of microplastic, which is slightly concerning considering they are food for so many ocean animals! #illustration #ink #ocean #naturalhistoryillustration

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