The Woodcutter's Cottage Installations

“Once upon a time there lived a Woodcutter in a cottage at the edge of Europe’s forests who collected images and objects....” Under the metaphoric dwelling of the ‘Woodcutter’s Cottage’, the epitome of where many of the best fairy tales are told Jane's installation brings together a collection of her Biro drawings and objects incorporating her drawings. Objects displayed belong to The Woodcutter, an avatar whose perceptions of European forests are reflected through the artwork he makes.

Her work is enthused by interests in childhood memoirs, war, fairy tales, films, forests and animals. Jane's working method often involves taking photographs of television screens as films and documentaries play. This produces inspirational images to work from which helps in the creation of the complex layers of her ‘fairytale-esque’ Biro drawings. Her interior objects are produced from fabrics she prints and sews by hand. Her aim is to create drawings of beauty using the humble Biro, but which are symbolic of life's brutal reality such as the aftermath of war and natural disasters, thus creating memorials of lives lived both human and animal, and ways of life lost." 2013 The Mercer Art Gallery

The Woodcutter's Cottage installations were exhibited at The Customs House Gallery 2012 and The Mercer Art Gallery 2013

Woodcutter's Quilt, Woodcutter's Giant Pillow, British Moth Throw, Red Riding Hood's Cloak, Entomology Drawer, Mid-century Jacobean Bed (belonging to Artist's Grandmother) 2013 Mercer Art Gallery

Russian Doll Wallpaper, Red Riding Hood's Cloak, 'Where Wolves and Bears Dare 2013 Mercer Art Gallery

Woodcutter's Quilt, Woodcutter's Giant Pillow, British Moth Throw, Red Riding Hood's Cloak, Mid-century Jacobean Bed (belonging to Artist's Grandmother) 2013 Mercer Art Gallery

Red Riding Hood's Cloak, Woodcutter's Quilt, Woodcutter's Giant Pillow, British Moth Throw, Mid-century Jacobean Bed (belonging to Artist's Grandmother), Biro drawings 2013 Mercer Art Gallery

In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia Fine English china coupe plate set 2013 Mercer Art Gallery

Entomology Drawer 2013 colour Biro drawings of British moths and mid-century Jacobean dressing table (belonging to Artist's Grandmother) Mercer Art Gallery

The Wolf's House

The Wolf's House 2012 black Biro drawings on sanded and painted wood, hand printed cotton fabric, scenic snow, Russian Tank and German Infantry soldiers models, collection of model animals, replica Deluxe FI Hand Grenades, white enamel paint

Winter, somewhere in rural Eastern Europe, The Wolf’s House stands isolated in no-mans land, engulfed by a fierce blizzard. Be-sieged by war Mrs Wolf throws open the stable door and watches the carnage unfold as a battle is waged on her doorstep . Mr Wolf sits by the window next to a table, awaiting destiny. Propaganda posters flutter on the mural behind him as creatures of the forest seeking sanctuary from the conflict, play innocently at his feet. The chimes of the cuckoo clock are silenced by a cacophony of gunfire as the soldiers fight on through the snow.

This sculpture contemplates the conscious brutality of man and the instinctive nature of animals by creating a scene of role reversal. Inspired by cuckoo clocks, their iconography in this piece suggests waiting for fate to take its course. Two propaganda posters were designed for the walls and the house interior is decorated with murals depicting Jane's colour Biro drawings. The exterior of the house features original Biro drawings of her dog Lily drawn directly on the wooden panels. The weights of the cuckoo clock are replica Deluxe F1 Russian hand grenades. A model Russian tank soldier balances on one of the hand grenades. Mr and Mrs Wolf were created from original 1970’s Krakow Cepelia dolls, their head’s replaced with casts from a wedding cake topper.

Original black Biro drawing on wood panel

The Wolf's House - view of roof - original black Biro drawing on wood panel

"Save Us!" Propaganda Poster 2013 black Biro drawings and montage using Viktor Koretsky’s 1942 WWII propaganda poster Red Army Soldiers, Save Us!

Interior view - mixed media

Red Riding Hood's Cloak

Red Riding Hood's Cloak 2012 hand printed fabric

Artwork made with hand printed fabric featuring a pattern of drawings Brown Bunny and Doll and Pink Boris colour Biro drawings. Inspired by Angela Carter’s short story The Company of Wolves 1979 and the film of the same name, this artwork focuses on the interpretation of the fairy tale Red Riding Hood, renown as a parable about sexual maturity. A heavily made-up doll and baby rabbit pattern represent stereotypical imagery for girls and the transgression in to adolescence. The bleeding rabbit is a symbol of reproduction. When displayed the cloak drifts innocently from a white hanger while the hood suggests a sense of being overpowered.

British Moth Throw

British Moth Throw 2013 hand printed and cut fabric using colour Biro drawings pattern

Illustrating the beauty of moths to dispel their image as dusty cloth eaters, while highlighting the rapid decline of many British moth species.

British Moth Throw 2013 detail - printed colour Biro drawings pattern

The Woodcutter's Quilt and The Woodcutter's Giant Pillow

The Woodcutter's Quilt 2012 black silk, embroidery and hand printed fabric 2 x 2M, The Woodcutter's Giant Pillow and Lily Doll

The Woodcutter sits in his cottage, a hermit on the periphery of ‘life’, watching films and documentaries as his only means of viewing the world beyond the forests. He watches the effects of human destruction. He photographs epic moments and moments of reflection and pain from his favourite films and documentaries and uses them as inspiration for a patchwork quilt of remembrance.

The central square of the quilt is a detail of Jane's muse Lily from the original colour Biro drawing created for her wedding invitation. This represents the personal references centuries of quilters have included in their quilt designs.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS FOR QUILT:

‘Fox and Rabbit’, Yuri Norstein 1973; Ivan Bilibin; Vintage German Postcard ‘The Wolf and the Seven Kids’; Vintage German Postcard ‘Snow White’; ‘Ivan’s Childhood’, Andrei Tarkovsky 1962, Mosfilm; ‘Come and See’, Elem Klimov 1985 Mosfilm/Belarus Film; World At War, Thames Television 1973, WWII film footage, Czechoslovakia 1945; ‘Immortal Beloved’, Bernard Rose 1994 Columbia Tristar; ‘Where Eagles Dare’, Brian G. Hutton 1968 MGM; ‘Dean’s Gift Book of Fairy Tales’, Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone 1967; embroidered image from Tawerna Mestwin, Kashubian restaurant, Gdansk 2011; ‘Winterreise’, Luc Delahaye 2000 Phaidon; ‘Peter and The Wolf’, Suzie Templeton 2006 BreakThru Films; Photograph: Tove Jansson & Tuulikki Pietilä working on Moomin models; ‘The Red Balloon’, Albert Lamorisse 1956 Lopert Pictures Corporation/Janus Films; ‘Hedgehog in the Fog’, Yuri Norstein 1975 Soyuzmultfilm; ‘The Scar’, Krzysztof Kieslowski 1976 Artificial Eye; ‘White Mane’, Albert Lamorisse 1953 Films Montsouris/Janus Films

The Woodcutter's Giant Pillow 2012 black silk, embroidery and hand printed fabric

Pillow square 2012 montage and embroidery design of drawing by Robert Lee

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS FOR PILLOW:

‘The Company of Wolves’, Neil Jordan 1984; 'Band of Brothers' HBO 2001; 'Bambi' Walt Disney 1942; 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves' Walt Disney 1937; 'Onegin' Martha Fiennes 1999; 'A Prophet' Jacques Audiard 2009; 'Brotherhood of the Wolf' Christophe Gans 2001; ‘Where Eagles Dare’, Brian G. Hutton 1968 MGM; image of Laika; original drawings, Robert Lee