Tell us a little about your piece?

I created this piece inspired by the antiquarian Christmas books I found while researching for the collaboration. 

I used the gold as if it had been embossed onto the teal paper, so pushed myself to cut lots of very thin, straight lines which was a real challenge!

I liked the idea of using a star which is a familiar image in winter/ Christmas imagery, and because I have found it comforting when I miss loved ones to think about how we are all beneath the same stars and not so far away after all. I also chose to include the Wren as they are commonly seen on Christmas cards, but also because a tiny Wren visited my yard a lot during lockdown and always brought me joy.

What was the most challenging part of the brief?

As I am not religious I wanted to find a way to create work that acknowledged the Christian tradition but was also something that could be accessible to everyone.

In terms of making the piece, creating such a detailed and fragile papercut was a challenge, and the relief paper sculpture of the Wren was very fiddly!

What part of the collaboration did you enjoy the most?

I loved using the layers of paper, especially the gold paper which is really beautiful. The opportunity to make something simply to bring happiness to people was also lovely.

How did you enjoy working with the paper sent?

The paper is gorgeous! The gold is really beautiful and I will be buying lots to use in my future work! I also really liked the colour palette sent, and it was fun to experiment with using the colours together in different ways.