Arts&Crafts
A bright idea
Artist and creator Ros Freeborn has combined her delicate paper collages with practical lighting solutions and the result is a range of quirky lampshades depicting local scenes
A
ltrincham born and bred, Ros Freeborn is a paper collage artist who has recently added to her collection with some new work depicting Chester and the Wirral – immortalised in lampshades that would be a talking point in any home. Ros explained how she came up with the arts and interiors collaboration after studying. Spot the icons on the London lampshade She said: “I’ve always been an artist but I particularly loved All things Cheshire working with paper. While I Ros with the Cheshire shade The latest additions to Ros’s range include a paper collage impression was a student at City & Guilds of the Wirral as well as one of Cheshire. She said: “I’ve referenced the of London Art School I had a garret studio space of my own and city of Chester, and the rivers, bridges, canals that adorn the landscape spent hours exploring ways of using paper in an imaginative and of Cheshire; I’ve also popped in a grinning creative way. I love the look and feel of paper and Cheshire Cat and a wedge of Cheshire cheese!” delight in its amazing versatility. Having learned Ros has also been running Papershades how to paint in oils I started working entirely in workshops based at a new crafts hub in Sandiway, paper, using thousands of fragments of paper-like “I’ve popped in strokes or blobs of paint. I now use a variety of Cheshire called Toolerstone, and is looking forward to arranging more hands-on events in tissue, wallpaper, wrapping paper, packaging and a grinning the near future, inspiring fellow artists to try pages of magazines to make my art.” Cheshire Cat The combination of colours, prints and textures something new. and a wedge of She said: “Inspired by the Toolerstone garden give Ros the unique and intriguing lampshades Cheshire cheese!” that led to the establishment of her business, I enjoyed showing people how to print directly from foliage onto tissue paper and then use Papershades. She said: “I wanted to find a way to the printed paper to create their own collage make my art available beyond a work on canvas. design. The designs were then printed on the The concept may sound simple but it’s taken a spot and everyone went home with a beautiful and totally original while for the idea to develop. The result came straight from my paper lampshade.” imagination. It is art on a stick! I set up Papershades about five years See more of Ros’s work at www.papershades.co.uk or look out for ago – the paper lampshades come as a flatpack and cost £35. They future craft courses at www.toolerstone.co.uk arrive in an A4 envelope and are easy to assemble at home.” The shades are supplied as self-assembly kits
98 SHIRE MAGAZINE | July/August 2022
