Leigh Shepherd West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
I am a mixed media artist based in Haworth, West Yorkshire. Upcycling is a theme that runs throughout my work, I have well established jewellery range my earrings and pendants with matching Teeny Tiny Tins. My mixed media pieces are all created from vintage finds including sections of printer's trays, mill bobbins and trinket pots. My two main collections feature ferns and bees.
I working predominantly with resin, paper and vintage finds. My mixed media pieces are created from a wide range of antique or vintage items including wooden boxes, tins, trinket pots, printers trays and mill shuttles and bobbins. I prefer to work organically, starting with the vintage pieces I source, these inform the way the final piece will develop. For my fern pieces I grow the ferns in my garden, I dry or dehydrate the fronds and crosiers before setting them in layers of resin. Alongside these I set my paintings. I use resin to create layers, shadows and depth. My hive pieces are created from vintage finds. I construct the 'honeycomb' from individually folded paper which is then painted, varnished and filled with hand dyed resin. The jewellery range is made from upcycling coins to make earrings and Scrabble tiles to make pendants, these are sold with a matching tin to keep them in. The brooches are made from old wooden draughts and domino pieces. I love the process of creating pieces from discarded / found items and seeing people's reactions when they realise what my work is made from.
