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WILD GRASS DRAWINGS

I have family who live in the Scottish Borders, near the Whiteadder River. It is a truly magical place and I love going to visit. On one of my many trips down to the river on a cold winter afternoon, I sat on the bank, the sun was at a low angle and perfectly silhouetted the grass and plants in front of me. I took a photograph, but like often happens, the image did not come close to capturing the real beauty which was in front of me.

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A few weeks passed and I kept thinking about that afternoon, I wanted to capture some of that beauty. This desire set me on a journey to document the wildflowers, plants and grasses found on the banks of the Whiteadder River through the changing seasons.

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With this series of work, I want to capture the beauty of the mundane - grasses, plants and flowers which are often overlooked when we are out for a walk. By taking them out of context and playing with scale, we see them in a new light. I want to encourage people to look down more, see what is by their feet and notice beauty in the everyday.

Spring Grass One by Martha Ellis. Cut out drawing of lots of different plants and grasses. Made from light brown MDF wood and cut using a laser.

SPRING GRASS - ONE

Laser cut drawing

Green wash

58/80 cm or 23/31''

MDF  

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Edition of 10 - 2 remaining

£350 

 

 

The drawing is unframed and is mounted directly to the wall with integrated hanging blocks. Each piece comes with nails, instructions and a hanging template.

Enquire

Spring Grass Two by Martha Ellis. The drawing shows lots of different types of grass and plants which have been cut drom light brown MDF using a laser cutter.

SPRING GRASS - TWO

Laser cut drawing

Green wash

58/80 cm or 23/31'' 

MDF 

​

Edition of 10 - one remaining

£350 

​

​

The drawing is unframed and is mounted directly to the wall with integrated hanging blocks. Each piece comes with nails, instructions and a hanging template.

Enquire

A photo looking from one side of a river ot the other. With lots of small plants in the foreground which are the inspiration for the artwork by Martha.
Plant photos by Martha Ellis showing a grid of single flowers against a white background. This is research for Martha's drawing process.
A close up photo of the wild plants found between the rocks on the riverbank. They are the inspiration for Martha's laser cut drawings.
A photo looking down the river wit grasses shown in the foreground.
Plants by Martha Ellis showing a bunch of wild flowers (yellow, pink and white) with grasses in a vase against a white backgorund.
Computer design by Martha Ellis. A screengrab image of photoshop workspace to show how Martha makes her drawings. The image is black and white of wild grasses layer on top of each other.
Photo of a laser cutter cutting out one of Martha's drawings of wild grass and plants. It looks down on the laser bed and you can see the laser beam hitting the MDF as it cuts.
A photo of the artist Martha Ellis as she carefully uses a scalple to remove small bits of MDF from her cutout drawing of wild grasses.
A photo of a zoomed in section of Martha Ellis' wild grass drawing. The phot is at an angle so you can see the burnt edge of the MDF where the laser cut through the mateiral and shadows cast onto the wall behind it.
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