Hip hop hooray!! It is the Year of the Rabbit

I can barely contain my excitement, since 2023 sees in the Year of the Rabbit on the Chinese Calendar, which begins on January 22. How lucky am I??? And yes, you guessed it…you will see plenty more of my bunnies this year!!!⁠ To kick off this year – and just because it is another superb excuse to have even more fun with Lapine – I have decided to create a small series I call “Connecting the Dots”, where I showcase the connection between us, our surrounds and how destiny plays a role in it all, by using various new techniques and ideas. 

In the Chinese culture, the rabbit is known to be the luckiest out of all the twelve animals. It symbolizes mercy, elegance, and beauty. People who are born in the year of the rabbit are calm and peaceful. They avoid fighting and arguing at all times, but are artistic and have good taste in life – or so they claim.The Rabbit is a symbol of longevity, peace and prosperity. 2023 is predicted to be a year of hope.

I have decided to push myself a bit by combining various mediums and techniques, mainly as an experiment, so you will see woodcut, lino and embroidery, all in one! This was extremely challenging for me on a technical level. Firstly, I have never worked on wood panels. After preparing them properly (and by properly I mean third time lucky😉 ), I printed a lino bunny in white on top of the wood. That was a mission in itself, but let’s just say that I really learned a lot! I also did some carving of wood, and for the final touches, I embroidered the symbols onto the wood, obviously hand stitched. I almost didn’t think that I would be able to finish it before the next Chinese New Year…. but I am glad to report that I am getting there…

Here are a few progress pictures of the ones I am busy with. As soon as the series is complete, I will showcase them in a Newsletter. Holding thumbs and wishing you all a happy New Year!

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