Hello. I’m Jan Gailans – one half of 2minty studio.

My aim is to create eye-catching artworks from fabric and paper. The artworks are created from woven paper; the vessels from cotton rope and fine fabrics and thread.

When I sit down to produce a new weaving, the process could be described as painting with paper. Except that here, the same material is both the canvas and the paint. The first consideration is colour; often toning, but sometimes contrasting. Careful planning of the final composition is vital because even the first piece to be placed will appear many times, and can’t be simply erased or painted out. And so the piece grows, and grows, and grows. Until the final fold says “I’m finished, I’m done. You can relax!”

A recent passion is to take my work fully into 3 dimensions by using cotton rope to create vessels of various styles and purposes.

My eye for colour and love of texture has carried over from my career as a photographer for book covers, where an image needs to be aesthetically satisfying while implying there’s something else going on, either just out of shot or in the past or the unseen present. At the same time, it has to have space for text in the shape of title, author and strapline. Not easy! But rewarding when you see it on a bookshop display.

My work is available for sale at selected Art and Craft Shows, as well as an annual Open Studio event. Selected work is available online from Small Market and Etsy. You can enquire about buying other works or commissioning something special in any of my media – woven paper, fine fabrics or cotton rope – by contacting me through the contact page here.

I am a member of Devon Artists Network