A Cabinet of Curiosities | Decorative Papers and Natural History

Make a unique miniature cabinet decorated with your own hand-created papers, ready to hold a collection of natural history treasures. Discover the beautiful world of 18th-century decorated papers and create your own miniature cabinet of curiosities. The Linnean Society's collections contain a wonderful array of hand-decorated papers from the 18th century, used to cover books and pamphlets, line boxes and create decorative endpapers. Inspired by these beautiful historic papers, artist Catherine Rye will show you how to use a variety of simple image-transfer techniques to create your own richly patterned papers and experiment with colour and design. You'll then use your decorated papers to make a three-section miniature 'cabinet' using simple folding techniques. Your finished cabinet can be used to hold your own natural history treasures — perhaps a special found object, a small specimen, sketch, photograph, note or other curiosity that connects you to the natural world. Along the way we'll look at examples from the Linnean Society's collections and discover the stories behind these fascinating papers. What you'll learn • How 18th-century decorated papers were made and used • Simple image-transfer techniques for creating your own decorative papers • How to develop colourways and patterns • Simple paper-folding techniques for constructing a three-section cabinet • Ways of combining historical inspiration with contemporary creative practice What you'll make A unique miniature cabinet decorated with your own hand-created papers, ready to hold a collection of natural history treasures. No previous art or craft experience is required. This workshop is suitable for anyone interested in natural history, art, historic craft, books, textiles, pattern or simply making something beautiful with their hands. Catherine Rye is a textile and mixed-media artist inspired by gardens, plants and natural history. Her work combines botanical printing, textiles, embroidery, collage and experimental techniques. She is passionate about finding contemporary ways to connect with the stories and objects held in natural history collections and shares her art and techniques on her website and YouTube Channel, both called A Creative Garden. Catherine previously led the popular Botanical Impressions workshop at the Linnean Society and is delighted to be returning with this new workshop inspired by the Society's historic library collections. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Concessions Please buy the concession ticket if you are any of the below: • 65 years of age, or over • Under 26 years of age • Currently in receipt of UK government benefit (including, but not limited to, Income Based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and Housing Benefit, and Universal Credit). • Currently in full-time education. ----------------------------------------------------------- If you'd like to stay updated about our events programme, and other news, please subscribe to our monthly newsletter here. Terms and Conditions.