Biography
Loïs Cordelia is a prolific artist and illustrator in cut-paper, acrylics and mixed media, based at her studio in Ipswich, United Kingdom. She works in diverse styles and mediums, including intricate scalpel paper-cut designs, energetic speed-painting, and mixed media sculpture. Her website features an extensive portfolio and a frequently updated blog, recording her busy schedule of live art demos, workshops, talks, publications, exhibitions, and other events.
Loïs's paper-cut designs are a synthesis of swift, energetic sketches and painstakingly precise cuts of a surgical scalpel blade. Each exquisite miniature may take many hours to complete. She specialises in cut-paper book illustration, creative cartography (illustrated “map” designs), and personalised gift commissions, especially for first (paper) anniversaries. She often combines her paper-cuts with other mediums. Her cut-paper artwork appears as front-cover and interior illustrations for the 'BirdBook' series (Sidekick Books, London, 2011, 2012, 2015 and ongoing), for 'SternenBlick' (Germany, 2015), for "Zauber der Zwirnknoepfe" (scheduled, Austria, 2016) and in a number of CD and Vinyl music albums.
At the opposite end of the scale, Loïs's "speed-paintings" are typically completed within a maximum of 2 hours, on a large scale, with bold, energetic, sweeping brushstrokes, painted from the shoulder. Her paintings often feature unusual iridescent and metallic colours. Loïs regularly performs live speed-painting demos in public, including portrait painting from live models. Recently, she co-founded a new untutored Ipswich life-drawing class.
Loïs also creates dramatic, dancing sculptures in mixed media, balancing exquisitely detailed facial features and hand gestures with sweeping lines of movement.
Since 1999, Lois has worked as an assistant in the west London studio of children's author-illustrator Jan Pienkowski (born 1936), best known for his Meg and Mog series (with co-authors Helen Nicoll and David Walser), pop-up books including Haunted House, and several volumes of fairytale silhouette illustrations.
In 2006, she graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a first level Honours degree in Arabic. The effortless beauty of Arabic script has been another major influence in her drawing techniques.
