Spotted online recently, the relatively new form of art called leaf carving 叶雕 yè diāo, has been branching out around the world. And since the leaves are beginning to fall all over the north country, let’s take a closer look at this part of art culture!
Said to have started in China, and formed after the traditional Chinese art of paper cutting 剪纸 jiǎn zhǐ, leaf carving has been gaining in popularity over the last two decades.
As the name suggests, leaf carving consists of literally carving an image on to a tree’s leaf, specifically the leaf of the Chinar tree 梧桐树 wú tóng shù, a tree native to India, Pakistan, and China, that bears a close resemblance to the leaf on the maple tree 枫树 fēng shù.
But really, you can use any leaves that you find.
A guy in Los Angeles, Dean Prator, sells customized carved leaves online for anywhere from $99 to $224. In China, I bet he could sell them for even more! Business idea, anyone?
So far, his most popular request is for the Mona Lisa, followed closely by Jesus.
Here are some various leaf cuts by various artists that you can save to your phone for Wechat chat backgrounds~ Enjoy and share art!
Don’t leaf any unturned…
Which one do you like the best?
OK, we’ll leaf you alone now…