The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien Smaug and the Lonely Mountain

Composed from pages of The Hobbit, this work brings Smaug and the Lonely Mountain together as a single landscape.

The dragon does not simply occupy the scene. He surrounds it.

His body coils through the upper page, emerging from and disappearing back into the printed text. Below, the Lonely Mountain rises from a landscape cut into sweeping lines — paths, currents and contours moving across the pages towards it.

Dragon and mountain become inseparable.

Throughout the work, fragments of Tolkien’s world remain embedded in the cut: the mountain, the forest, the river, fire and water. The pages themselves become part of that geography, their printed words exposed and obscured as the image moves across them.

At the centre is Smaug.

Not the dragon as a distant creature guarding the mountain, but as something larger — a presence hanging over the landscape, curling around it, almost becoming the world itself.

Yet the movement beneath him continues.

Water flows. The mountain waits.

And beneath the image, cut from the page, a fragment remains:

"the world is not in your books and maps
it’s out there"

The work is about the world beyond the page: the point at which maps become journeys, stories become experience, and the safety of the known gives way to what lies beyond it.

As with all Studio Editions, this work is derived directly from my original hand-cut composition, then precision-cut from original book pages and finished by hand. The underlying text will vary from piece to piece, giving each work its own subtle differences. No two are precisely the same, though the composition remains constant.

The artwork is A3 in size (297mm x 420mm)

Professional framing is available as an option. Framed works are presented in a hand-finished white wooden box frame with UV, anti-reflection glass.

Unframed works are supplied in a simple acrylic presentation frame for protection and display.

Each Studio Release is cut and framed to order.
Please allow up to 10 days for dispatch.

All orders are sent fully tracked and insured. Shipping is calculated at checkout.

International orders may be subject to import duties, taxes or customs fees levied by the destination country. These charges are the responsibility of the recipient.