Charles Burns

WHAT IS SILHOUETTE CUTTING?
Using nothing but a pair of scissors and a sheet of black paper, a skilled silhouette artist can capture a person's exact likeness, freehand, in a minute or two. There's no sketch first and no safety net: the artist studies a guest's profile, then cuts straight into the paper, building the portrait live in front of a small, spellbound crowd.

At an event, this becomes roving entertainment. With no equipment, power or set-up required, the artist moves freely around the room – drinks receptions, between courses at dinner, or drawing footfall to a conference stand – cutting portraits on the spot. Each finished silhouette is mounted and handed straight to the guest: a keepsake, made in front of their eyes, that costs nothing to carry home.

It's this combination that makes silhouette cutting such effective entertainment – mesmerising to watch, and a lasting memento for the guests lucky enough to get theirs cut.

MEET CHARLES BURNS
Charles Burns has spent nearly three decades mastering an art form most people have never seen performed. Working as The Roving Artist, he has cut silhouettes at weddings, product launches, gala dinners, conferences and private parties across the UK and around the world.

Charles trained as a fine artist before working as a street portrait artist in London's Covent Garden, where he taught himself the nearly-vanished craft of silhouette cutting – then studied the techniques of historic silhouettists to master it properly. He is now regarded as one of only a handful of people in the world still practising the art at a professional level.

His credentials speak for themselves:

• Cut silhouettes of three generations of the Royal Family at Windsor Castle
• Captured the likenesses of two US Presidents and a long list of well-known faces
• Author of, Mastering Silhouettes, a definitive book on the art form's history and technique
• Writer, presenter and producer of Silhouette Secrets, a documentary on the history of silhouette cutting
• TEDx speaker on the art and history of the silhouette
• Has worked on five continents

Guests aren't watching a novelty act – they're watching one of the world's leading practitioners of a genuine art form, working entirely freehand at a level of speed and accuracy built on thirty years of practice. Few, if any, other silhouette artists in the UK can match his experience and polish.

Charles Burns carries everything he needs: scissors and paper, nothing more. No table, no power, no fixed pitch – just a working artist, free to move around a room or garden and go to guests rather than wait for them.

AT A WEDDING
Charles typically attends for around three hours, usually spanning the drinks reception and wedding breakfast, with timings flexible around your running order.

The centrepiece is a live full-length silhouette of the couple, cut in the minutes before you enter the wedding breakfast and placed on the top table for guests to admire during the meal – a rare skill, and one he's known for. Guest silhouettes are mounted on cards personalised with your names and wedding date, doubling as favours and mementos of the day.

Afterwards, Charles produces a signed fine art print bringing together every silhouette cut on the day, arranged as a collage with your own portrait at its centre – a lasting keepsake for the family, made on fine watercolour paper.

AT A CORPORATE EVENT
The same skillset flexes to fit the format:

• Gala dinners – drinks reception, then table to table between courses
• Standing receptions – a natural focal point that breaks the ice
• Conferences and trade shows – a reliable way to build footfall on a stand
• Product launches – silhouettes cut onto cards branded with your logo and date, turning every portrait into takeaway collateral
• Family and summer events – relaxed, all-ages entertainment

With no set-up required, Charles works equally well indoors or out, and can be briefed on bespoke card design or messaging to fit your theme. For the organiser, it's entertainment guests engage with directly – and a keepsake that carries the brand home in their pocket.

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