Angels

'Bless this House'

I received a letter in the post that reminded me of why I do what I do.  It isn't about the transaction of money, it is about the transaction of beauty.  An old friend who I am recently back in touch with, wrote me this:

"I hadn't expected to be so moved by your exhibition at the Sock Gallery. I wasn't the only one. As I sat there I saw many people stop, move closer, and spend time over your pictures.....I sat for along time and found myself buying one that I hadn't expected to out of those I was looking at.  I bought 'Bless this House'. I think because we are currently trying to buy a new house and if all goes well would love to have something so positive in it that we can all enjoy.....Thank you for making my day so unexpected and full of beautiful things."

So, the original has gone on its journey, but prints of 'Bless this House' are available in my shop.  And my work is exhibited at Sock Gallery Loughborough until the weekend.  I will be in the gallery on Saturday and Sunday with thirty-five other designers and makers for the Makers Market.  Hope to see you there!

New Work

Here's my newest print 'Valley'. It is a big one! It's my feature piece at the Sock Preview Show that opens today at the Town Hall in Loughborough.  Using contemporary wizardry it is a print taken from three works from my British Landscape series.  It measures 45cm x 110cm, a size that I couldn't easily work at because of the constraints of sewing with a domestic sewing machine on paper.  The print quality is amazing and captures every detail of stitch, paper and ink.  It is printed on German etching paper with archival inks.  

The work was commissioned by a customer who had already bought my 'Valley Deep' piece.  And so I created 'Valley High' and 'Valley Steep' to compliment it and these three were united for 'Valley'.

I'll be in the gallery at Sock, Loughborough on the weekend of the Makers Market (March 23rd and 24th).  Hope to see you there!

Private View

And the rooks flew away

Before the Snow

Frosted

Nicholson's Cottages

The wind blew up the valley

Night......SOLD!

Here are the new pieces that I created for the Sock Preview Exhibition now on at the Sock Gallery at Loughborough Town Hall.  They are beautifully framed in oak frames, handmade by Albert in Melbourne, Derbyshire. The exhibition went up more easily than than in December. A little planning and knowledge, and a very helpful friend made the day run to plan. I'll be in the gallery the weekend of the Sock Makers Market, 24th and 25th March so come and say 'hello'.

Private view

'On the turn' ink, collage and stitch

I had a wonderful evening at the private view of 'Patterned Presence' last Thursday.  I sold far more than I ever expected to and received some wonderful compliments.  I haven't come down from cloud nine yet!

Working weekend

I've been down to the studio at the bottom of the garden to put the heating on. It's the first morning that I've really felt the chill in the air.  It's a peaceful space despite all the mess! I'm preparing myself for a busy few days as I finish getting everything ready for my exhibition, 'Patterned Presence' at Sock Gallery, Loughborough.  We set up on Tuesday, ready for the opening on Wednesday.

I'd like to say that I am calm, but I am not!  I have framing to finish, prints to mount and wrap.  I need to check the inventory, and I still have pieces to stitch and my 'Wow' piece to start and finish!  Now there's an admission!  Still, if it doesn't work out, maybe no one need ever know......

My Essential Kit

The lovely Emily at Folksy has featured me this week for the My Essential Kit feature.  Have a look!

Helen Hallows creates original artwork using ink, collage and stitch, “I aim to capture fleeting moments that catch my eye”. Helens collection includes artwork, coasters, bunting, greetings cards, and porcelain homewares. With such a range of products what on earth is in her essential tool kit?

1. Stretching tape. I work on watercolour or pastel papers with ink washes so I always use stretching tape to keep the paper flat.

Inks. I love the little bottles of pure colour lined up in my studio. They give an intense, permanent colour.

2. I apply the inks with a brush or Chinese calligraphy bamboo pen.

3. I collect vintage papers: old book pages, endpapers and book jackets, sheet music, vintage wrapping paper and wallpaper. I supplement these with book binding papers, scrapbooking papers and paper that I’ve painted or drawn on myself.

4. My trusty Elna sewing machine. Called a ‘Quilter’s Dream’ it suffers me forcing it to sew through paper and stitch freely. I’ve had it for fifteen years and it’s never caused me any trouble. (Of course, I’ve just given it the kiss of death!)

5. Cottons. Something else for me to search out when I’m in junk shops and at carboot sales. I have hundreds of them and love the gradations of hue and shade. I have them in an old set of tool drawers with a drawer for each colour.

My letterpress H stamp. I finish each piece with my makers’ mark, a HH stamped with this letterpress letter. I have only one and it sometimes goes astray which fills me with panic.

6. My ‘Helen Hallows’ stamp. This features on the back of all my original artworks and as a transfer onto the bottom of my ceramics. I stamp my bags with it at fairs, and it’s on my blog, website, business card and all correspondence. I’m even thinking of getting it tattooed!!

You can have a right old nosey around Helens Folksy shop here Helen Hallows. She is also exhibiting at The Sock Galleryin Loughborough from 30th November – 15th January 2012.

If you have an essential crafting kit you’d like to share please send it tofrankly@folksy.co.uk.

Kit photograph ©Lyndsey James Photography 2011.

Pretty pictures

Here are some pretty card designs I've been working on.  I'm busy designing for Surtex next month.  There's a lot to do! I'm enjoying being back at my desk after all the excitement of Sock and setting up my exhibition at Opus Gallery, Ashbourne. I've shut the door, got a fresh cup of coffee and I'm listening to Astrud Gilberto. Bliss.

Socked!

Quilted HH2010

I had a great weekend at Sock in Loughborough.  I said a sad goodbye to Quilted.  It was a favourite piece;  I hope it's happy in its new home.  I also sold Love Song as well as a good selection of ceramics.

Love Song HH2010

Sock was really well organised and advertised.  The marketing session they arranged before the event, and the supper for the exhibitors, were both helpful and gave time to share ideas and make contacts.  I'm really pleased to hear that there will soon be a Sock Gallery at Loughborough Town Hall, and hope to exhibit there soon.

I spent the weekend in the company of Helen Rhodes who was exhibiting on the next stand.  She's a fellow alumnus of Loughborough College of Art and Design.  We'd met before, in fact it was the very same day as the storm that I captured in the piece Journey Through The Storm.

Journey through the Storm HH2009

That piece was the first I did mixing ink, collage and stitch, and the start of my journey to now here.  So, for me Helen is somehow a part of that story and feels like a good omen in my life!

Other designers from the show whose work I admired were Gillian Lee Smith, Kate Thornton and Helen Shere.  

Thank you to all those who came to see me, and hello to those of you I met over the weekend.

A date for the diary

The Sock Makers' Market is approaching fast.  Billed as a celebration of quality artists and makers, I'll be exhibiting at Loughborough Town Hall on both the 26th and 27th March. Entrance is free and there is a free workshop for children aged 4-16 on the Sunday.  It would be lovely to see you there!

Marketing maestro

Last Thursday I attended a marketing seminar at Loughborough Town Hall. It was organised by Creative Leicestershire as part of my exhibition package for SOCK next month.  It was run by Alistair Campbell (no, not that one), from Ideal Marketing Company.  It was great, pitched just right for up and coming creatives with lots of practical advise for maximising potential networking opportunities (I'm giggling to myself as I write this marketing babble!) and getting people to your stall.  So I've been looking at e-mail marketing and networking sites and you can now find me on Linkedin.

Sock

I have just found out that I've been selected to exhibit at Sock at Loughborough Town Hall on March 26th and 27th.  It's a contemporary makers showcase.  It'll be my first show of 2011, ahead of my exhibition at the Opus Gallery in April, and a good timescale for getting some work done.  I'm beginning to regret the panic I had in the first week of January that nothing much was going to happen this year.....it's already looking very busy, which is just how I like it!