Raines House, Denby Dale RoadBlack MedickButtercupDaisyDandelionFox and CubsGrassesHawkweedPlantainRagwortRed Clover Garden and Back Garden StreetCow ParsleyRed ValerianRagwortNettle Royal Mail Sorting Office, Denby Dale Road (Ings Road roundaboutCommon Whitlow GrassShepherd’s PurseDandelionSow ThistleWillow Herb
It’s been a while – latest newsletter
If you already subscribe to my mailing list – thank you – you’ll have probably realised that there can be considerable gaps between one newsletter and the next. Due to the pandemic I’ve left it even longer than usual. There’s an Art Deco glass ceiling in my studio at The Art House and above that… Continue reading It’s been a while – latest newsletter
Lunchtime noticing
At lunchtime I walked over to the pop-up studio that I’m using for the Dandelions and Double Yellows project, thanks to support from Makey Wakey. On the way back to my studio at The Art House I walked a little slower and looked a little closer at the ground around Wakefield Cathedral. Wakefield Cathedral is… Continue reading Lunchtime noticing
What’s in a name? yards, gardens and enclosures
I’ve been thinking about our relationships with plants and how they sit with ideas of ‘garden’ and ‘wild’ and the wide range of spaces that can’t be defined by these terms. The working title for one of the pieces that I’m making for the Dandelions and Double Yellows exhibition at Wakefield Cathedral this summer is… Continue reading What’s in a name? yards, gardens and enclosures
Dandelions and Double Yellows: submit a picture for ‘Your Gallery’
Dandelions and Double Yellows is an art, nature and noticing project, by artist Helen Thomas, that asks whether we might reconsider the plants that are often dismissed as weeds. I’ve been sketching, painting and noticing pavement plants on the daily walk to and from my studio in Wakefield throughout the project. The more I take… Continue reading Dandelions and Double Yellows: submit a picture for ‘Your Gallery’
Dandelions and the desk
I’ve been doing a lot of desk work for Dandelions and Double Yellows this week; planning, organising, and making preparations to invite people to be part of Dandelions and Double Yellows by sending images of pavement plants to be exhibited in an online gallery. I’m very keen to get back to making and painting and… Continue reading Dandelions and the desk
Noticing
Can we think differently about ‘weeds’, landscape management, the ‘need’ to tidy? Even in January there were many small plants growing in gaps between tarmac, concrete and brick in the back street behind home.Patches of green, of visual interest; habitat for wildlife at a scale we might not notice Recently the street appears to have… Continue reading Noticing
Story of the blues
Colour research, looking at metal fencing near Thornes Lane, on the outskirts of Wakefield. Back at the studio I made several colour swatches on paper and then returned to site the next day to match up against the fence. The colour tests are for one of the pieces that I’m making for the Dandelions and… Continue reading Story of the blues
The width of doubles – part two
In a recent blog post I wrote about starting a long narrow scroll painting based on memories of mosses. I’d carefully considered the width, measured and cut a paper strip 7cm x 350cm, and spent many hours painting, when the thought finally popped into my head – how wide are double yellow lines? I knew… Continue reading The width of doubles – part two
The width of doubles – part one
I’m making a scroll format painting for the Dandelions and Double Yellows exhibition, actually, the final format of the display is still to be decided. What I do know is that I’m making a very long narrow painting based on green gold memories of winter mosses. I’ve been thinking about the width of a line,… Continue reading The width of doubles – part one