Local Artists

Helen's profile...

"It is my abiding passion to encourage and promote the love of books and art, particularly engaging with children and how they see the world.

I believe that it is possible for everyone, of whatever age, to find inspiration, joy and fulfilment through the media of art and literature. Those who are unfamiliar with art can be encouraged to explore and experiment to find a style of expressing themselves freely, and I aim to achieve this with children through my work in schools.

I want to inspire children and adults alike to start writing and drawing for themselves, to inspire a culture of “I can do that.”  Frog the Dog brings stories of friendship, acceptance of others as they are, and the everyday experience of small but favourite things being important.  I want to inspire my readers to see the extra-ordinary in the ordinary, to have fun exploring their day-in, day-out world.

My early illustrations were developed with watercolour pencils, but I made the move to using Photoshop to create greater impact with bold colours for the web and commercial printing. I still create the illustrations with drawing pens, then scan them in to manipulate in Photoshop. The technology has been a steep learning curve!

I want to bring accessibility to writing and illustrating that will engage families with reading and sharing books together, capturing the imagination, realising potential. The clear un-cluttered layout and design of the books has been developed to make them easy to read together or as a group. These books I believe, are beautiful and practical.

The iconic Dutchman Dick Bruna has been the major influence for my illustrative style; simple shapes and colours in un-cluttered scenes, whilst perhaps more unconsciously, my writing style springs from the  early influences of Michael Bond’s “Paddington”, and Anthony Buckeridge’s “Jennings”.

I love to hook the unwilling or reluctant reader as well as the bookworm into treasuring books, which will grow into a lifelong passion for reading and the arts. I love passing on the flame."