I’m the first to admit I’m an obsessional, all or nothing person. I worry that I repeat myself too much in this blog, and I almost certainly do, but that reflects my character, for good or ill. Whenever I get interested in a new thing, my first reaction is to buy lots of books on the subject (the internet can be great, YouTube is often amazing, but there’s nothing quite like an actual physical book).

My obsessions are quite random and tend to reflect my life at any given time. One of my current obsessions is barefoot shoes. I became interested in these because of various health issues I have with my feet, which I hoped barefoot shoes might help (and they absolutely have). I’ve never been particularly interested in shoes, but when it comes to barefoot I can’t get enough of them. Shoes, boots, socks, I’m all over it, ready to bore for England on the benefits of barefoot footwear.

A recent purchase, ‘Maverick’ barefoot boots by Shapen

Back to the books, though. Books have been my constant companions in good times, bad times and in-between times for as long as I can remember. Until the last few years I was the sort of person who regularly read 10+ novels every single month. Lockdown, and then health issues, changed all that. These days I find it much more of a struggle to sit down and read for any length of time. I purchase most novels in Kindle format these days (easier on the eyes) and I do wonder if the days of me regularly reading long 19th century novels has gone. Something for my retirement, maybe, if I last that long!

I don’t think I’ve ever read as few books in a year as I have this year, and nearly all of them have been either detective fiction or art books. Which is absolutely fine, but the regular pangs of guilt I’ve felt at not reading as much or as ‘seriously’ as in previous years has troubled me nonetheless. I’ve just finished re-reading a novel by PD James, ‘Unnatural Causes’. Yes, it’s detective fiction, but intelligent and well-written detective fiction (one should have standards in all things!).

Next up is another re-read, but a biography this time, ‘The Mitford Girls’ by Mary Lovell. I’m reading a kindle version, but originally I read the hardback, and I remember buying it from a charity bookshop while my toddler son attended speech therapy and socialisation classes (I’m pleased to say he’s now a very socialised and lovely 26-year-old with an MSc in chemistry who works as a scientist!). I remember reading the book in the parents’ room while waiting for my son to finish his session.

The Mitford family (public domain photograph)

Books are still my lifeblood. Most of the physical books I own are art books, which for fairly obvious reasons don’t work on Kindle. These are the books I reach for when I feel low. They remind me of the things that are most important to me; and art is very high up on that list. I genuinely believe art saved my sanity over the past couple of years and definitely helped both my mental and physical health.

At the absolute lowest points in my life, I would simply look at the books on my bookshelves, and sometimes just touch a book, which was often enough, as if it had talismanic qualities.

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Another thing that often troubles me with regard to my artwork is that I spend far too much time dashing down rabbit holes, wanting to learn new techniques. My most recent obsession is with rust-dyeing fabrics. This is a technique whereby you use an acid such as white vinegar (or strong tea, or red wine) to stain fabric using iron oxide in the form of rusty nails, washers, etc.

(c) Helen Kitson 2025

I prefer to work with fabrics that are old and battered, but they can be hard to source. The next best thing for me is to distress second-hand fabrics. The basic principle is the same whether you’re using vinegar, wine or tea and isn’t difficult. The results are unpredictable – much depends on the acid you’re using and the nature of your fabric – but that is part of the joy of using this technique and in fact most mixed media art techniques. It’s not an exact science, and the ‘happy accident’ is almost always preferable to ‘getting it right first time’.

So yes, I do spend a lot of time researching and experimenting with new techniques, but I believe it helps to keep my work fresh. I don’t want to keep creating the same work over and over again. I want to try different things even if they end in total failure.

Over the Christmas holidays I have lined up some online courses to watch, which I know will bring wonderful new ideas to the table. I will report on these in a future blog post, but in the meantime, if anyone would like a very basic tutorial on rust dyeing, do please let me know!

Poly-cotton fabric that has been rust-dyed using (cheap!) red wine