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Art for art’s sake
I chart my life in books. A book title can spark a million memories: I re-read Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” every year, and will always remember it as the first book I bought with my own (pocket) money when I was 9 years old. And I will never forget the day I discovered Sylvia…
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Reinventing Myself
On 2nd August 2021 I made my first Etsy shop sale: I didn’t really have any big expectations for how well the shop would do, but recently I notched up my 34th sale (plus a couple more via Instagram DMs) and I definitely feel I’m where I want to be. I’m in no hurry to…
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Image Transfer Techniques
Helen Kitson, 2022 : a piece featuring an acetone image transfer on a page from a vintage music book In my work I like to use original papers rather than copies, but there will be times when you want to incorporate an original image that feels too special to use. Generally, I would say don’t…
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Collecting Books About Art and About Making Art
I’ve always been a bookish person. As a child I devoured the books of Enid Blyton before moving on to more substantial literature. Everyone I’ve ever known, every important place and event in my life, can be mapped using the books I was reading at the time. These book-memories are almost as visceral to me…
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The Day Job v My Creative Life
It’s not easy when you struggle to find the time and energy to create but you have to do something else to pay the bills. A real job. A proper job. A defined payday at the end of every month. I take issue with the phrase ‘work/life balance’ only because it implies that work isn’t…
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Making Altered Board Books
I began making collaged board books as a way of using up small scraps of paper rather than throwing them away. In the past I’ve put together handmade books using cardstock, binding the pages with embroidery thread, but using a readymade board book makes the process a little quicker (although it’s still a long process…
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My Mixed Media Toolkit
When I started working with mixed media collage, I bought everything I could lay my hands on, spending a small fortune on every shiny and fun thing, every product mentioned in books (and blog posts!), and inevitably found that I used only a handful of these supplies on a regular basis. To an extent I…
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Look, look, and look again
In my first blog post I mentioned that I studied for a Master’s degree in Art History with the Open University. I had a vague notion of developing a career in the museum/gallery sector, but Covid pretty much put paid to that. My degree is of no relevance or use in my day job, but…
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Introducing myself and my art
Ephemera: objects that, when they were produced, were not intended to last a long time or were specially produced for one occasion [Cambridge Dictionary Online] Below: The first artwork I sold (on 20cm x 20cm paper) The blank page, like the blank canvas, can be a terrifying thing. So many possibilities, but also the potential…
Helen Kitson
Mixed media collage artist
Helen Kitson 