Helen Hancocks's Blog, page 2
May 17, 2015
JANUARY 2015 FILM...
Finally after months of delay here is my first posts for 2015.
First up here is my collection of film tickets from 2014, includes 41 tickets. It was interesting going back through, as I always feel I have seen more at the cinema than I probably do and just to remember where and when I saw a film. Odeon and AMC seem to be the regular cinemas visited, my favourite tickets are the Tyneside Cinema for 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' and the raffle ticket from seeing 'Metro Manila' at Lincoln Film Society (351). I do wish tickets were a little more interesting though and more like a ticket than a receipt - cinemas take note!
And now to the start of this year, January 2015 included 32 films. One film a day plus a spare!
Of those 32 film, 10 were watched at the cinema, 5 previously seen films, 2 directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, 2 featuring James Deans and 3 directed by Wes Anderson.
First up here is my collection of film tickets from 2014, includes 41 tickets. It was interesting going back through, as I always feel I have seen more at the cinema than I probably do and just to remember where and when I saw a film. Odeon and AMC seem to be the regular cinemas visited, my favourite tickets are the Tyneside Cinema for 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' and the raffle ticket from seeing 'Metro Manila' at Lincoln Film Society (351). I do wish tickets were a little more interesting though and more like a ticket than a receipt - cinemas take note!
And now to the start of this year, January 2015 included 32 films. One film a day plus a spare!
Of those 32 film, 10 were watched at the cinema, 5 previously seen films, 2 directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, 2 featuring James Deans and 3 directed by Wes Anderson.
FEBRUARY 2015 FILM...
NebraskaFebruary included 11 films, (A low count, as I was busy working on the next book). 6 were seen at the cinema, 2 were Billy Wilder films, 3 were in Black and White, 1 had already been seen and 1 featured a very good cat (The Third Man).
One, Two, ThreeApril 8, 2015
B is for Books and Bologna.
Last week I went to the Italy for the Bologna Book Fair with my friend and fellow illustrator Lucy Letherland.
It was Lucy's first fair and my second time, and I still felt over whelmed - theres just so many books in the world and some real beauties too! Here are a few things we saw and did...
Below are a few of my favourite spots from the fair which I hope make it to our UK shelves...
They include… A River by Marc Martin (I have noticed his other book 'Max' is soon to be published by Templar so maybe this one will too?), Il Museo Immaginario by Gek Tessaro, A Biography/art book of M.Sasek (of 'This Is…' fame - i really want this one), all the books on the Planeta Tangerina and Topipittori stands (not pictured), Helium - "Tous les ponts sont dans la nature" (I have one of their books in english and its a stunner, but it seems they produced another couple of titles in the series on different buildings and architects, and I saw a pop up Frank Gehry book by them too. So some very exciting stuff from them). Also the many books from the Japanese and Taiwan stands. I think the art is fantastic! Fingers crossed we see some of them in our bookshops soon.
It wasn't just the books I love about Bologna Fair, there is the illustrators exhibit stand and the illustrators wall. It's great to be able to see the art work from a wide range of illustrators up close and not on a computer screen. Its also interesting to see the variation in artwork and styles, which varies from country to country, especially as an illustrator. It was really insightful and gave me lots to think about.
It seemed this year there was a great number of British illustrators who had their work on show. Including Maisie Shearring from The MA Cambridge Course, who also won the International Prize this year (well done Maisie!) Next year she will have an exhibition at the fair, just like Catarina Sobral did this year...
I really loved the bold colours and simplicity of shape in this book, and it was interesting to see her different style in her other books we spotted through the fair.
I also spotted this gorgeous cat poster on the Russian stand and bought two posters from Planeta Tangerina including this one...
Outside the fair we visited the Pinocchio exhibition, which was in a really fascinating building, that had been reconstructed after being bombed in the war. I never really like Pinocchio as a story, but the pictures in this show were great, the compositions and colours were fantastic. I love how smug and cunning the cat and fox are in this picture, it was a shame they didn't have prints of this on sale…
One other stop was the Hamelin Cultural Association,which is quite tucked away. Last year they had a show of Benjamin Chaud (The Bear's Song) work. This year there was a show by Steven Guaranaccia called Fatherland. I really enjoyed it and there was some interesting pieces, including these saws and brushes. There was lots of hand lettering too, which was great - reminded me of so many things.
which brings me on to the signs and hand lettering around the city - theres so much! I was the annoying one who constantly kept stopping to snap restaurant and shop signs. I kept finding different colour combinations and styles.
and if thats made you hungry Bologna is not only good for books but food too! We ate our weight in pizza, pasta and wine, as well as filling up on Geleto, very thick hot chocolates and Spritz! plus the odd lethal gin cocktail and GIANT croissant.
Lastly, one of the best and my favourite places in Bologna is the Bookshop - Something the continent is brilliant at (theres also the Chantelivre in Paris which is also brilliant). I would love to run a book shop like this, a shop solely devoted to selling children's books. It's such a wonderful shop.We even spied an Italian version of Lucy's Atlas of Adventure and a copy of Penguin In Peril among the many shelves of books on offer.
You could spend your whole trip in here, but its good and advisable to go outside and see the sites too.
we each paid 3 euros to go up one of the two towers in the centre, I only got half way up before turning back around (my legs couldn't carry me to the top, but for 3 euros its a very nice looking ticket) - which judging by photos is stunning if you can make it up the old,creaky,wonky stairs.
And heres a few books that managed to come home with me...
and if you want to read more here is a link to Lucy's blog post about Bologna.
It was Lucy's first fair and my second time, and I still felt over whelmed - theres just so many books in the world and some real beauties too! Here are a few things we saw and did...
Below are a few of my favourite spots from the fair which I hope make it to our UK shelves...
They include… A River by Marc Martin (I have noticed his other book 'Max' is soon to be published by Templar so maybe this one will too?), Il Museo Immaginario by Gek Tessaro, A Biography/art book of M.Sasek (of 'This Is…' fame - i really want this one), all the books on the Planeta Tangerina and Topipittori stands (not pictured), Helium - "Tous les ponts sont dans la nature" (I have one of their books in english and its a stunner, but it seems they produced another couple of titles in the series on different buildings and architects, and I saw a pop up Frank Gehry book by them too. So some very exciting stuff from them). Also the many books from the Japanese and Taiwan stands. I think the art is fantastic! Fingers crossed we see some of them in our bookshops soon.It wasn't just the books I love about Bologna Fair, there is the illustrators exhibit stand and the illustrators wall. It's great to be able to see the art work from a wide range of illustrators up close and not on a computer screen. Its also interesting to see the variation in artwork and styles, which varies from country to country, especially as an illustrator. It was really insightful and gave me lots to think about.
It seemed this year there was a great number of British illustrators who had their work on show. Including Maisie Shearring from The MA Cambridge Course, who also won the International Prize this year (well done Maisie!) Next year she will have an exhibition at the fair, just like Catarina Sobral did this year...
I really loved the bold colours and simplicity of shape in this book, and it was interesting to see her different style in her other books we spotted through the fair.
I also spotted this gorgeous cat poster on the Russian stand and bought two posters from Planeta Tangerina including this one...
Outside the fair we visited the Pinocchio exhibition, which was in a really fascinating building, that had been reconstructed after being bombed in the war. I never really like Pinocchio as a story, but the pictures in this show were great, the compositions and colours were fantastic. I love how smug and cunning the cat and fox are in this picture, it was a shame they didn't have prints of this on sale…
One other stop was the Hamelin Cultural Association,which is quite tucked away. Last year they had a show of Benjamin Chaud (The Bear's Song) work. This year there was a show by Steven Guaranaccia called Fatherland. I really enjoyed it and there was some interesting pieces, including these saws and brushes. There was lots of hand lettering too, which was great - reminded me of so many things.
which brings me on to the signs and hand lettering around the city - theres so much! I was the annoying one who constantly kept stopping to snap restaurant and shop signs. I kept finding different colour combinations and styles.
and if thats made you hungry Bologna is not only good for books but food too! We ate our weight in pizza, pasta and wine, as well as filling up on Geleto, very thick hot chocolates and Spritz! plus the odd lethal gin cocktail and GIANT croissant.
Lastly, one of the best and my favourite places in Bologna is the Bookshop - Something the continent is brilliant at (theres also the Chantelivre in Paris which is also brilliant). I would love to run a book shop like this, a shop solely devoted to selling children's books. It's such a wonderful shop.We even spied an Italian version of Lucy's Atlas of Adventure and a copy of Penguin In Peril among the many shelves of books on offer.
You could spend your whole trip in here, but its good and advisable to go outside and see the sites too. we each paid 3 euros to go up one of the two towers in the centre, I only got half way up before turning back around (my legs couldn't carry me to the top, but for 3 euros its a very nice looking ticket) - which judging by photos is stunning if you can make it up the old,creaky,wonky stairs.
And heres a few books that managed to come home with me...
and if you want to read more here is a link to Lucy's blog post about Bologna. January 3, 2015
DECEMBER and 2014's Films...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Here's my film post for December including a round up for the whole of 2014.
I watched 29 films in December, which included; vampires, gremlins, rats, ghosts, some festive films (Scrooged, Meet Me In St.Louis and Arthur Christmas), a handful of sci-fi, several animations and four visits to the cinema (The Imitation Game, Paddington, Penguins of Madagascar, and Night at the Musuem; Secret of the Tomb). On christmas eve we also watched Blazing Saddles which I accidentally renamed Blazing Salads.
Over all 2014 was packed with such a mix of films, good and bad, I watched a total of 274 (if I did my maths right. That is 75 more films more than 2013, eek! sometimes i wonder how I fit in anything else in).
2014 films included 20 documentaries, box sets of Martin Scorsese and Billy Wilders films, and a big selection of Sci-Fi. 2014 was also the year I watched finally saw the Alien trilogy, Star Wars IV & V, Back to the Future trilogy and Ghostbusters.
Some of my favourite films of the year include Boyhood, Lego Movie, Guardians of the Galaxy (this was surprisingly fun), Interstellar, Her, Frances Ha and Grand Budapest Hotel. And the best old films I watched included Scar Face and Charade.
Top, L-R: Mr Hulot's Holiday, Bill Cunningham; New York, Lego Movie, Grand Budapest, Charade,
Middle L-R: Scar Face, Romancing the Stone, High Fidelity, Interstellar, Godfather III, Eames,
Bottom L-R: Harold & Maude, Wolf of Wall Street, Rain Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Frances Ha.
You can read all the film posts from the year here…
JANUARY/FEBRUARY/MARCH/APRIL/ MAY/JUNE/JULY/AUGUST/SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER/NOVEMBER
Also over christmas I looked through a box of old things and found this picture, a very early picture and review (maybe my first one?) for the Lion King - from 1996 when I was 6.
Lion King
Thanks for reading, lots more to come this year.
Here's my film post for December including a round up for the whole of 2014.
I watched 29 films in December, which included; vampires, gremlins, rats, ghosts, some festive films (Scrooged, Meet Me In St.Louis and Arthur Christmas), a handful of sci-fi, several animations and four visits to the cinema (The Imitation Game, Paddington, Penguins of Madagascar, and Night at the Musuem; Secret of the Tomb). On christmas eve we also watched Blazing Saddles which I accidentally renamed Blazing Salads.
Over all 2014 was packed with such a mix of films, good and bad, I watched a total of 274 (if I did my maths right. That is 75 more films more than 2013, eek! sometimes i wonder how I fit in anything else in).
2014 films included 20 documentaries, box sets of Martin Scorsese and Billy Wilders films, and a big selection of Sci-Fi. 2014 was also the year I watched finally saw the Alien trilogy, Star Wars IV & V, Back to the Future trilogy and Ghostbusters.
Some of my favourite films of the year include Boyhood, Lego Movie, Guardians of the Galaxy (this was surprisingly fun), Interstellar, Her, Frances Ha and Grand Budapest Hotel. And the best old films I watched included Scar Face and Charade.
Top, L-R: Mr Hulot's Holiday, Bill Cunningham; New York, Lego Movie, Grand Budapest, Charade, Middle L-R: Scar Face, Romancing the Stone, High Fidelity, Interstellar, Godfather III, Eames,
Bottom L-R: Harold & Maude, Wolf of Wall Street, Rain Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Frances Ha.
You can read all the film posts from the year here…
JANUARY/FEBRUARY/MARCH/APRIL/ MAY/JUNE/JULY/AUGUST/SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER/NOVEMBER
Also over christmas I looked through a box of old things and found this picture, a very early picture and review (maybe my first one?) for the Lion King - from 1996 when I was 6.
Lion KingThanks for reading, lots more to come this year.
December 20, 2014
seasons greetings
Have a lovely christmas folks!I look forward to sharing lots of new projects in the new year.
December 11, 2014
NOVEMBER 2014 FILM...
No train films this month, but it did include 6 trips to the cinema, another Star Wars film ticked off the list, Thief's, grizzly endings, millionaires, art, food and space… 
InterstellarWebsite update!
I have just updated my website with some new bits from the year. It includes these paintings - the lighthouse at Dungeness and a Moth, painted at the Oxford Natural History Museum (as part of an on going project concerning collections).
www.helenhancocks.com
November 28, 2014
OCTOBER 2014 FILMS
Apologises to anyone waiting for the October film post for the past several weeks, I don't know where the time has gone, but here at last are Octobers Film viewings…
October finally saw me see 2001 Space Odyssey (still a little confused but it had me playing Johann Strauss for days after), the month included a Bob Fosse dance number (Sweet Charity), 3 documentaries (Eames, Advance Style and 112 Weddings), and Marlon Brando's first film 'The Men' as part of the BFI's American Method series.
Train films this month were; Long Hot Summer, The Untouchables, Local Hero, and Bell Book & Candle.
Eames: The Architect & The Painter
October finally saw me see 2001 Space Odyssey (still a little confused but it had me playing Johann Strauss for days after), the month included a Bob Fosse dance number (Sweet Charity), 3 documentaries (Eames, Advance Style and 112 Weddings), and Marlon Brando's first film 'The Men' as part of the BFI's American Method series.
Train films this month were; Long Hot Summer, The Untouchables, Local Hero, and Bell Book & Candle.
Eames: The Architect & The PainterNovember 17, 2014
Festive Markets...
My Table at Chesterfield Print Fair - November 2014Its that time of year again (2014 has flown by) where the mulled wine and mince pies fill the supermarkets. In the run up to christmas I am doing various markets, see below for dates:
NOVEMBER
Saturday 22nd November - Altrincham 'Great British Christmas' Market 10-5pm
Saturday 29th November - Anchor Coffee House Christmas Market, Rusholme, Manchester 10-4pm
DECEMBER
Saturday 6th December - Altrincham 'Great British Christmas' Market 10-5pm
Sunday 14th and 21st December - Friends Of Ham Christmas Market, Friends of Ham, Leeds
I will have postcards, various prints (big and small), tea towels and memory cards on sale... so if are having trouble finding a perfect gift for someone head over and say hello!
October 20, 2014
Fear & Wonder...
Heres a little sneak of a recent project I did for the BFI for their Sci-Fi season.
I enjoyed doing research for this project - this was mainly an excuse to watch films - considering I grew up watching Star Trek with my brother I hadn't realised how few Sci-Fi films I had actually seen and what a varied genre it is - who knew Jurassic Park is Sci-Fi.
The BFI have split the genre into three themes which bring out the concerns and characteristics of the vast Sci-Fi genre - Contact!, Altered States and Tomorrow's World.The season launches 20th september and runs to 31st December 2014 with events nationwide.
You can see the full picture at my website and check out the BFI website for more details.
Thanks to Eleni Stefanou the commission!
I enjoyed doing research for this project - this was mainly an excuse to watch films - considering I grew up watching Star Trek with my brother I hadn't realised how few Sci-Fi films I had actually seen and what a varied genre it is - who knew Jurassic Park is Sci-Fi.
The BFI have split the genre into three themes which bring out the concerns and characteristics of the vast Sci-Fi genre - Contact!, Altered States and Tomorrow's World.The season launches 20th september and runs to 31st December 2014 with events nationwide.
You can see the full picture at my website and check out the BFI website for more details.
Thanks to Eleni Stefanou the commission!
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