Helen Hancocks's Blog, page 3

SEPTEMBER 2014 FILMS...

Charade - By Stanley Donen, featuring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn.
Hello October, where has September gone? Another month and another bunch of films - 25 in total.September was peppered with Sci-fi, crazy costumes, money problems, an artist, 7 space men, racing snails, 50 eggs, the future, the past, a river boat, jazz music and dancing…(theres always time for dancing). The film on the train this month was - The Madness Of King George.
 

September Events

I have a few events/workshops coming up in the next couple of weeks.Lots of William and the Missing Masterpiece inspired colouring sheets and activities... including making a gallery of masterpieces (hopefully non will go missing!)
 First up I will be at Salts Mill, saturday 20th,from 12.30 in Saltaire as part of their festival. Salts Mill is a great place for a day out - and they have such a great bookshop!There is so much going on through the day, plenty to choose from, you can check out what else is on here. salts millAnd then the saturday after (27th September) I will be at Denzell Gardens Book Festival, Bowdon, Cheshire.  The festival established in 2011 as a way to bring together writers and readers in the park. This year, alongside myself they have authors/illustrators; Terry Caffrey, Curtis Jobling, Kate Pankhurst and Melanie Williamson There will be lots going on through out the day, plus theres food and drink from local suppliers.Find out more here.If you can make it along to either event - do come and say hello!

AUGUST FILMS 2014

August is finally over - its gone by so quickly yet seemed to last forever, like some films. This month I have seen (what looks like a record number even for me) 36 films  Doris Day appeared twice as did Dustin Hoffman and James Stewart. Paul Newman made an appearance with his blue, blue eyes but the film was in black and white - so you just had to imagine the intensity of them.  
There was some dancing with Ballet Russes, Calamity Jane, Pajama Game, Boogie Nights and Saturday Night Fever (but its not just about the dancing).  Guardians Of The GalaxyAugust also saw me finally see Star Wars (don't judge) properly, plus there were choices good and bad made in most of the films and a lot of killing - and not just from guns - beware of the cat in the shadow! Rain ManAlso my film on the move this month was… Buena Vista Social Club, a good film for a train journey - just make sure you have your head phones in! 

Illustrators for War Child Auction...

I have a painting and a signed copy of Penguin in Peril on offer in the Illustrators for War Child Auction.

War Child is a charity that provide life-changing support to the most vulnerable children whose families, communities and schools have been torn apart by war. War Child work in Congo, Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Iraq, Uganda and Syria and Gaza.
The auction is live from Thursday 28th August and finishes sunday 7th September. 
There are so many great illustrators taking part, i cant decide what to bid on!
you can find out more about this here; http://illustratorsforwarchild.weebly.com/      
and follow them on twitter  @IlloAuction with the hashtag #illustratorsforwarchild
 and to see all the amazing work available to bid on head over here         
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/nosycrow/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=
More illustrators artwork will be added to the auction during this time - so do keep checking back.
Also a huge thanks should go to Tom at Nosy Crow  and Leigh Hodgkinson for organising this. 

NEW SHOP ALERT!

I now have a new shop  here.
feel free to take a lookI hope to be adding more prints in the coming weeks.


 my old shop will still be open with sale and older stock. 

JULY 2014 FILM

This month included a selection of music documentaries, some growing up, a couple of lies and secrets finished off with gun wielding apes.


Also if you read last months film post and have wanted to know if you guessed  all the dance films in my "Gotta Dance, Gotta Dance" painting correctly, then head over to the BFI's blog to find the answers. 
A few films in picture from past months (Clockwise from top left;Mr Hulot's Holiday, Red Shoes, Pollack and  Bill Cunningham New York)

PAPER BUFFET SHOW...

Here are a bunch of photos from the opening of Paper Buffet show at Good Press on friday night... Dog by Lucy Letherland hand by Dylan Hughes Face plates by Rebecca Crompton

Match box made by myself. Good Press  gallery taken over by paper mache snake by Faye Coral Johnson and Mike Redmond

chair by Lucy Jones car by David Bailey

It's on till the 2nd August, so if you happen to be in Glasgow any time before then do go check it out, plus Good Press has such a great selection of books and zines to flick through you may be there a while.

MAY & JUNE 2014 films...(a catch up)

Two film posts in one, it just so happens I have been away at the end of each month to compile the film posts, so have put that last two together as one... 
In May I watched a film every day of the month; including 4 documentaries, 2 animations, Scarface on the big screen and Dazed & Confused on the train (this is becoming a regular habit when travelling)... In June I caught up with some of the Oscar nominated films; Captain Phillips (I think I would have felt sea sick seeing it on the big screen) and August: Osage County,  plus I watched another film on a train - the choice was Double Indemnity, plus I started to make my way through a Martin Scorsese box set...
Now you can probably see from my film list that I am a big sucker for musical films, give me a Gene Kelly dance number and I am there. But I also like it when a non musical film sneaks a dance scene in, such as Blue Valentine, Breakfast club, or one of my favourites Funny Face. So I came up with an idea where I would try to collate all the various dance scenes from films in to one painting. The idea had been floating around in my head for over a year before I started to come up with a list of films and a plan.  
Here is the finished result....  "Gotta Dance, Gotta Dance" 
(which is also the theme for the BFI's programme over the next 2 months - sometimes I wish I lived closer to London)
(I tried making a gif of the different stages but it left me dizzy so I just give you the finished photo).

It features 45 films in total - can you guess them all? plus a couple of famous dances (I couldn't choose a film for them!)   I am now in fear of watching movies that may feature a dance that I haven't included.   It will also be available to buy as a print soon, so if you are interested get in touch. (helenhancocks@gmail.com)

Paper Buffet...

Join us at Good Press Gallery for this exhibition next week.

William and the Missing Masterpiece….

My second book William and the Missing Masterpiece has been out a week already, and there has already been a lot of cheese eaten to celebrate it finally hitting the shelves, so as a digestive pause in the cheese eating I thought I would introduce you all to the REAL William who the book is based on….here he is getting his paws on the preview copy back in MarchI have finally been able to sit down with William to ask him some questions about his life as a cat of mystery…. and surprisingly he has been willing to spill the beans… (or should i say let the cat out the bag?)

Firstly when you are not solving crimes, what do you enjoy doing?  

I like to keep busy. People think cats do nothing but lie about all day, but I only spend 95% of my time in bed. In my free time I like reading, going to the cinema and of course foreign travel.

William signed some copies In the National Gallery Shop - look at the company he's keeping! He is very excited about getting to sign books - he has been practicing for weeks

Do you have a favourite painting, art work or gallery?

My favourite painting is
How do you feel about being turned into a fictional character? And has it changed your day to day life?It's very flattering to be put into such a beautiful book. It hasn't changed my life much yet, though there has been some gentle ribbing from the other cats. It's come as quite a surprise to some people that I lead a double life of international crime solving - my owner had no idea. She says it explains the anonymous foreign postcards she's been receiving.
an early painting of William and his lounge - it didn't past muster with his tastes. 

whats your favourite cat in history? Real or fictional My favourite fictional cat is The Tiger Who Came to Tea - I love the way he eats and drinks everything in the house and doesn't even apologise. Breathtaking arrogance that every cat should aspire to.We got to meet the lovely Judith Kerr at Pick Me Up festival this year.

Do you have a favourite cheese/food I am watching my weight so I don't eat much cheese, but I love raw fish. particularly tuna and prawns. I adore the fish markets in Tokyo - everyone is so friendly and gives me treats and the quality of the fish is amazing.

Cheese and wine for our book launch

 How do you find collaborating & discussing ideas with me?You are great to work with! I like your visits for a couple of days,  where we sit and I tell you about my latest case and then you illustrate them. Some times I really thing you may have been with me on my adventures.William got to Meet and sign books with Emma Yarlett in Foyles.

And finally whats next for William the cat of mystery- are we allowed to know? 

Well it's a bit hush hush at the moment but let's just say Hollywood beckons. As for my immediate future, I foresee a small tin of tuna Books at the launch evening. Thanks to William for answering my questions! Also thanks to Emma Yarlett for sharing the book launch with me last week, we had a great night at Book And Kitchen with plenty of cheese (see more photos of the night here). Emma's book "Orion and The Dark" is also out now and is Super so pick up a copy! William is a fan of it - he likes the hidden cover under the slip of the hardback (he likes a mystery) but says he is not afraid of anything!

***Also watch out for Williams 'How to Create a Masterpiece' feature on the Guardian website on the 10th May!