Gee Willikers! Have I got a delight to share with you!
Being from Manchester and living here all my life, I often meet lots of creative people, they’re a bit like fish… they tend to scurry in and out of my life stream, some I end up working with, others I socialise with, some we just commune and eat stuff… Most I only become acquainted with for a short time, and, like a fish, we feast on the creative morsels of the Mancunian landscape together, then they dash off to indulge in creative commitments elsewhere.
Recently a lovely little minnow happened upon my life stream, and I have to say Helen Makes quite unusual artefacts with her creative skills!
With the tiny part of my brain that is actually devoted to being a business woman (because, let’s face it… my work ethic is most definitely more artistically minded, than fiscal!) I’ve always known that “personalisation” is fantastic niche to sell anything. I think this realisation came to me as a small child. My name is Amrick, and I would glare with envy when my friends at primary school would come back after Christmas with their own personalised pencils, their names emblazoned in gold print against the chunky coloured wood. Or perhaps they’d go away on holiday, and come back with a neon Mediterranean-themed t-shirt with “CLARE” in Collegiate-print on the front.
I wanted perhaps nothing more than a set of pencil crayons with MY name on them, I would have cherished them dearly! Alas, due to the uncommon nature of my name, it was not to be.
However, now with the help of the internet, and perhaps cheaper manufacturing costs, I can get almost anything with my name on it. Mugs, t-shirts, pencils, perhaps even a small cat, with my name shaved into his side, if he would allow.
However, of all the wonderful personalised items I’ve happened upon in my life-time, I will admit that I’ve never seen anything quite as original as the personalised monsters that are created by Helen Makes!
Helen is a qualified artist, having studied Fine Art in the early 00′s, she has since developed her own ideas about the type of art she wants to produce… the sign of a real artist in my books.
Helen will do a wonderful thing if you give her a couple of yarns of wool and photo of you; she’ll create you your very own Helen-interpreted vision of yourself. The end product is a bit like looking into a psychedelic, woolly mirror.
I think they make great gifts, especially for something like a wedding. Or if you fancied indulging in the unique-mind of Helen, a little present for yourself… To me, commisioning Helen to create her vision of myself would be a bit like being a mum, and waiting patiently for my daughter to talk and spew-forth her innocent interpretations of life as she sees it. To receive one of Helen’s pieces of art would be akin to that exciting and original thought-pattern of someone whom is seeing life in their own specific way.
Below is a small selection of the wonderful monsters Helen has made, and if you’d like to visit her sparkly, new website, you can do so here www.helenmakes.co.uk or follow Helen on twitter as @helenmakes
