Design Inspiration. Planet Stencil Library.

Drama in the Parlour 4.

Yes it's that time again when I swap my stencil brushes for a script and several silly voices.

Click image to enlarge.

Drama in the Parlour 4 will be performed at Stocksfield Hall from the 9th to 12th of May. The first read through was last night and I laughed till I stopped.

What is it?  Well, it is a radio style show set somewhere round the 1940's.  The cast dress appropriately for the period and entertain a 'small but perfectly formed' audience with humorous sketches, songs and thrilling serials. It's all acted in the stencilled parlour of my home. Some of the audience dress up too, it is encouraged but not obligatory.

The cast and audience in the parlour.

This is the fifth one in the series, they are written by Alex Swan and I think the latest may just be the funniest yet.  Here are some images from past shows because we need some new photographs! 

Drama in the Parlour at the real BBC with Jonathan Miles.

writer Alex Swan in the dressing room.

The Drama in the Parlour Victorian Christmas special in the dining room.

Tickets in advance from The Stencil Library or from local Stocksfield shops. PayPal payment now accepted. The 'theatre' holds 33 audience and seven cast members...it is not your usual night out.

Helen.

A flying start to the Diamond Jubilee Big Lunch

The first batch of our large, stencilled, card butterflies have emerged from our studio.  15 done.. 200 more to do.

Luckily this is a community project so there should be lots of eager artists to help create a swarm of brightly coloured moths and butterflies to decorate the lawns at our neighbourhood's Big Lunch on the Jubilee Weekend in June.   Children's groups and adults are pitching in over the next couple of weeks and I think the results should be fabulous. There will be updates as the various decorative projects take flight. 

Fleeting Beauty

 

Most of Great Britain has basked in the sun for the past week but now temperatures will plummet in our area from 20 down to 3. So, before the blooms turn brown with frost and the sullen skies return I thought I would nip to the garden with the camera. Yes, that's me in a bauble.

magnolia and prunus

forsythia

orange, yellow shrub, I forget it's name

The honey bees and the bumbles are busy.

Christopher the pheasant and his six wives have been indulging in dust baths and sun bathing.

various daffodils

So, fellow Northerners....enjoy and remember the warmth. It may be a month or so before we experience this 'summer' again! 

winter jasmine.

Helen.

Out with the old

We are hosting a tour of our stencilled house this weekend and I felt that it was time to retire the silk flowers in my room. They have given me fifteen years good service and are falling apart.  

They've been replaced with ivy plants from IKEA.

Stencils from Garden Room collection and Empire collection at stencil-library.co.uk

I'm now looking for suitable obelisks to provide a climbing frame for them. Maybe I should fashion topiary frames from wire coat hangers. Any suggestions? 

 

 

Out with the old (part two).

My other 'change' this week is a major one .  On the first of March I said good bye to my old school and studio.

The walls in this room all have several stories and photo shoots built around them. There have been hundreds of visitors that have learned to stencil under this roof. The new tennants have not moved in yet so I snuck back this morning and took a few pictures...before I met my students for today's stencil class in it's new location.

This morning's visitors would like to create stencilled mirrors, decorate china plates and customise clay plant pots.  It should be fun.

We will be running more private stencil classes for small groups. Contact me if you'd like details. 

 

a BIG idea behind the Jubilee Big Lunch.

Creative help requested. I have the challenge of dressing the facade of this handsome house for The Jubilee Big Lunch this June.

It stands around forty five feet high.  The niches are 7' high and 18" deep. My instruction is make an impact with scale and colour but not budget, which is relying on donations in both cash and skills.  Ideas so far involve paint, fabric, chicken wire, a ballon pump and a field of paper swans.

The Big Lunch is all about community, sharing time, food and decorating skills with neighbours. Ok I made the last bit up in the hope of gaining constructive input from others.  I have had some interesting plans submitted by local artists....but I know that most of my on-line community are hugely artistic and have great ideas, so friends if you have some suggestions please comment below or Tweet me.

The decoration needs to stay safely anchored in the possible wind and rain of an English summer, apart from that there are few restrictions. So what would you do? Please tell.

Helen.

Stencilling Great Britain

Coming to a street party near you.

I have spent two very happy days stencilling bunting in preparation for the celebrations that our village is planning for The Queen's Diamond Jubilee this June.

The stencils that I used can be ordered from The Stencil Library.

There are bunting groups popping up all over our community and the intention is to make miles of the stuff so that we can make a colourful contribution to the Jubilee celebrations.  It will be re-used when the olympic torch procession travels along our main street a fortnight later.  Yes, we are on the nationwide route of the traveling flame! After that, the bunting is in reserve for future festivals and shindigs.

So, Stocksfield Village should be resplendant in a flutter of stencilled, red, white and blue. The bunting groups are huge fun and a good way to meet other creative people.  We are relying on donations of fabric from the residents so we have shirts, sheets curtains and tablecloths in our pile so far. 

 

Do you fancy doing the same in your community?  Start now, whilst the weather is chilly.  We bring flasks of hot drinks and share cakes, snacks and gossip plus we get to create something that will be enjoyed by many.

It is a lovely way to spend an evening. There are some very helpful 'how to's' on the web showing how to make bunting and this link will take you to a stencilling fabric photo tutorial and this one is video. 

If you want to make your own jubilee inspired decoration these two stencil designs MS49 Crown and SIB24 Crown are a good start. There are more crown stencils on Stencil Library just use the on-site search to find them.

I am setting up an on-line shop with my friend Sabina Rose.  We'll be making, stencilling and selling our jubilee inspired pieces, please follow our progress. We will value your input.

Helen.

Drama in the Parlour presents Victorian Christmas

It's back! By Wednesday my home will have turned into a theatre again for comedy show Drama in the Parlour.

It is the fourth production in just over a year.  Instead of presenting Drama in the Parlour in it's usual guise of a thirties radio show they will travel back in time to England in 1837.  Albert Strongarm has made his fortune from indoor flushing lavatories and Queen Victoria is on the throne....errr not the flushing one though.

Preparations include stencilling the theatre chairs. Students Dyane and Louise did these using a tear out stencils from the Stencil It book.

I make sure that the Strongarm's festive table is set.

 

and the indoor lavvy has been seasonally decorated.

Strongarm (Andrew Palmer) and his wife Meryl (played by me) are hosting a party to show off their wealth and benevolence.  They have invited the famous novelist and playwright Charles Shakesworth ( Alex Swan) and a team of actors to entertain their guests. The coach carrying the actors has disappeared without trace and so the hosts, their cousin (David Walker), their hapless maid Milly (Marie Swan) along with Maude the governess (Margaret Matthews) have been drafted in to assist Mr Shakesworth bring his readings and plays to life. Being the season of goodwill Meryl and Albert bring a poor urchin (Cameron Swan) to their home for an evening.  Will he want to be clutched to the bosom of this family? What is the spirit medium trying to tell Albert?  Will the steam train ever reach the moon? Why is there a governess and no children? What are the rules of posh etiquette? Might miserly Bob Scratchpole embrace the idea of Christmas and will Oliver Twirl?  To find out you will need a ticket for Drama in the Parlour I have some for sale, there are only a few left for each night.  Wed 14th - Sat 17th December 7.30pm in the parlour of Stocksfield Hall. Stocksfield. Tickets are £7. Complimentary hot drink and mince pie. Dress up, dress warm. 

Helen.  

behold the festive pug!

Yes, it is that time of year again. When the pug angel clutches the holly branch and the festive tours of our stencilled home begin.  This year I have been assisted by Dyane, Louise and Laura design students from Newcastle College. Over the next few posts I will show you what they have been creating.  The tours are now booked but there is one cancellation for this Saturday morning (10th Dec) 10.00 am. Let me know if you want to buy the last ticket. 

Helen.

Florentine Icons and Susi Bellamy

If you are in or around Hexham, Northumberland you have until December 10^th to see Icons and Abstracts a collection of works by artist Susi Bellamy. The exhibition is showing at the Robinson Gay Gallery.  Susi used to be a resident of Florence, Italy. Whilst visiting the Accedemia Museum in Venice she was trapped by the twice yearly floods that hit the city.  Susi spent the hours wisely, she sketched the key components of Italian iconography.

Susi employs techniques of gilding, collage, print and is now incorporating stencilling into her work.  She reckons that she is drawn to collage from her days as a fashion editor for Conde Nast.  She says I can not help but crop and edit!

She has just sent me some photos of the work with stencils, they are looking good. Another time I will show those.

Helen.