Helen Collard Illustration: January 2016

Before we embark on the journey from 'There' to 'Here', perhaps we should establish exactly what 'Here' is.

'Here'is me, at University, studying Illustration properly and contemplating my future. 'Here' is me taking direction and receiving briefs, instead of indulging my own creative whims and yet at the same time I am indulging my creativity.

As I grew up I continued to draw, and then life happened. I discovered music, moved on to real life horses, boys, cars, places to be discovered, real work that paid actual bills and therefore allowed me to indulge in the list above. Years passed very quickly - it's a cliche but they do. In my thirties, established financially (can any of us ever really say that? What I mean of course is a stable roof over my head and a knowledge of where the next mortgage payment is coming from), respected in my workplace and with a good track record behind me and happy with my lot, I started drawing again.

I dabbled with the infant internet, posting my creations online for comment or criticism and over the years I had some success. For example, a lovely friend of mine called Claire, passionate and with vision, was launching Lovelula.com, an organic online apothecary for all those beauty products not containing nasty chemicals and very much after my own vegan heart. She asked me to produce some designs for her, for Angel cards. These would be sent out with packages and available online in an 'Ask the Angels' feature. I loved producing these and it made me proud to see my images on her website. Even now I get the occasional buzz when someone recognises my work style because they have an old Angel card pinned to their kitchen notice board. The brand are still going strong but, under new ownership, they don't send out the Angel cards any more so if you have one, hang onto it.

Before, during and after this time, a 'proper' job ensued. Raised in a working class town in the middle of mining country and leaving school as the dole queues grew ever bigger thanks to Mrs. Thatcher's policies of closing down the mines and selling off industry to the highest bidder, I knew the worth of proper hard graft. I left school at 16 - my parents marriage was disintegrating and there was no money or desire for anything other than independent existence and I worked a series of jobs - in Advertising agencies and offices by day, and in bars and rock clubs by night, so that I could indulge in my other passion of live music. Incredibly, the years flew by and I found myself running my own freelance company as a Project Manager, with a house and mortgage under my belt, and, even more unbelievably, getting married! How could I be this grown up? Where had the years gone to? I flexed my creative muscles by designing my own wedding invitations, a CD containing some fun songs and featuring our hand painted portraits, family cats included.

It was time for a change. A year after we were married, our daughter, Edie Alexandra Collard burst into our world, full of demands and charm and softness and unbelievable purpose. I decided then that I didn't want to spend the rest of my life sitting in an office, earning money for things I didn't want and didn't need. I wanted to learn. I wanted to fill in the gaps in my creative education and invest properly in myself. I decided that I would go to University and find out just who I was and who I could become.

I've actually applied for, and been offered a place on the course I am on now, twice. The first time I had a dilemma - I was offered the course and at the same time I was offered a job, Project Managing building redevelopment in Chichester. It took a drive down there on a sunny day to realise that living for two years in the beautiful South of England, near the sea, near enough to spend Sunday afternoons in Brighton and to be able to take my then two year old to the beach after work to make the decision. I took the job, and satisfied my creative streak by writing two children's novels. Two years later we moved back to Nottingham so that Edie could start school and be nearer to her Grandparents. I was offered another job that offered regular travel to Sweden - a country I had always wanted to visit - what an opportunity. I took that job too. Another two years down the line and that contract ended. The date coincided with application times for University and I applied again. I was accepted and the rest is history.

So now you know how I got here.

I'll tell you very soon how it's been, but before I do that, let's look at something more interesting. Check back soon...

H. x

Early scribbles

I was always the quiet kid, the kid on her own, with her head down, scribbling on whatever surface was available, be it the back of promotional butter leaflets (my Dad was a milk man and this type of paraphernalia was commonplace in our kitchen), an envelope, or reams of green printed continuous feed printer paper snaffled from the local solicitors office where my Mum worked as a typist. The scribbling was consistent and prolific.

My very first rock'n'roll creative hero was, perhaps, the most famous polymath of them all, Leonardo Da Vinci. My Dad taught me at a very early age that anything anyone could ever want to know would be in a book and introduced me to the local library as soon as I was old enough to qualify for a set of tickets and I wasted no time in choosing an art book alongside my Pippi Longstockings. I was amazed that here was a man who could draw as accurately as a photograph with beautiful pencil lines instead of a camera, and more impressively still, he could draw horses. The next few years saw horses, ponies and foals of all shapes and sizes galloping across my sketchbooks.

Leonardo Da Vinci Horse sketch

My imitation Da Vinci

My Aunt lived in London and a special treat would be to go and stay in her sprawling Hampstead house and be taken and be taken on museum visits by Tube. We visited the National Gallery and studied famous works with insects hidden among the subject matter - the 1970s equivalent of todays mini-beast trend. There was a competition for children to create a character to be displayed at the National Gallery which I entered. I created the Mischief Muncher and mailed it off a day before the competition closed. I won first prize for my age category and waited for weeks for my prize, a giant Reeve's painting set, to arrive.

Mischief Muncher, bottom left.

My childhood was an incredibly rich time for visual imagery - it was everywhere. David McKee's colourful illustrations for the Mr. Benn animations, the legacy of psychedelia on packaging, books and album covers and the wonderful Tony Hart on our televisions, showing us how to make proper art out of anything from sand to old bottle tops. I was encouraged in my artistic endeavours and allowed to paint, large scale, all over my bedroom wall. It is evident looking at the photographs that my style has not changed so very much from those early days. So, how did I get from there to here? Well that's a long story. Get yourself a cup of coffee, pull up a comfortable chair and I'll tell you all about it in the next blog...