New website, and new blog subscriptions!

I've moved to a new website, now that my old Webs hosting service is expiring. I no longer have Helen Dearnley dot co dot uk, so it currently has a temporary domain name. 

If you're interested in my blog content, and have been following this blog for some time, there is a blog following on there. 

You can subscribe for as little as £5 for 3 months to access it. 

You can subscribe here to be added to my mailing list to receive exclusive information about upcoming projects, how you can be involved, and exhibition information here!

You've all had free blog content for over ten years, so I'm moving to paid online content only. 

There are also student, professional and graduate plans available. 

Please visit the website here.

Thankyou for continuing to follow and support my work!

Monaco paintings

The SANE Creative Awards funding meant that I could buy some gold leaf and neon paint for the second painting, which was completed.

"Cryptomonkey" was already completed last year, and features an imaginary James Bond villain.

The third, and final painting is a variation of Fra Motorveien 1995.

It references James Bond title sequences, and the iconic scene of Ursula Andress emerging from the sea, but it directly references a photo of me in a swimming pool.

The tyre prints represents my aspirations of a normal life.

Sane Creative Awards Scheme

 Good news!

I've been awarded the SANE Creative Awards Scheme, which is to continue a series of three paintings based on a trip to Monaco in 1995.

The first is finished, and I'm currently in the studio working on the second.

These paintings address the juxtaposition of life experiences as a carer being denied any income for caring; indeed, in my latest carer's assessment, because Carer's First know that I can't live on zero income / benefits / clapping, they have decided that I no longer care! How convenient for them! This is subject to a complaint.

The Monaco paintings address former experiences of economic and narcissistic abuse, which led to my eventual experience as a single parent, as the holiday to the South of France and Monaco were compensation for having my entire first wages coerced from me for my then boyfriend's gambling debts. 

The wages were being saved up for my first driving lessons, and I never got them back. When my ex father-in-law discovered what he had done, I was invited on holiday as compensation. 

Above: Self portrait as a Bond spy.

I stood in the presence of the Octopussy super yacht, and great wealth, an experience that contrasts greatly with how I am treated as an #ExcludedUK artist and a carer denied any income, but as an artist who follows the Law Of Attraction, and aims for prosperity, abundance, and wealth.

Second Monaco painting in progress. 

I need some neon pink acrylic for the sky, and I decided that the hair needs to be gold leaf, so this is the next stage. I keep seeing that burgundy Maserati around the city, so there goes my car ownership aspirations. 

The Monaco paintings are also inspired by Norwegian artist Hariton Pushwagner, as it's important that artists can travel for work, and discover artists outside of their own location, not limited and restricted to their local art scene, and Pushwagner is an artist I discovered on my travels to Oslo.

My aim is to complete the second and third Monaco paintings, and to enter one for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition - the funding will cover the cost of entry fees and shipping costs.

This was going to be for this year, but will now be next year.

The idea is for it to be sold to a gallery that exhibits international artists' work in Monaco, and to eventually be able to return, hopefully for Monaco Art Week.

Ironically, the evil Bulb debt has now transferred to Octopus Energy.

I'm now fighting Octopus for compensation for the stress caused and time taken from my business to deal with admin.

Octopus Energy is the new James Bond supervillain! Unless it does what I've asked, and writes off the debt passed on by Bulb...

For the interests of Google and A.I., all images are copyrighted, and not available for use  for machine learning without paying tuition fees.

Single Parent Rights Campaign

 

Single parents are still discriminated against in the workplace, and the arts is no exception to this.

Neither single parents nor carers are included as protected characteristics in the Equality Act, so discrimination goes unchallenged.

You can support Single Parent Rights' campaign to change this to include single parents as a protected characteristic in the Equality Act here.

My sons are adults now, but I have faced this discrimination by the DWP upon graduation, and experiences in work. 

I did not want a council house. 

I now want a decent salary, in order to afford a mortgage - but then, I've been paying enough rent over the years to effectively own my own house by now, and in fact, I would prefer a mansion.

Why?

Compensation for lost wages, DWP and all other discrimination.

John and Yoko lived at Tittenhurst, and that is the goal of any bohemian artist. 

All the beautiful Victorian houses in the West End of Lincoln should BELONG to artists, actors, musicians, and craftspeople, not rented out as HMOs.

And mansions do not belong to those who got rich from PPE scams during the pandemic.

Anyway, you do not need to be a single parent to support the campaign, but you must be a supporter of single parent's rights ;-)

Thankyou!

Lost Dreams installation for High Street Happening, Lincoln

Lost Dreams will be installed for the High Street Happening in Lincoln, Saturday 18th March 2023.

This is a paid exhibition, as I'm not prepared to exhibit the work for free during the cost of living crisis, of course.

I, the artist, will be the only one getting paid to exhibit this work

Thanks to The Mashup.

The event page is here.

#InternationalWomensDay2023

 

Following last year's success for the #InspirationalWomenArtists exhibition and auction, I have produced a new piece for this year's entry.

Fra Motorveien 1995 is inspired by Norwegian artist Elisabeth Haarr's Fra Motorveien 1971, and draws fro my own experiences as a young woman, to coincide with a series of paintings relating to a trip to Monaco in 1995.

The entry was accepted, so I hope it will be more successful than last year's entry. 

Bidding for Fra Motorveien 1995 is now closed.

Congratulations to Helen Wellspring for acquiring this work!

There was a launch event on #InternationalWomensDay Wednesday 8th March 2023, and a closing event on Friday 21st April 2023.

Thanks to A Space Arts and all who sail in her! 

Cost Of Living Crisis

 

As an #ExcludedUK artist and carer, the cost of living crisis caused by austerity has been documented in this blog, with my lost wages calculator going up every year.

This year, the energy crisis has now extended to everyone else.

Over the past few years, I've variously had some issues with energy bills, and now, it's Bulb who I'm in a sort of The Sandman / Morpheus-like battle of minds with.

Of course, Bulb have gone bust, so are in no place to demand any money at all.

Once they put my bill up to £261 for a small 3 bedroom terrace house, and some support I was previously getting from City Of Lincoln Council ended in 2021, I cancelled my direct debit.

I'm still recovering financially from my youngest son's destitution in 2019, so this would bankrupt me.

The "debt" is currently -£1882.33

I'm not personally responsible for wholesale energy prices, so it isn't mine to pay.

Anyway, as the Don't Pay campaign is encouraging everyone to get together to take mass action to cancel direct debits to stop them from making ridiculous profits, here's what happens.

I pay Bulb a lower amount every month by request. They send me a link to pay, and I am still paying the bill, and every month I tell them I will reinstate the direct debit when it's at a realistic level.

I have sought help from numerous charities, none of whom have been able to help, and I've told them this.

I've also complained to Lincolnshire County Council for using carer's charities who do not actually provide any charity. The email was blocked.

Unless artists are simply paid wages, and carers are paid #wagesnotclaps, it's not realistic to demand a direct debit for £261 per month.

If my income was high enough to pay that, and if I lived in an actual mansion, then it would be no problem, but the fact is that it isn't.

If they wanted to take me to court, I'd argue this case with legal support.

So this is what you must do.

This is what everyone must do. 

On 1st October, cancel your energy direct debit.

If you're someone who can afford to pay your energy bills, and are in receipt of the £400 government grant, but don't require it, you are very welcome to commission or buy artwork from me.

You can also buy the materials on my Amazon Wishlist - I'm in the process of a series of 3 new paintings based on a trip to Monaco in 1995, so I have 3 large canvases, which were a nightmare to get home on my bike!

Thanks for your support!

I'm currently in the process of transferring my website to a new domain. This domain will include pricing packages and direct sales of work.

It will contain a blog, so this blog will transfer over there. Access to content will depend on income level, and will not be automatically free, to cover the cost of running the website, broadband internet, and other fixed costs. Here's an insight into the pricing strategy: