cats Archives - ARTE, The Makers' Market

You want fantasy and nature? Find fantasty landscapes at Helen Ellinas’ stand at ARTE

Today we feature another ‘trip down memory lane’ with one of ARTE’s regular artisans – Helen Ellinas.

First stop is the ‘glass painting’ station.

“Glass painting was a medium that I discovered and used extensively in the 90’s at various art and antique market venues in England. It was something that hadn’t yet become popular there so I was pretty much alone in trying to put an original slant on an underestimated technique. The same was true of Dubai when I first arrived so I was pretty much the only person creating Arabic fantasy scenes on glass. Glass candlecups were another way to play with lots of colour and became almost a signature of my work.”

Helen Ellinas – lighting up our life with her glass painted candle holders….

Next stop – ‘wooden plaques’ crying wolf station.

“Wooden plaques in animal shapes was just my veering in another direction for fun. I only paint things I love and cats and dogs and seahorses and turtles come under that banner. It was more craftwork than artwork, so quickly ceased to excite me hence my next change of direction – canvas.”

Happy puppy….some of the wooden plaques waiting to find a new home…

Herrrrre Kitty kitty….. Wooden plaques out of stock, this painting is a representative of the kind of ‘animal’ work Helen created on wooden plaques

Third stop – ‘canvassing in canvas’ station

“I refrained from exhibiting canvas paintings until I was happy with the style and subject matter. This, and the fact that by now there were many people working with glass, made me feel that it was time to move forward and create something new that was again, representative of me and my personal style. Canvas work also allows for a lot more experimentation.”

Canvas Fantasy

Close up of a spectacular canvas work by Helen

Major influences in the life of Helen Ellinas

“The different influences of my work extend from holiday trips to different Greek islands, my love of the English countryside, the colours of the desert, the beauty of Venice and the bling of Dubai. The dome topped houses that I paint are not exclusive to any country but rather a fantasy scenario that allows me to play with as many colours as possible.

Galaxies? Comets? Or just a busy round a-bout? Helen’s canvas work leaves a lot of space for you to imagine beyond this universe’s constraints…

“My son leaving for university created a void in my daily life but also gave me the extra time to expand and experiment with other media including copper and melted plastics. I still have new artistic directions that I wish to explore but every medium I have used has become an inherent part of my artistic growth.

Copper work in a fine mixed media fantasy composition….makes you just want to reach out and BUY!

“I see myself as simply ‘an artist’ not specific to any medium but with a style that people immediately know is mine no matter what the medium or subject matter. My identity, my ‘unique barcode’ is very important to me. ‘ Loud, Proud but Never Boring’ is my Mantra.

What next?

Well join Helen Ellinas on facebook and you can find out!

In the creative world, we can give ourselves permission to be any kind of creative thing we want to be; or do amazing things that rock the creative hearts and minds of all. In real life, summer may be upon us, but we allow ourselves to imagine that rain does away with creative blocks we artisans we may face.

Especially when it is raining cats and dogs.

Thankfully, at ARTE May markets, we report that it rained stuffed cats, dogs and more. Here is a sample of handcrafted, stuffed and glorious depictions from the animal world.

Eva’s cats

Eva’s cats are magical. They elicit a smile from even the moodiest mall visitor!

Visit Eva’s cats website

Visit Eva’s cats facebook page

Namali Weerasinghe

When Namali first took part at ARTE markets, she was heavily into embroidery. Needle Craft Heaven was born. Over the next few years, we were lucky to see her kiddie collection with the ballet tutu line, called the Little Princess Collection.

Dulani Lakmali

Her sock monkeys under the brand name of Sandustar Socks Toys created a rage the first time they were displayed at ARTE. To this day, they continue to cause the usual furor so often seen in the monkey world, with the sock monkeys sitting coyly in the trees, or swinging about aimlessly. The main ingredient of the Sandustar sock monkeys is, as the name depicts, socks!

Other sock toys are available like this sock elephant.

Jolly Good Products by Jo Catton

We have seen Jo Catton dogs at ARTE. Sadly, we can’t locate them. Can anyone help? Thanks!

ARTE, The Makers' Market

Tag: cats

Helen Ellinas – a trip down memory lane

It’s Raining (stuffed) cats and dogs!