Wirral Met College, in partnership with Tomorrow's Women, recently supported local artist Helen in developing her passion for illustration and storytelling. Helen, the author of "Adventures with Archie," shared her journey, from community course participant to published author, and how her beloved cat, Archie, inspired her creative endeavours.
Helen, an artist, cat lover, and advocate, and has transformed her passion for her feline companion, Archie, into a published children's book. Helen has a diagnosis of autism and often has difficulty expressing emotions. Art has become a tool she uses to communicate and express her inner feelings to others.
Beyond her artistic pursuits, Helen leverages her lived experience and artwork to educate and empower. She collaborates with the NHS to train staff, raise awareness about autism and mental health, and address the inequalities faced by autistic individuals.
Her journey to publication was significantly aided by a community course at Tomorrow's Women, delivered in partnership with Wirral Met College. "First of all I am Archie’s Mum and my name is Helen," she began. "I am a creative person who finds so much joy in making art whatever the medium. I find in being creative I am able to escape into a joyful content place where I can find relief from the stresses of life. This is a very useful tool as an autistic person and it helps me cope with life better. I have in recent years been able to use my lived experience and artwork within the NHS to help train staff working with autistic individuals. Art for me has become a useful tool to express and communicate my internal world/feelings. Like many Autistic people I can struggle with experiencing, identifying and expressing emotions so art has become a tool I use to communicate."
And who is Archie? "Archie is my beautiful petite black and white cat, I adopted her when she was 6-months old from my local RSPCA and she’s 12 years old now. We share a very close bond, she is highly intuitive in picking up how I am doing or if I’m struggling and she will just appear and be there to help calm or soothe me with her purrs and affection. Archie is also a very chatty cat full of personality."
Helen's passion for her feline friend led to the creation of her children's book, "Adventures with Archie." "Last year I decided I wanted to turn my illustrated short story into a proper book format so that I could share the joy and companionship that is possible between an owner and their pet. I saw how when people read my book, they would laugh and smile and often asked if I was going to publish it or add more adventures. I feel the feedback I received gave me the courage and confidence to pursue this, along with my deep desire and dream that perhaps my book could bring joy to others."
"The first Adventures with Archie book is called Archie goes surfing. The book contains a mix of real everyday life with Archie as well as parts that are more imagined or dreamed of. If I could, I would happily take Archie with me everywhere I go."
"I was so excited when I saw this course on the Tomorrow’s Women timetable. I had attended a previous illustration course with Jo which I loved and I learnt so much. I connected with the element of telling stories through images, tell a story as a way of thinking when I am creating art. It also started me thinking about making my own illustrated book about Adventures with Archie."
"The course was designed so well as each week built on the last, growing my awareness and understanding around themes of illustration, narrative devices, story telling techniques, character design. During the classes we had opportunities to work together with the other participants and provide feedback on each others work. This really helped to encourage each other and to feel more confident about my work and ideas. It was amazing to see as we each progressed with our own illustrated stories how everyone’s work was so different and unique to their own creativity. The finished stories were each so powerful and brilliant."
"It was a massive challenge for us all to develop our own stories in a short time frame but through the support of the course teacher and each other we all managed to complete the work. Connecting with the other women during the course was a great way to meet others and gave me a positive focus, this had a really positive impact on my wellbeing."
The experience has fuelled Helen's creativity, and she's already working on the next instalment. "I am currently in the process of developing book 2 and my plan is to release it later this year."
You can find "Adventures with Archie" online via Etsy.
And you can meet Helen and purchase a copy of her book at the Birkenhead Craft Market on Easter Saturday, April 19th.