Helen Joy

Please describe yourself and your areas of interest.

Some of the things I have been include printer, HR manager, off shoring lead, pig farmer and intermittent artist. I recently moved from Wales to the Highlands to concentrate on my art practice and am running the Picturing Sutherland project, preparing an art installation collaboration for the Inverness Fringe, creating a series of works based on carcasses and working on another collaboration looking at masks and gargoyles made from earth. I am proud to be a SSAFA case worker, a Golspie High School mentor and a volunteer within the school art department; community radio presenter and general helper-outer. I am interested in supporting projects connecting people more deeply with place, craft and a sense of shared responsibility. I have a large white dog and a small tabby cat, a house and garden I love and I live in a community which couldn’t have been more welcoming. Helen Joy

Why did you become a Companion of the Guild?

A chance encounter recommended me to the Guild and good use of its resources and courses have given my work substrate and credence. Ruskin teaches us not just how to draw but how to see the world and how to behave within it. His business was to improve our quality of life and this seems very much the intention of the Guild. It feels natural to want to use any skills and experiences I may have in order to contribute to the community of the Guild by way of thanks. Through my career portfolio, I have practical skills in writing, organising, teaching, farming, community building and fine art. I tend towards a strategic outlook. For me, this is an opportunity to engage with a remarkable and diverse community where ideas, practice and knowledge can be enriched through conversation, challenge and encouragement.

Web link: valeriechicken.wordpress.com

Email address: valeriechickenHJ@gmail.com