Mon Feb 06 08:42:37 ACT 2012 
Well, the promised snow came, and how beautiful did the Peak District look, this weekend? I was quite giddy on Saturday getting texts from friends in Hartington and Darley Dale on the progress of the snowstorm. Bogdog particularly loves the snow, and acts like a puppy still. It does play havoc with her eyebrows though as you can see! ...
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Mon Jan 30 09:50:28 ACT 2012 
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Gulp - I am so sorry not to have blogged sooner. I just don't know where the time has gone since the jolly hollies finished. I bet you thought the men in white coats had really taken me away - you did, didn't you? My last couple of blogs were borderline hysterical I thought -but nothing new there then -...
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Mon Nov 28 07:46:24 ACT 2011 
I would just like to point out right from the start that I have not had an injunction from Mr Cocker’s solicitors. I thought you would all like to know as a good friend and sparring partner of mine said at the weekend, that he was quite disturbed with my blog last week and worried I came across as a right total loony? The fact that the last...
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Wed Nov 16 06:25:37 ACT 2011 
The holidays are coming and the goose is getting fat - and all that. Helen Clark is getting stressed and that’s predictable too. Normally I’m so laid back (?!) I go with the flow, everything is nice and easy but at this time of year my stomach is always in knots and I lay awake worrying I won’t get all the pet portraits done in...
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Fri Oct 28 04:55:25 ACT 2011 
What is about the school holidays that turns a mild mannered wildlife artist into a fire breathing dragon? Is it that my plastic smile has to be dusted off and put on for the umpteenth time this year? Is it the fact that I can't paint properly because it's so busy and frustration builds until I go pop? Is it because I have to cross my legs until...
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Mon Oct 03 05:22:33 ACT 2011 
Ok Ok - I might have moaned a bit too loud about it being way too busy last week at my gallery - well not moaned exactly, it was more a little panic stricken wail? But I have just taken 18 pet portrait orders - yes 18 - in two weeks - and I think that entitles me to a little squeal don't you - anyone would moan - I mean wail - wouldn't...
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Mon Sep 19 04:33:00 ACT 2011 
I am like a mad woman at the moment – yes, I can hear you laughing all the way to Castelton– but more so than usual my friends. Having gone through a Summer of madness and mayhem at my Gallery in Rowsley, NOT painting and NOT sitting down for more than two minutes at a time, I am still finding there aren’t enough hours in...
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Fri Sep 09 04:30:27 ACT 2011 
Well hello strangers - it’s been a while. How the devil are you all? I am truly sorry not to have blogged sooner but....STOP PRESS - I haven’t actually painted anything since the middle of July – unless you count the garden shed. I could have blogged about spending my time at home, my valiant efforts in trying to prize my...
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Thu Jul 21 08:11:34 ACT 2011 
My Sproglet was away on a school Geography trip in Castleton last week. So that I didn’t have sleepless nights worrying myself silly that my son and heir was going to bungie jump off Mam Tor or go sky diving off Winnats Pass, the Hubster and I went away for a few days with Bog Dog (for those new to my blogs you won’t have a clue, who,...
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Mon Jul 04 09:36:42 ACT 2011 
I was late for work opening my Gallery at Rowsley yesterday, It was Saturday, and no there usually aren’t many customers knocking the door down at 10 O’clock in the morning, which is when I open, but I hate being late – even though I’m my own boss and won’t get the sack - I hate being late. I say “late”...
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Fri Jun 24 04:50:47 ACT 2011 
Well what happened with the fox cubs painting? Did my nutty neighbour from Buxton like it? Did I go mental from the stress of having to recreate something I really didn’t want to? Did I go to prison for something I didn’t do??????? Yes you did read that last bit correctly- I shall tell all my faithfull Bloggers and...
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Thu Jun 16 04:15:37 ACT 2011 
I have an order to get finished by the end of this week and I’m miles behind. A lovely Australian lady used to be my neighbour, many years ago, before the Child came along and me and The Hubster lived in blissful harmony with our 2 cats in Chesterfield – the year was 1995 B.BD (I did mean to write B.BD – not A.D - It means...
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Wed Jun 08 03:25:16 ACT 2011 
Well I’ve had a purr - fectly lovely time this week and I’m feline fine…….as you can probably guess from my bad puns, I’ve been painting my favourite subjects all week – cats. It sometimes works like this. I don’t get commissioned to paint a cat for ages and then 3 come along at once. One of...
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Thu May 26 03:57:24 ACT 2011 
Phew – well we’re all still here aren’t we? The world didn’t end on Saturday. The first I heard of it was at the Post office at Rowsley on Saturday morning. I’d a big painting to post to Buxton, and I decided I’d get a dozen eggs at the same time. The postmaster, who I know very well said, “you’d...
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Mon May 16 03:43:58 ACT 2011 
Well enough of the Scottishness – I am back to my beloved Peak District and how glorious does it look at the moment? The sea and the lochs were absolutely stonking but there’s no place like home (SIT - Toto). With all this much needed rain this week, have you noticed, everywhere has...
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Thu May 12 04:13:39 ACT 2011 
Now where was I- holiday. What holiday? We’ve been back a week and a bit and it seems like months ago – now I am beginning to wish I hadn’t promised part 2 ,as I will have to squeeze my eyes shut very tight and try to remember what happened next. Also I have to write this blog while drowning out Spongebob Squarepants in...
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Thu May 05 06:18:40 ACT 2011 
Right, before I start, I need you to think about those adverts for Visit Scotland – you know the ones with all the whiteyness and the lovely beautiful blonde people rolling round in snow and the roaring fires and the crumbling castles ? (that advert always makes me want to have a big glass of whiskey -I hate whiskey....it also makes me...
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Thu Apr 21 14:01:06 ACT 2011 
No snow references today I promise – dare I say it but I think Winter may have gone for good? it’s been another glorious week of sunshine and the bluebells are out already. Everywhere you drive in the white peak, places such as Great Longstone, Foolow and Stoney Middleton, you can see the white walls interspersed with little...
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Mon Apr 18 04:46:07 ACT 2011 
Ok – you agree with me don’t you? We’ve just had a heat wave haven’t we? I’m not going mad or anything? How lucky are we in the Peak District ? It’s been over 20 degrees and its April – ITS APRIL!!!!!!! How fantastic is that, people? I know the temperature dipped a bit in the middle of the week...
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Thu Apr 07 04:35:43 ACT 2011 
I’ve got my Mojo back! You didn’t know I’d lost it did you? No, because I hid it well that’s why, but I had definitely lost it. Mojo well and truly........ Lost. I put an ad in the paper saying as much. “Helen Clark has lost her Mojo - have you seen it? Reward offered”. I’ve...
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Thu Mar 31 03:42:38 ACT 2011 
I don’t know about you but I think this Spring Forward Clock malarkey is just a thing to mess with our heads. It’s a conspiracy. Every year it catches me out. I ALWAYS forget to change one of the clocks in the house (I have to change the manual ones and my hubster – I never call him that but I have been forbidden to mention him...
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Tue Mar 22 05:11:07 ACT 2011 
Well what a difference a day makes – well 7 days to be precise – which is technically a week - but that doesn’t roll off the tongue as well. Last week I was up to my eyeballs in muck, mayhem and madness (I dooo love a bit of alliteration don’t you?) I was valiantly trying to get the Gallery open for business, bravely...
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Thu Mar 17 04:59:44 ACT 2011 
Well I’m open at last – the Eagle has landed. And the owls have landed, the highland cattle paintings, the buzzard photographs, all my cat paintings, Villager Jim’s chicken photographs, his famous Springwatch starlings have landed ……..I could go on and on but you’ll be relieved that...
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Fri Mar 11 05:04:45 ACT 2011 
Staff and volunteers at Crich Tramway Village in Derbyshire are celebrating after being longlisted in the prestigious Guardian Family Friendly Museum Award. More than 100 museums were nominated for this, the biggest museum award in Britain and the only one judged by families. It is run by Kids in Museums, a visitor-led charity working with...
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Mon Mar 07 07:21:15 ACT 2011 
To be, or not to be ........ a decorator, a plumber, an electrician or a wood chopper-er and fixer to walls person? That is the question. The answer is: No - No to any of those alternative professions for me thankyou very much. This is what I have been doing all week. The opening of the new Villager gallery...
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Mon Feb 28 07:21:59 ACT 2011 
Oh my gosh where has this week gone? How did it get to Sunday again so quick and what have I been doing all this time? I have no painting to show for it that’s for sure. The hares from Wardlow, in last weeks teaser, are still sitting on my easel , hare- less. I haven’t picked a paintbrush up all week (only the...
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Mon Feb 21 06:35:47 ACT 2011 
(names and places have been changed to protect the perpetrators of my headache) I am writing this blog on a Sunday morning. I am hungover. Its sooooo not my fault. The weather is awful and complements my banging head and slightly nauseous feeling in my stomach. There’s a bit of dirty looking snow left...
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Tue Feb 15 04:31:14 ACT 2011 
This week’s been a very bizarre one and not very productive in the art department I’m afraid. I’ve had an allergic reaction to the damp paint I’ve been using whilst renovating the new gallery. Basically my cheeks swelled up to the size of watermelons and I looked like an Oriental lady. Not in an attractive way I may add....
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Thu Feb 10 07:19:57 ACT 2011 
The majority of my work is from customers who want a favourite photograph turning into a painting. It helps a great deal if it’s a good photo that I can use directly, without having to guess at any other details. For example I once had to turn down a commission from a photo from a couple from Hartington, that showed a tiny speck of...
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Wed Feb 09 04:28:02 ACT 2011 
This week saw the start of renovations to my new gallery at Rowsley . I’ll be moving back there full time at the end of March and can’t wait for more space to move around in. I mentioned before that my current studio is a little compact. That’s an understatement. It’s like the cupboard under the stairs kind of...
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Wed Feb 09 04:09:25 ACT 2011 
Just a quickie today - when I started doing these bogs a few weeks ago, I hadn’t realised to what extent a certain member of my family would want to become involved and to what lengths she would go to become the centre of my attention. Meet Jasmine, my beautiful springer – she’s the very pretty looking spaniel on the...
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Wed Feb 02 04:33:31 ACT 2011 
Well it’s the last week of January and it’s frrrrrreezing. Working in an old stable block in the middle of the Peak District sounds so romantic, I know, but the reality often means I have to wear my thermals, 3 pairs of trousers, 9 jumpers, 2 hats and a pair of gloves. Have you ever tried painting in a pair of gloves? Not easy. ...
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Tue Feb 01 06:05:17 ACT 2011 
Welcome to my first Blog. Isn’t “Blog” a weird word? Why do they call it that? It makes me think of mud and slop (ohhhhhh that’s bog). Sorry the jokes won’t get better I’d better warn you now. Anyway, introductions. Hello, my name is Helen Clark, I’m an artist and I have a compact and...
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Tue Feb 01 03:58:58 ACT 2011 
Well Christmas has come and gone with the usual too much eating, too much drinking, too much sat around trying to make myself relax and not paint. That’s really hard for me I can tell you. I want to paint all the time. I think about it whilst doing the ironing, dusting, shopping at my local Tesco’s in Chesterfield. Shopping can be a...
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