One of the ateliers I visited and photographed in Paris last year but was not able to feature in Paris: Made By Hand was that of artist Hélène Manche. The only reason I was not able to feature her atelier was because it was private, not open to the public. BUT, I was very pleased to find out her pieces are sold in The Collection – a boutique that sells various handmade work of European artists -which is featured in the book.
A little while ago, I asked Hélène if it would be okay if I shared some of my photos of the little corners of her private studio with you, my dear readers. I was very happy she said oui!
So would you like to come with me for a very private tour around Hélène’s Paris studio?
Okay then, here we go…
You may have already noticed that Hélène makes the prettiest whimisical installations, mobiles, wearable and movable art. She uses whatever she has on hand – buttons, lipstick, nail polish, beads, and even rice…
Hélène creates little worlds with intricate detail – printing, stitching, gluing and threading her tiny illustrations into boxes like you see above, making you want to just dive right in and play.
She fills notebooks with all sorts of wonders…
…and creates hanging installations from fanciful fabric shapes combined with coloured beads, straight from the rainbow.
Her work is featured all over France, and in all sorts of Paris shop windows (take a look here and here), and I love knowing that she makes everything in her studio, right in the heart of Paris.
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To see more of Hélène’s work, you can visit her website right here and in case you missed my post in January, check out the gorgeous little video Hélène made to ring in the new year. Thank you Hélène!
I adore those hanging installations! And those notebooks! Very inspiring. Thanks for sharing Pia and have a good weekend!
September 4th, 2009 | #
Talk about a wonderland!!! It’s really, really beautiful. No wonder she can create such works of art, being around such inspiration. 🙂
September 4th, 2009 | #
Pure magic. Sparkling, beautiful, and whimsical. Thanks for giving us this peek! xo
September 4th, 2009 | #
I love the photo right above the last grouping. In fact, I love every photo. Such whimsy. Thank you!
September 5th, 2009 | #
Amazing handwork. I look at all that detail and I know the hours involved. Colorful and fun. I love it!
September 5th, 2009 | #
Pia, this is wonderland!
September 5th, 2009 | #
Merci beaucoup Pia !
Thank you for this very nice post.
I’m so happy to see the result of your work and the wonderful pictures of my workshop.
Bises
September 5th, 2009 | #
Thanks Pia! So great to see more pictures of Hélène’s studio and work!
September 5th, 2009 | #
What a beautiful world you have shown us!
September 6th, 2009 | #
very inspiring and great photos!
September 7th, 2009 | #
beautiful little world!
September 7th, 2009 | #
Thanks so much for this lovely, dream-real-world post. I have a studio that is full of stuff and overwhelming me slightly with its stuffness, and seeing Helene creating life and beauty out of her stuffness has motivated me to keep on trucking and revel in my mess rather than worrying about it so much! I will get more done today creatively for seeing this, thank you! 🙂 x
September 8th, 2009 | #
What a magical world!
September 8th, 2009 | #
This post has inspired my day. I will take it with me throughout the weekend! Total magic. I am now about to go to Helene’s website!
September 11th, 2009 | #
how truly wonderful.
September 11th, 2009 | #
Hello Pia!
I haven’t stopped by your blog house in a few months, moving kept me very busy — but now I have so many wonderful posts to enjoy on your blog so I’m going to spend some time this afternoon perusing it. These photos are so pretty, I’m glad I clicked over!
I also want to congratulate you on your next book — I can’t wait until April to see it! I’m sure it’s a dream come true for you and I know it will be a lovely book. I wish you the best as you collect your inspirations and thoughts for the book, the process is a long one but the end result will no doubt be just as nice as the Paris one.
All the best,
Holly
September 13th, 2009 | #
What a great Blog, just stumbled upon it!!! There is no limit to the imagination!
September 19th, 2009 | #