Helen Thomas - Dandelions and Double Yellows and...

Helen Thomas’ 'Dandelions & Double Yellows’ project asks whether we can reconsider plants in the urban environment that are often dismissed as weeds.

Since autumn 2020 Helen has painted and sketched urban wild plants in corners of car parks, by path edges and on sites awaiting development in Wakefield. The exhibition at Wakefield Cathedral from 10th July to 15th August 2021 features paintings made from direct observation outdoors and paintings made in the studio from memory and reference. The exhibition is part of Wakefield Council’s Festival of the Earth.

Artwalk Wakefield have commissioned ‘Dandelions and Double Yellows and…’ to offer a glimpse behind the scenes of Helen’s working process. The publication features a specially commissioned text by Dr Judith Tucker, and is illustrated with Helen’s paintings and photographs of some of the plants and places that have informed her recent work. You can pick up your publication at Wakefield Cathedral where it will accompany the Dandelions & Double Yellows exhibition, or from The Art House. 

Dandelions and Double Yellows is supported using public funding by Arts Council England and has been part funded as part of Festival of the Earth, led by Wakefield Council from July to October 2021 across the Wakefield district.

Helen Thomas, is a visual artist based in Wakefield. Helen explores themes of plants and place through drawing and painting; working from her studio at The Art House, and from direct observation, outdoors. Helen’s recent work increasingly concerned with the often overlooked, and sometimes contentious self seeded plants in our everyday surroundings.

You can find out more about the exhibition and the Cathedral opening times on their website here.

Photograph above taken by David Lindsay.