My name is Helen Ward and I am a lens-based media artist based in rural County Durham in the North East of England. I use photography, digital video, and image manipulation in my work along with the use of the spoken and written word. Since April 2001 I have been a member of Jack Drum Arts, professional arts co-operative located in the Wear Valley and Teesdale districts, which works with both urban and rural communities throughout the North East of England. 

Last year I worked with my sister Julie Ward (also of Jack Drum Arts) on a cross artform project with under 5’s called “Sun and Shadows” which won the 2003 Arts Council Chrisi Bailey Award for innovative work with Under 5’s. The success of “Sun and Shadows” gave me the idea to pursue another creative arts project inspired by early childhood perceptions of light. So now, together with my 5 year old son Sam, I am going on a journey to Northern Lapland to stay in the village of Koppelo as part of an Artist in Residence programme at the Inari commune. 

Our project “Light Fantastic” takes as its starting point a childhood memory of my father reading a particular story to my sisters and me every Christmas. It was called “Bill Frog to the Rescue” and tells the story of how Father Christmas, bed-ridden with flu, is unable to deliver presents to all the children in the world. Bill Frog bravely comes to the rescue by delivering a powerful flu remedy. On his journey to the home of Father Christmas he reaches the seemingly impenetrable Aurora Borealis which opens when Father Christmas sneezes! Because of this story with its vivid illustrations I have always wanted to visit Lapland and to see with my own eyes the Aurora Borealis and the landscape that lies within its sphere of coloured lights. Making the journey as both a photographer/film-maker and the mother of a young child will enable me to link adult perceptions with those of a child, remembering my own sense of wonderment whilst observing Sam’s response to the experience.

This website will chart our journey in words, pictures and video.

ENJOY!