Helen Abba's Corner

..:: Viggo Mortensen ::..

2010-05-17T15:17:00.002+01:00

Last night i was watching a Viggo Mortensen movie, just for the fact he was in it, but it turned out to be a decent movie (A Perfect Murder). Well you can't just watch him without being completely facinated by how great his face is. Not just for attractiveness, but because its a really interesting face. So anways i was watching it and my hands just wanted to draw, so here's what i came up with, a pretty basic version of his face, but he's still wonderful. There's so many things a person could experiment with drawing his face, but i decided to keep it pretty basic. I have to say i think it turned out quite good, what do you think? =]

..:: Water colour portraits ::..

2010-05-17T15:09:00.006+01:00

These are a few portraits i have done. They are not of specific people generally, but based on interesting faces i have seen. Before painting, what i really love to do is sketch and i love doig faces. These are my fave things to do because i can sketch a face and then add colour to them without haveing to use the paint for detail, as with acrylic or any thick based paint. So i love doing these, and i hope you will like them too =]

How different friends can be =]

2010-05-15T17:17:00.002+01:00

When you can't have a hug... have a pug!

2010-04-30T01:56:00.001+01:00

Patchwork

2010-04-19T03:01:00.004+01:00

Hold still little one,
While I stitch the fragments
Of your life together.
One piece of hate,
The slow drag of a razor
Jutting through your skin.
One the salty tears,
While He held you against the bed
When He took you.
One the gritty sting,
Of the gravel
As it worked its way
Into your broken feet.
Some black and blue,
The pain the patchwork dye.
What's so unbearable?
The needle being carefully pushed
Through your thin waxy skin
Is only the final touch
Of a lifetime of achievements.
The penultimate chapter,
Before the unveiling
Of a truely hideous life.

Watercolours::..

2010-04-19T00:11:00.005+01:00

Seen as I've introduced my two best friends in photos, I thought I'd share two watercolours I recently did of them. Enyoy...

Megan Abba (my twin sister):

Chloe Foster (my best friend):

Just thought I'd add a quick sketch (much older than these) of myself.
May I add, I was VERY tired while doing this one, so excuse the self representation lol.

See.me.

2010-04-17T23:36:00.004+01:00

Stop.
And don't look back.
Do not fear to look at me.
Why not?
I'm not hideous.
Not the monster
They would have
You believe.
Different.
Yes.
But no more different
Than you are
To her.
Or him.
I'm no more strange
Than a bird is to a fish.
Or a stone to a flower.
Look at you.
Your eyes searching
For an answer.
But not in my face.

Whip It! and York

2010-04-14T00:39:00.014+01:00

Went to see Whip It today. It was so good, really how i expected it to be. Ellen Page is really good in it and Drew Barrymore is just hilarious. As soon as we got in the car afterwards we were immediately talking about Roller derbys, the whole thing looked so much fun. I plan on spending the entire summer skating, sun bathing and reading, when in not at a lame summer-job lol. My sister googled Roller Derbys in Liverpool and turns out there's one coming up soon. Not that i plan on entering, but it will be fun to go and watch.

I love movies like Whip It. It really has that 'retro' feel, makes you want to go and buy a scateboard, or a vinyl record. I think it has a similar style to Adventureland and Jennifer's Body; set in the present day, but with retro aspects and pop culture. Which basically is a perfect style of movie for me, concidering my love for the 70s/80s.

Today I also went to the York Castle Museum. I've been there loads and I love it. It is basically an old prison, that they converted into a museum, but it's totally transformed inside to look like an old fashioned street/town. I got talking to a guy that works there and he said that all the fronts of the shops are authentic and removed from old buildings that were going to be knocked down around the country. The reconstructed street has 'buildings' you can go into, like a bank, grocery store, stable, toy shop etc. There's themes from the victorians, to WWI and WWII, and the 60s. It's really become more varied since the last time i visited. Here's some photos of the 'museum'. My friends in the photos are my twin Meg (curly hair) and Chloe (straight hair).

Whip It!

2010-04-11T16:48:00.007+01:00

I seriously can not wait to see Whip It!

I have literally been waiting years for it to come out. Two of my fave people are in it: Ellen Page and Drew Barrymore. It's Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, also starring, and Ellen Page plays a "rebellious Texas teen who throws in her small town beauty pageant crown for the rowdy world of roller derby". From the trailers it looks amazing, and i'm seeing it Tuesday! I will update what i think of it later.

So this is a little drawing I did of Ellen Page...

Spinning Glass

2010-04-11T16:26:00.004+01:00

As the lights fade down
I focus on the blur
Of her body
Making silk ribbon spirals
Through the air
Lit with the glowing dust
Charged by the beam
From the trap door in the roof.

Walking around
To see the glacier
From every angle
Overwhelmed by her scent
Of lilacs and rose
The spinning, the death
Of the flower
I still know as the bud.

She cannot see me
She never has
Been able to
Trapped in the bubble
Of herself
An unreflective globe
The Eden
I have never occupied.

Is she placed here
For me
By a greater power
To taunt
For something I have done
Or am I drawn to her
By a force of my own
Creation.

Used to the pain and the endless
Hollowness
At least a tornado
Has a centre
With a purpose
An eye of destruction
Her revolving
Leaves us both with nothing.

Paintings::..

2010-04-11T01:24:00.012+01:00

Here are some acrylic paintings i did last year of the model Lily Cole and my own version of the 'Girl with the pearl earring'. I love these paintings cause they are from a time when i could never stop painting. Unfortunately, i don't have as much free time to work on my art as i used to, but here are some of my faves...

Castle Howard, Yorkshire

2010-04-07T02:46:00.007+01:00

The Winter

2010-04-07T02:27:00.004+01:00

I walk through the snow
and my feet wrinkle
the beat in my foot print
tells me where to go
where move?
where to be?
I am the only black square
no place for the knight to move
after a game
of bravery and of loss
I sit
on the blackened bone bench
to what do I owe the pleasure
Grandmother Willow?
with our long white hair
we are so alike
yet you grow taller with age
stronger, harder
I crumble here
like the leaves
that fall
from your hands
I curl up like a child
comforting, protecting myself
as a twilight falls
over my eyes
there is nothing
to be afraid of
the day I am born
is a lifetime away

My Top 10 Movies Set In The 70s !!!

2009-06-16T22:51:00.004+01:00

1. Almost famous 2000

Written and directed by Cameron Crowe
Starring: Kate Hudson, Patrick Fugit, Jason Lee, Billy Crudup, Fairuza Balk, Zooey Deschannel.

Tells the fictional story of a teenage journalist writing for Rolling Stone magazine while covering the rock band Stillwater, and his efforts to get his first cover story published. The film is semi-autobiographical, as Crowe himself was a teenage writer for Rolling Stone

(Bonus – Great song…. Tiny Dancer by Elton John)

Rotten Tomatoes – 88%
IMDB – 8/10

2. Forrest Gump 1994

Written by Winston Groom (novel), Eric Roth
Starring: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright Penn, Sally Field

The film tells the story of a man and his epic journey through life meeting historical figures, influencing popular culture and experiencing first-hand historic events of the late 20th century while being largely unaware of their significance, due to his borderline intellectual disability. The film also follows Forrest’s romance with his child hood sweetheart Jenny. It differs substantially from the book on which it was based yet is fantastically funny and heart wrenching!

Rotten Tomatoes – 72%
IMDB – 8.6/10

3. Riding in Cars with Boys 2001

Staring: Drew Barrymore, Brittany Murphy, James Woods

Based on the autobiography of the same name by Beverly D'Onofrio, about a woman who overcame difficulties including being a teen mother to earning a master's degree from the span of 1961 to 1986.
Intelligent but naive Beverly D'Onofrio (Barrymore), a teenager when the movie begins in the early 1960s, dreams of becoming a writer. An unplanned pregnancy and unsuccessful marriage to her heroin- addicted and dim-witted high-school boyfriend mean that her aspirations must take a back seat to other responsibilities, while she watches her classmates' lives move forward on schedule. Later - older, wiser, and with a better knowledge of herself - she puts her delayed career plans into action. The story takes place in Wallingford, Connecticut in the 1950's-80's.

Rotten Tomatoes – 77%
IMDB – 6.1/10

4. Virgin Suicides 1999

Written and directed by Sofia Coppola
Starring: James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst and Josh Hartnett.

Based on the novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, the film tells of the suicides of the five Lisbon sisters in an upper middle class suburb of Detroit during the 1970s. The girls' suicides fascinate their community as their neighbors struggle to find an explanation for the acts.

Rotten Tomatoes – 77%
IMDB – 7.2/10

5. Dick 1999

Directed by Andrew Fleming from a script by himself and Sheryl Longin.
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Michelle Williams, Dan Hedaya.

It is a parody retelling the events of the Watergate scandal which ended the presidency of Richard ("Tricky Dicky") Nixon and features several cast members from Saturday Night Live.
Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams star as Betsy and Arlene, two warm-hearted but not very bright 15-year-old girls and inseparable best friends who, through various twists and turns, become the legendary 'Deep Throat' figure partly responsible for bringing down the presidency of Richard Nixon.

Rotten Tomatoes – 70%
IMDB – 6.1/10

6. Lords Of Dogtown 2005

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke
Written by Stacy Peralta.
Starring: Emile Hirsh, Victor Rasuk, John Robinson, Nikki Reed, Heath Ledger.

The film is based on the story of "The Z-Boys" in 1970s Venice Beach. Surfers / skaters Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta, and Jay Adams who revolutionized the sport of skateboarding.

Rotten Tomatoes – 55%
IMDB – 6.9/10

7. Running With Scissors 2006

Starring: Joseph Cross, Evan Rachel Wood, Brian Cox, Annette Bening, Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow.

Based on the memoir Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs, the film is a semi-autobiographical account of Burroughs' childhood.
His mother (Annette Bening), perceiving an ill-fated upbringing, places him under the care of her unorthodox psychiatrist, Dr. Finch (Brian Cox), the eccentric patriarch of an oddball family, at the age of 12. At one point, Burroughs befriends Neil Bookman (Joseph Fiennes), Finch's adopted 33-year-old son, and the two enter an erratic sexual relationship.
The story is of a childhood in which the boundary between reality and fantasy is ignored and finally broken; as, ultimately, is the irreplaceable bond between mother and son and one's quest for family.

Rotten Tomatoes – 30%
IMDB – 6/10

8. Across The Universe 2007

Starring: Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess.

Musical based on The Beatles songbook and set in the 60s England, America, and Vietnam. The love story of Lucy and Jude is intertwined with the anti-war movement and social protests of the 60s. Over 30 Beatles' songs are woven into the plot together with visual allusions to 1960s films.

Rotten Tomatoes – 54%
IMDB – 7.6/10

9. My Girl 1991

Starring: Anna Chlumsky, Macaulay Culkin, Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis

Vada Sultenfuss is obsessed with death. Her mother is dead, and her father runs a funeral parlor. She is also in love with her English teacher, and joins a poetry class over the summer just to impress him. Thomas J., her best friend, is "allergic to everything", and sticks with Vada despite her hangups. When Vada's father hires Shelly, a makeup expert, in his funeral parlor, and begins to fall in love with her, Vada is outraged and does everything in her power to split them up. After a bee accident her best friend dies and this makes her see what is truely important in life.

(Bonus – totally 70s hippy van!!!)

Rotten Tomatoes – 55%
IMDB – 6.3/10

10. Now and then 1995

Starring: (Young Girls) Christina Ricci, Thora Birch, Gaby Hoffmann, Ashleigh Aston Moore, (Grown up girls) Rosie O Donell, Melanie Griffith, Demi Moore, Rita Wilson.

Four 12-year-old friends made a pact to be there for one another, which is why the now-adult Sam, Roberta, Teeny, and Chrissy find themselves returning to their hometown of Shelby, Indiana to reunite. Most of the film, however, is a flashback to the summer of 1970, in which the four 12-year-old girls have a seemingly carefree summer, full of bike-riding, midnight seances, saving up money for a treehouse, and truth-or-dare. However, this is the summer that they learned painful realizations about life and growing up—lessons which simultaneously bring the girls closer as well as grant them their independence.

Rotten Tomatoes – 19%
IMDB – 6/10

Other 70s movies include:

Blow
Walk The Line
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Carrie

The Shining
The Man With The Golden Gun (Bond)

Rocky

Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory

Clockwork Orange

Austin Powers

If you have any recommendations or suggestions, just leave me a comment :)