Crafted with care, each piece tells a personal story.
The House Of Bock makes up a collaborative effort between 'The Bocking's' - Helen (me), George - my very talented brother and Margaret - my equally talented mother.
We each create different things and have different styles - but together, we are House Of Bock.
Handmade Creations
I'm an artist that has always been more about the exploring that the perfecting. To make something is joyous and I keep trying my hand at new things until I find the thing that sticks, I guess.
I love to paint - the more colour and texture the better.
I have recently discovered home much I love creating greeting cards - hand-drawn and hand painted with gouache paints. My designs are whimsical and childlike. They will often depict simple settings of windows to the outside, or windowsills with vases of flowers. I like painting wildflowers and flower blooms, I like painting apples and pears still-life's. I like paintings boats on a sandy shore and cartoon styled crabs.
The chief function of color should be to serve expression. Colour helps to express light, not the physical phenomenon, but the only light that really exists, that in the artist's brain.
Henri Matisse
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My Creations
Handmade arts and crafts that tell a story.
Emma Saxon Designs
Emma Saxon was my alter ego when I was a child growing up. I can't remember why Emma (I guess I thought it was a pretty name?) but Saxon was a horse. Saxon was the most beautiful horse at the stables where I rode every weekend but us girls were not mature enough to ride him. He became my dream horse ..and do the name Emma Saxon was born.
Fast forward 30 odd years and I decided that it would be publishing name for digital creations - notebook, diaries, study guides, colouring in books and such.
My books are published using Amazon KDP and my persona is listed as an author contributor.
Notebooks
I have a selection of different notebooks available via Amazon KDP.
Some are hand-drawn designs by my brother, George Bocking (see Lionfish notebook). Some are digital drawings I have done turned into notebooks. And some are designed by me using digital art tools - AI deigns or free licence products that then adjust and make my own through creative amendments.
I have study guides, diaries, notebooks, and colouring books.
Visit my Emma Saxon author page at:
The Book of Letters
I have a few books that are the exception the the Emma Saxon rule - before I came up with the idea of publishing under Emma Saxon, I had already started publishing books under Helen Bock.
The first book I worked really hard to publish was The Book of Letters
This book is filled with writing stationery paper. It has prompts/ideas for people you could write to and reasons for writing. My hope was that it inspired people to put pen to paper, put that letter in an envelope, put a stamp on it, ...AND put it in the post.
If you have this book you will know exactly why I am saying this like this.
The book of letter comes in traditional greyscale (black and white printing) or in the full colour version.
To date, The Book of Letters has been my best seller.
I 100% love it and I use it all the time.
People love receiving a letter. Its a dying art and I believe the world would be a happy place if we all received a random letter every once in a while.
Visit my Helen Bock Author page at:
Felt & Pom Pom Flowers
Its a long story, but I was inspired to make pom pom flowers because of a student group (who I cannot remember right now - I will look it up I promise) and a student market experience called QUTopia. Students had to come up with a business concept and then implement that concept in a two-day market experience. It was always a brilliant event and sadly one more thing that eaten alive by Covid and 'new' restrictions.
Anyway, I still have a bunch of pom pom flowers that thos students made and I look at them every day. And every day - they make me smile. They are colourful and bright and happy on my book shelf and so I too, started making pom pom flowers.
I find the process of making the pom poms relaxing and I love the colour and warmth they can bring to a room.
I added on felt flowers as an extension to this, and again, I find hot gluing stuff very therapeutic.
Where possible I recycle wool and felt to create these bouquets and I keep my wastage to a minimum by using the fluff trimmings as toy stuffing and the felt off cuts in pictures and for other flowers.
The stems are made from bamboo skewers and the look lovely in green of a natural wood colour.
No two flowers are ever the same - I just am unable to stick to the plan and I will always add an amendment on each I make. It has become something that I cannot avoid in my my work.
When it's an original work of art, I may try and make something similar, but I cannot make an absolute copy.
Other Creative Projects
I dabble in a lot of different projects and I have a lot of products that I like to create.
My t-shirts can be found at:
Tee Public - Frilly Armoured Bear
Red Bubble - Emma Saxon Designs
I have clay animals and paper flowers and crocheted head bands and friendship application forms and digital SVG drawings and downloadable art..and much much more.
Eventually I will update this site to show all the items I currently make and sell.
Until then have a look at my Etsy shop to give you an idea of what I create.
Get in Touch
If you would like to know more about what arts, crafts and projects I have - please get in touch.
