Anybody following my blog or Facebook page will have gathered that I am over the moon by Helen Marten's recent success at winning both the inaugural Hepworth Prize for Sculpture and also the 2016 Turner Prize. I can't describe how amazing it feels to have had some influence on the direction that Helen has pursued for a career. It is an even more amazing feeling to see her achieve such a pinnacle of success.
I went to the Hepworth Gallery on Saturday 12th February to listen to Helen in conversation and to help me more fully understand her motivation. I am reminded that George Bernard Shaw once said something like "Them as can, do and them as can"t, teach" Of course that might be apocryphal but nevertheless I have had a forty year career in teaching and I am still searching for the way 'to do' - I was hoping to learn from Helen and I didn't expect her to remember me so welcomingly and with such warmth. She brought tears to my eyes.