Press Release

Artist fashions face masks

The Coronavirus crisis has seen creative businesses coming up fighting on many fronts and a small artist ’s gallery on the beach at Dungeness is no exception.

When the beach and the Dungeness Estate closed during Lockdown, artist Helen Gillilan ramped up the production of stylish vintage cotton face masks. The masks offer a flourish of cheerful colour and design for those who need to travel on public transport, go shopping and to ultimately follow the path back to work,

Life before the pandemic saw Helen painting in oils and mixed media in a studio at the rear of her charming pink fisherman’s cottage while exhibiting the work in her gallery.

In the face of the Covid 19 challenges she has turned to her lifelong collection of vintage textiles to satisfy demand for extraordinary face masks. She has also added an attractive and serviceable online shop for the masks to her existing studio/gallery website.

Helen Gillilan, Artist Maker at Ocean View Gallery Dungeness said: “It started with offering face masks to neighbours who liked the designs and that they are easily washable and reusable.  I realised that there’s a demand for good quality, well made and comfortable masks that make a statement about who you are.

“When you wear a mask it’s impossible to use facial expression as you would normally – even a smile can’t be seen by others. My masks are colourful and jolly – people have described them as ‘adorable’ – not a term of endearment usually seen in the same sentence as face mask!”

Helen continues to paint as well as creating her face masks.

-Ends-