About Helen

Painting is my way of paying attention—to shifting light, unexpected colour and the quiet changes that alter how a place feels. I find myself gathering these fleeting impressions: a glint on water, a sudden flare of colour, the brightness held in a surface. They stay with me until I need to give them form in paint.

I am based in Moray, in the north of Scotland, surrounded by tidal edges, wide stretches of water, open skies and wind-shaped grasses. I am drawn to small, easily missed details: sunlight travelling across a surface, stones marked by the tide and colours appearing where they are least expected. These observations settle in memory and return with me to the studio.

I don’t try to reproduce the landscape as I have seen it. Through memory and the process of making, familiar places begin to loosen and become something more imagined. At times a painting retains the trace of a shoreline or horizon; elsewhere, it moves towards an inner landscape shaped by emotion, instinct and experience.

My way of working is physical, intuitive and playful. I pour, brush, scrape, splash and draw. I bury marks and uncover them again, turn paintings around and follow unexpected accidents. The work develops through a conversation between instinct and intention, movement and stillness, chaos and calm. I love the point at which a painting begins to take on a life and direction of its own.

I trained in Fine Art at Edinburgh College of Art and have spent many years teaching Art and Design alongside developing my studio practice. Painting and teaching both begin with curiosity: asking “what if?”, trying something unfamiliar and remaining open to where an idea might lead.

That same spirit runs through my workshops, which centre on experimentation, creative risk-taking and the freedom to work without the pressure of a predetermined result. The focus is on looking closely, working playfully and trusting your own creative decisions.