About Helen Harrison
Helen is a self-taught, soft pastel artist, originally from the UK, but also worked in Paris and California. Helen painted for over 25 years.
Her paintings reflect the exquisite beauty of flowers, the intensity of color contrasting with her delicacy of touch. Helen was inspired, mentored and had her work critiqued by Christopher Assheton-Stones, one of the leading UK pastel artists.
Helen exhibited her work in many galleries across the North of England including many in the English Lake District, source of much of Helen's inspiration.
No gallery ever refused her work and it was often a challenge to produce sufficient work to keep all of the gallery owners stocked! Helen only exhibited in galleries specializing in high quality fine art in Warkworth, Barnard Castle, Alston, Jesmond, Elterwater, the Eden Valley, and Kendal. Helen had several solo exhibitions and also as part of a woman's collective of artists.
When in Paris, Helen sold all of her work to collectors throughout France. Helen had a sabbatical from painting when bringing up her two beautiful boys, Daniel and Sebastien, until they reached school age. She then resumed painting in 2009 after her first treatments for cancer until 2013 when her life was tragically cut short at the age of 43 when the cancer returned. Despite her illness, Helen still painted, down by the lake and in her home in Lake Sherwood, California.
Her work was bought and sold directly by gallery owners and is in private collections worldwide.
Helen worked exclusively with Unison pastels, handmade in Tarset, a small village in England. This is due to the high quality of the pastel, pure pigment and the fact that they do not fade over time.
Helen loved the vibrant colours that she could achieve. She is much too fascinated by the versatility of pastel to paint in any other medium.
