Helen Harper
Flotsam and Jetsam - watercolour
I was encouraged to study the sciences at secondary school, so had no background in the arts before I started painting. In my mid forties I was brought along, reluctantly, to a painting class by a friend, to make up the relevant numbers to employ a tutor. After a lesson or two I became totally hooked, and have been painting ever since. I went to several different classes in the following years. I applied for and was accepted by the Ulster Society of Women Artists, the Ulster Watercolour Society, and the Arts Society of Ulster. A few years later I was awarded a diploma by the USWA.
I usually paint in watercolour, just loving the way watercolour flows, and I am challenged by trying to use that quality and to control it. Since I am also a gardener, living in the heart of County Down, my love of nature, of ‘wildness’ and natural landscape is often reflected in my choice of subject.
I usually paint in watercolour, just loving the way watercolour flows, and I am challenged by trying to use that quality and to control it. Since I am also a gardener, living in the heart of County Down, my love of nature, of ‘wildness’ and natural landscape is often reflected in my choice of subject.