Helen Derbyshire
Helen comes from a family of artists and makers and studied art to A level. Further education took her in a different direction towards a career in African aid and development work, but making always remained part of her life. She took time away from work to study for a BA in Visual Studies at Norwich School of Art and Design in her 40s and graduated with distinction. She exhibited a lot at that time in East Anglia and further afield and her work is held in a number of private collections.
Since retiring, Helen has returned to art. She is one of the Contemporary and Country (https://www.contemporaryandcountry.com/) stable of East Anglian contemporary artists selected for their celebration of and connection to nature. She is also a member of the Norwich-based ArtDepotNR3 collective.
Artist Statement
My work is about the textures and mood of the landscape around me. It is often inspired by the landscape around my home in the Waveney Valley, the watery borderland between Norfolk and Suffolk. I focus on the textures and the space, aiming to evoke a sense of the season, the light and the weather. My pieces are not so much views of the landscape, more experiences. They generate a feeling of being there, and of finding beauty and a meditative space in everyday paths, trees, fields and hedgerows.
My work is also characterised by experimentation with techniques. My working methods have evolved, and continue to evolve, through hands-on process-based exploration, and are themselves absorbing meditative processes. I walk, draw and take photographs, then use these back in the studio as inspiration for art work. I currently work in 2 distinct but complementary styles. I print digital photographic images onto tissue paper and embellish these with layers of stitch. I transfer photographic images onto traditional gesso, sand and scratch through layers, and build final pieces using ink and wax.
