Helen Ballardie

Overview

Helen has been painting her new Garden Series to music, painting the subject matter that she sees before her, the landscape that surrounds her.

 

As the pandemic hit, it coincided with her having her first garden. Looking back over the past few years, it seemed that much what was important was out there - small flowers, birds, insects, all surviving and thriving year after year, sprouting new buds and hatching, the cycle of life happening before her eyes. Helen spent a lot of time studying them, filming and photographing them, studying behaviours of birds, listening to their calls, redirecting and rehydrating the insects, bees and birds that had run into trouble. Alone in her garden she felt truly immersed in this silent and busy world especially in the absence of people. Tiny things became very large in her life and this subject matter started to spill over into her paintings at the same time.

 

Helen likes working on different media - for some paintings in this series she worked on the canvas un-stretched against the wall, enjoying the hard surface beneath that allowed her to really scratch into it and be a lot less precious, introducing new materials into the paintings too, with pencils and chalks.

 

She even incorporates real flowers into this work which is a natural continuation from her past Spring Series where the flowers were painted in a flat form as if pressed in a book. By introducing real flowers there is this sense of preserving time, capturing a moment in time forever.

 

Helen obtained a first class degree in Fine Art Painting at Canterbury College of Art.  In 2014, she won the Dulwich Picture Gallery's Open Exhibition and has exhibited widely throughout the UK. Helen has recently been commissioned to create work for the Cadogan Belmond Hotel in Chelsea, The Four Seasons Hotel in Hampshire and The Tullyglass Hotel in Ballymena, Northern Ireland.  In 2020, seven of Helen's paintings appeared on the set of the BBC Drama The Split Season 2.

 

See Our Feature on Helen Ballardie
Works
  • Helen Ballardie, Santa Monica, 2021
    Santa Monica, 2021£ 990.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Front Lawn, 2021
    Front Lawn, 2021£ 990.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Rose , 2021
    Rose , 2021£ 990.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Night Daisies I, 2020
    Night Daisies I, 2020£ 970.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Night Daisies II, 2020
    Night Daisies II, 2020£ 970.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Sunflower, 2021
    Sunflower, 2021£ 990.00
  • Helen Ballardie, View in the Garden, 2021
    View in the Garden, 2021£ 990.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Collage, 2021
    Collage, 2021£ 2,810.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Daffodil Poster, 2021
    Daffodil Poster, 2021£ 2,445.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Daffodils, 2021
    Daffodils, 2021£ 2,810.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Laughing Girls I, 2019
    Laughing Girls I, 2019£ 544.50
  • Helen Ballardie, Three Loves, 2018
    Three Loves, 2018£ 6,600.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Crouching Girl, 2018
    Crouching Girl, 2018£ 2,860.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Golden Hills with Bobby, 2016
    Golden Hills with Bobby, 2016£ 6,600.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Snow Boys, 2015
    Snow Boys, 2015£ 6,600.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Dancers at Bovey Tracy Town Hall, 2015
    Dancers at Bovey Tracy Town Hall, 2015£ 6,600.00
Series
Exhibitions
Store
  • Helen Ballardie, Santa Monica, 2021
    Santa Monica, 2021£ 990.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Front Lawn, 2021
    Front Lawn, 2021£ 990.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Rose , 2021
    Rose , 2021£ 990.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Night Daisies I, 2020
    Night Daisies I, 2020£ 970.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Night Daisies II, 2020
    Night Daisies II, 2020£ 970.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Sunflower, 2021
    Sunflower, 2021£ 990.00
  • Helen Ballardie, View in the Garden, 2021
    View in the Garden, 2021£ 990.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Collage, 2021
    Collage, 2021£ 2,810.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Daffodil Poster, 2021
    Daffodil Poster, 2021£ 2,445.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Daffodils, 2021
    Daffodils, 2021£ 2,810.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Laughing Girls I, 2019
    Laughing Girls I, 2019£ 544.50
  • Helen Ballardie, Three Loves, 2018
    Three Loves, 2018£ 6,600.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Crouching Girl, 2018
    Crouching Girl, 2018£ 2,860.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Golden Hills with Bobby, 2016
    Golden Hills with Bobby, 2016£ 6,600.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Snow Boys, 2015
    Snow Boys, 2015£ 6,600.00
  • Helen Ballardie, Dancers at Bovey Tracy Town Hall, 2015
    Dancers at Bovey Tracy Town Hall, 2015£ 6,600.00