Helen Gray

charcoal, chalk.

In my past life I was a cartographer, and later on layout artist on primary education booklets. Then followed signwriting, craft teaching, and art teaching. These days, I’m drawing and painting for the pleasure of it. My passion for the outdoors, especially wilderness, and years of walking in the bush, are the inspirations for my work. I favour drawing over painting, perhaps because of those early years working on maps. I am so fortunate to live in this area of such diverse landscapes; there is so much to inspire me. Since moving permanently to this area thirty years ago I have expanded my interests in art. I have attended many workshops and classes given by local artists, showed and sold my work in exhibitions in the Shoalhaven region, and am forever inspired and encouraged by my friends and artists in the OTA (Out There Artists) when we meet each week. The drawing in this exhibition is based on a pocket of rainforest on my land. In these times of pandemic, I am so lucky that I don’t need to go far to find inspiration