Description

Extended Data

DAAO URL

https://www.daao.org.au/bio/helen-young

Birth Place

Burwood, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Biography

After retiring in the early 1990’s Helen and her husband decided to avoid the cold winters in Bathurst by travelling to warmer areas of Australia to prospect for gold. Her husband thought Helen might find the lifestyle with its long periods of camping in remote areas boring but Helen enjoyed the bush living and the company of fellow prospectors around the campfire of an evening. As Helen had always had a pencil in her hand, and a vague wish to paint seriously, the new mode of life encouraged her to tackle watercolours. By the mid 1990’s painting had become a way of life, in the goldfields and at home in Bathurst. Travelling the huge unpopulated areas of Australia and seeing the isolated communities as well as thriving townships gave Helen ideas and inspiration for paintings; uninhabited landscapes, old settlements, wildlife and interesting faces. A never ending kaleidoscope of inspiration. Having found an all consuming love of painting, she has won prizes at several shows, including the Cowra Art Show and the Blackheath Rhododendron Festival Art Show. In 2001 she won the Highly Commended prize in the BX Archies, a Bathurst Regional Gallery competition.She painted Frank Smith of Frank Smith Shoe Repairs. She painted Frank, usually ebullient, in an unusually serious pose. She also won the People’s Choice for “Seriously, Frank.” Enjoying portraiture has given Helen the opportunity to meet and paint some interesting people including racing car driver Larry Perkins and the New South Wales Surveyor General when she received a commission ffrom his department to paint his portrait as a retirement gift. Peter Andren purchased a portrait she painted of him when he was newly elected as the Member for Calare. I(n 2009 Helen decided to aim high and contest the Portia Geach Memorial Award for a painting of a person distinguished in Art, Letters or the Sciences by a female artist. After some reflection Warren Somerville seemed the ideal choice. A man who had achieved more than most of us could conceive of, assembling one of the largest private collections of fossils and minerals in the world, and with generosity to match with the gift of the collection to the people of Australia. The portait titled “Professor Warren Somerville – A lifetime’s Work” wasn’t hung in the Portia Geach Award but she had a wonderful time painting an interesting man with a wonderful smile. Writers: CHRG Date written: 2018 Last updated: 2018

Born

b. 1943

Summary

None listed

Gender

Female

Died

None listed

Age at death

None listed