A graduate of London’s prestigious Royal College of Art, Helen brings her love of drawing and the sea together in this exhilarating series of images of boats, waterways and shipping. Many of these images were created during an artist’s residency at Nobby’s Lighthouse on the Whibayganba Headland, Newcastle.
‘On the day I arrived at the Lighthouse’, says Helen, ‘it was blowing a gale. So I decided to try to draw something intangible and elemental about the place: the wind, cold air, movement of water, ships and clouds. I remember running around the Lighthouse, drawing ships as they pulled into the harbour, and having to grab hold of the paper to stop it blowing away… The experience of returning to plein air painting has been transformative for my arts practice’.
An artist and a writer, Helen was recently awarded Creative Australia’s Keesing Studio at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris.

Bio
Helen Hopcroft is a Tasmanian artist and writer who lives in Maitland. She holds a Master in Fine Arts (Painting) from the Royal College of Art and a Creative Writing PhD from Newcastle University. Helen was recently awarded Creative Australia’s Keesing Studio at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris. Helen once spent a year dressed as Marie Antoinette, 24/7, for a piece of performance art titled My Year as a Fairy Tale and she is currently writing a memoir about the experience. She can be found online at @myyearasafairytale