Artist inspired by the light on the land
Terry Halifax
Northern News Services
Fort Smith (Apr 02/01) - The North is a land of many riches. For painter Helene Croft, it's a beauty that she must capture with paint and canvas.
Painter Helene Croft is among the most respected artists in the North and she never took a single lesson.
Helene and her husband Bruno moved to the North 14 years ago, from Quebec and settled in Yellowknife. Helene taught violin and Bruno worked as a biologist for the territorial government. For the past five years they have called Fort Smith home.
Helene says she enjoys the peace and quiet the small town offers and loves the scenery.
She always enjoyed photography, but never liked the way her pictures turned out. Painting gives her a greater control over what goes in the frame.
"I think of it like a window to the North," the artist mused.
She never copied the work of other painters, but studied the technical work of Robert Bateman. The sights of the high Arctic motivated her to put brush to canvas.
"Travelling up North really inspired me; the lights, the barren land and how untouched it is," she said.
She said the colours of the North are unique in to the world and that was further emphasized when she went south to visit family over Christmas.
"It's when you're away from home and come back when you notice the the late afternoon colour in the snow and the sky -- you don't find that anywhere else," she said. "Even in the south when you see a sunset, it's not the same."
She enjoys painting wildlife and landscapes, always working from the top of the canvas down.
"The sky is never just blue," Croft said. "There is a gradient or specs of white."
She can't help but have maternal emotional ties to her work and although she appreciates people buying her art, she likes to keep track of her framed babies.
"It's really hard on me if I don't know where they are," she smiled.
Croft was commissioned by the Rangers to do a series of paintings, one of which was used by NorthwesTel for the cover of the 1999 phone book.
While working with the Rangers, Croft became enamoured with painting the aircraft that opened the North.
"There is something wild about an airplane," Croft explained. "An airplane with wheels in the city doesn't appeal to me, but these bush planes attracted my attention."
One of her recent works was voted the best at the Sport Aviation Art Competition in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
"I was very happy to win, with me just starting out," Croft smiled.
Other accolades came from the Great Northern Arts Festival in Inuvik last year, where she was judged as the best two-dimensional artist by the public and also by fellow artists.
"It's very humbling to be recognized by your peers," she said.
She sells her work through a number of galleries in the North, including Hay River, Yellowknife and the Yukon. The inspiration for each work comes from the world outside.
"I think of it like a business," she said, although her painting never feels like work to her.
"Some things are harder to paint than others and that takes some time."
