Fort Smith (May 23/05) - Fort Smith artist Helene Croft recently received national recognition for her paintings depicting Northern aviation.

"I mainly paint about Northern life and aircrafts are such an important part of life here," she said. Her painting Northern Pioneer won second place at the biannual Artflight exhibition at the Canada Aviation Museum in Ottawa.

This year's theme was "Northern Wings."

"The scene in the painting is a common experience," she said. "Many people go out in the winter looking for caribou or take a plane to get to a winter camp."

Croft's painting will hang in the Ottawa museum for one year.

Croft has been painting since 1996, when she first picked up a paintbrush as a hobby.

Now she paints approximately 40 hours each week, she said.

All the hours of teaching herself various techniques has been worth it, she said.

Her paintings hang in homes all over Canada and the United States. She has paintings in Japan and Europe and even filled a special request from Africa. Croft has also won numerous awards for her work.

Two years ago she received honourable mention at the Artflight exhibition celebrating 100 years of aviation.

She painted the 2001 South Pole rescue mission to pick up a doctor in need of surgery. The scene is dark with people bundled up waiting for the plane, she said.

"It was special because the chief pilot on the rescue flight, Sean Loutit, used to live in Fort Smith."