About | My Site

Black and white photo of Helen Bainbridge

Education
1985 BTEC Cleveland College of Art
1988 BA (Hons) Fine Art Canterbury College of Art
1993 MA Fine Art University of Northumbria

Work
1988-1990 Lecturer Art Foundation course at Frederick University Cyprus
1990-1999 Lecturer Art Foundation and Undergraduate courses at Cleveland College of Art
1999-2023 Interior Designer for residential properties. The UK.

Exhibitions and Prizes
2024 Women In Art Mall Galleries
2024 RBSA Summer Exhibition
2024 Longlisted Jacksons Art Prize
2024 Society of Women Artists Mall Galleries

Biography
Helen is an artist deeply rooted in her North East heritage but now calls the Cotswolds home. She recently returned to painting after a 25-year career as an Interior Designer.
Her time is divided between painting personal narratives and commissioned portraits, as well as running engaging creative workshops in her studio. These workshops are designed to help you discover your artistic voice in a supportive and nurturing environment.

Artists Statement
My favourite stories centre around transformative journeys. My family moved around a lot during my childhood. We were the embodiment of economic migrants, so it's hardly surprising that I didn't think it mattered where I came from.

That changed when my parents took their own lives, a decision they made because they wanted agency over their final years. The shock of losing them left me feeling both orphaned and rootless.

My parents were born and raised at opposite ends of the River Tees. Dad came from a small village in County Durham, while Mum came from Middlesbrough. Much of our lives were connected to the Tees. Family memories and places we've lived are scattered along the river banks from source to sea.

Recently, I learned about the Welsh word "Hiraeth," which describes a deep-seated longing for home, and I've experienced the visceral relief the Ancient Mariner and Odysseus expressed when they finally returned home.

There is danger in such nostalgia. This year, the Tees Valley has faced terrifying far-right riots. Middlesbrough has always been a melting pot of people, from the original Viking settlement to the rapidly populated boomtown in the 1830s and beyond.

Dad and I shared a fascination with the Viking "hogback" sculptures that are scattered across this corner of the North East. Carved in the shape of a longhouse with Anglo Saxon decoration adorning the sides, the sculptures epitomise assimilating cultures.

Mum and I shared a love of pattern and textiles. Mum came from a family of women who made things. She wanted to train at Art College to be a milliner, but her father decided she should be a secretary. Years later, I attended and later taught at to that same college.

Hands on making is essential to my process. I like to create surfaces that look fragile but are resilient, or instead, they are tactile, holding history like a well-worn shoe. Discarded textiles might become my canvases. Watercolours are subverted to create bold, expansive images. Patchworked scraps of old work create larger painting surfaces, and my failures are scrubbed away using scourers and scrubbing brushes. The ghosts of previous images become part of the new work, like a patina on old furniture.

I paint about my journey—the physical journey home, the emotional journey through loss, and the extraordinary kindness of the people I've met along the way.

Recording a journey down the length of the Tees is an ongoing project. I'm also collaborating with artists and community groups in the Tees Valley to develop an ambitious art project to respond creatively to the recent riots.