A woman standing in front of a painting.

Helen J. Vaughn

Oil/still life, figurative, landscape

“I simply love what I do. I expect to be doing it for the rest of my life.”

About the Artist

A long-time Huntsville resident, Helen Vaughn now lives in Augusta, Georgia and paints in a light-filled studio nestled in her home. Of her art, one observer wrote, “Her fascination with color, light and shadow blooms fervently within the confines of her careful compositions.”

While perhaps best known for large figurative paintings, Helen is also widely recognized for her landscape and still-life compositions. According to a catalog for a museum exhibition of her work, “Vaughn’s images, with their glowing colors and lively textures, are accessible and appealing, and resonate on deeper levels as well.”

Widely exhibited both in the region and nationally, Helen’s work has had many solo exhibitions. Her paintings have been featured in national publications, including American Artist and Pastel Artist International. She has won numerous awards, and her work is included in museums, and corporate and private collections.

Artist Statement

“My aim as a painter is to bring to life a slice of life as I experience it. Light, form and color are my vocabulary. My painting style is representational. I pay a great deal of attention to the compositional and value elements in a given piece. No matter the image, my working method is essentially the same. Using photographs and sketches done on site or during a modeling session, I lay out an idea in thumbnail with a rough notion of the composition. Once satisfied, I begin the painting.

Often, the finished piece is not the most exciting part of the process for me. There is something I could have done better; the image doesn’t exactly match what has been in my head during the painting of it, and finally, finishing means that I must once again face the empty canvas—always a daunting task.

What excites me is the process of creating a painting—the steps I take in a prescribed fashion that are nearly always the same. First comes the idea and creating the reference material from which to work. Then there is the drawing, followed by color selections that will produce harmonies, then decisions about texture and creating dimension and field of vision. And, throughout, decisions and more decisions until the thing becomes more than the sum of its parts—it takes on a life of its own. Heady stuff!”