Meet Helene
In 2020, I opened Gallery on Dowling, a combined studio and gallery space where I exhibit my work year-round. Living regionally doesn’t mean artistic isolation – quite the opposite. The support of local networks and regional arts programs, along with the everyday rhythm of small-town life, have been vital to my growth as an artist.
The Australian landscape is a constant source of inspiration. I’m drawn to its shifting moods, layered histories, and quiet rhythms – those fleeting moments where land and light meet in unexpected ways. Whether it’s the textured earth of Dungog or a distant horizon, the landscape is never just a backdrop – it’s an active presence in my practice.
Through painting, printmaking, and encaustic techniques, I explore the expressive potential of surface and mark-making. Each medium offers a unique way to interpret memory, place, and the subtle tensions of the natural world. I’m interested in how materials – layered, scraped, revealed – can mirror the way landscape holds traces of time and human connection.
Supporting artists – especially those in regional areas – is something I feel strongly about, and I’m proud to contribute to the creative life of this place I call home.
"I follow in the footsteps of my mother, Jeanne Harrison, an artist whose career has spanned over 50 years in the Hunter. Her work focuses on printmaking and painting home."
Recognition
Awards
2024 Mission for Seafarers – Open Prize
2022 Dungog Art Society – First Local Prize
2018 Dungog Art Society – First in Miniature
2013 Singleton Art prize – Highly Commended
2008 Port Macquarie Art Society Easter Prize – 1st Prize Printmaking
2008 Port Macquarie Art Society Easter Prize – Highly Commended
2007 Art in the Vines, Broke – Highly Commended
1999 Centre of Contemporary Crafts – Outstanding Achievement in Visual Art Education
Finalist
2014 Meroogal Women's Art Prize, Nowra
2014 Gosford Art Prize
2014 Muswellbrook Photographic Prize
2013 Broken Hill Outback Prize
2013 Muswellbrook Art Prize
2013 CPM Print Award, Murwillumbah
2011 CPM Print Award, Murwillumbah
2010 Kilgour Prize for Contemporary Figurative Painting, Newcastle Regional Gallery
2010 Muswellbrook Photographic Award
2009 Gosford Art Prize
2009 Muswellbrook Art Prize
2009 CPM Print Award, Murwillumbah
2008 Newcastle Emerging Artist Award
Exhibitions
2024 Inside Liddell, Gallery on Dowling, Dungog
2022 Chichester Catchment, Straitjacket Gallery, Newcastle
2017 Red Gold, the Cedar Story, Janet Clayton, Sydney and Gallery 139, Newcastle
2016 Coal Dusted, Gallery 139, Newcastle Solo
2015 Lino and Lace, Gallery 139, Newcastle Solo
2014 Mirrored in the Earth, Gosford Regional Gallery Solo
2014 And the Earth Breathes Too, Muswellbrook Regional Gallery Solo
International Exhibitions
2011 Agora Gallery, Chelsea ,New York, Art from Australia and Beyond