Helen Clarke Art and Photography

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Helen Clarke Art and Photography

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A place for my artwork to be. I work mainly in soft pastels.

14/10/2026

🌙✨ Step into the Darkness ✨🌙

You’re warmly invited to visit the Darkness exhibition at Indigo Crow — an eclectic and intriguing mix of art, craft and ceramics from 8 talented local artists and crafters, all inspired by the theme of darkness. 🖤

My own nocturnal artwork is on show alongside a selection of prints and cards, and there’s a wonderful variety of creative work to explore, each with its own unique take on the beauty, mystery and magic of the darker hours.

🖤 Where: Indigo Crow, Burton Rd, Lincoln
🕙 When: Every day, 10am–4pm (closed on Monday)
🌘 For the next two weeks!

Do pop in, have a browse, discover the work of our lovely local creatives, and perhaps find a little something special to take home with you.

Ceramics SupportLocalMakers DarknessInspired

08/10/2026

My Midnight Hare completes the Nocturnal animal series. The exhibition opens on 12th Oct at Indigo Crow on Burton Road, Lincoln, with a preview evening 5-7pm. Then runs 10-4pm everyday (closed Mondays) until 25th October. There are 8 artists all following the theme of Darkness, so expect some spooky goings on! 🎃 🧙 💀 A big thank you to for granting permission to use her fabulous photo reference.

03/10/2026

I’m in Staffordshire at the moment and the wildlife is incredible. A few squirrels.

17/09/2026

This weekend is the Oxcombe Art and Ceramics Exhibition. Fri, Sat, Sun 10-3:30. Set in the most beautiful spot in the heart of the Lincolnshire Wolds come and see, and hopefully buy, incredible ceramics and a diverse range of art. All produced by Lincolnshire artisans. Food from Hollys Kitchen is available to nourish you. I’ll be there on Saturday and Sunday come and say hello. This year my work is in the Makers Gallery and the bottom Crewyard Studio.

06/09/2026

🐸 One of my most challenging pieces to date. The common frog, mostly active in the evenings, a familiar sight in our gardens and countryside. I really enjoyed capturing all the mottled colours and earthy tones. I think frogs are well worth celebrating- not everything has to be rare or exotic to be beautiful! Thank you so much to on Instagram for the truly wonderful reference photo.

13/08/2026

There’s something rather special about working on a small subject like this Small Copper moth. 🦋

Soft pastel on Pastelmat, and part of my nocturnal collection, this little moth was a joy to create. I particularly loved building up the contrasting textures — the delicate, almost dusty surface of the wings and body alongside the veins and fine detail of the leaf beneath it.

I’m always fascinated by how much character can be found in these tiny creatures when you stop and really look at them.

The photographic reference for this piece was kindly provided with permission by Amy — thank you for allowing me to use such a beautiful reference.

I hope you enjoy meeting this little one as much as I enjoyed creating it. 🤎

PastelArt SoftPastels Pastelmat WildlifeArtist BritishWildlife NocturnalCollection MothArt NatureInArt

11/08/2026

Rejection has a funny way of making you question yourself.

This year has brought more rejection than I’d expected — from exhibitions I’ve been part of for years, from opportunities I’d hoped for, and from places and people I never expected to feel rejected by.

This has knocked my confidence more than I’d like to admit. It has made me question myself, my judgement and whether putting yourself out there in life is really worth the risk.

There have been moments when I’ve seriously considered withdrawing completely-stopping trying to sell my artwork and simply going back to creating for the love of it and keeping it in a drawer.

Then yesterday, two of my nocturnal pieces were accepted for an exhibition at The Usher Art Gallery in Lincoln.

And somehow, that felt significant.

A quiet reminder that rejection doesn’t define what you create — or who you are.

Another big confidence boost this year has also been seeing my prints displayed in the Epic Centre for the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society. A moment of pride I didn’t expect, and one that quietly reminded me that my work does find its place in the world.

Perhaps resilience isn’t about becoming immune to rejection, but about allowing it to shape you without letting it stop you.

So I’ll keep painting.

Not because every door will open, or every work will be understood.

But because I still need to. For me.

And that, for now, is enough. 🤍

02/07/2026

A couple of years ago I created an artwork that depicted a mountain hare and I always knew I’d return to them. They are the UKs only native hare and they adapt to their habitat by changing their fur colour with the seasons. The stunning reference photo was photographed by Mark Johnson, Mark Johnson -I would love to photograph them myself one day.

27/06/2026

It’s been wonderful to get back in the studio the past few days, thankfully relatively cool too. This fox was created using my own photo reference, I wish I could take all my photo references myself. To see the animals through the lens and then look really closely at the detail as I produce the artwork is very rewarding. Created in soft pastel, this artwork forms part of my growing Nocturnal Collection — celebrating the wildlife that emerges when most of the world is asleep.

20/06/2026

🐾 This special little chap is Louis 🐾

It was a huge honour and genuine pleasure to create this portrait of Louis for a close school friend. Created in soft pastels on Pastelmat, this A3 artwork was all about capturing not just his likeness, but his character too. I always ask whether to keep a collar on-Louis is an escape artist so the name tag is definitely part of his story.

There is always a great deal of trust involved when someone asks me to draw a much-loved pet. Our animals are such an important part of our lives, and I never take for granted the responsibility of faithfully capturing them in artwork that can be treasured for years to come.

Although my work mainly focuses on British wildlife and rural subjects, I do take on a limited number of pet portraits each year, simply because I really enjoy creating them.

My commission spaces for the remainder of this year are now becoming very limited, but if you are interested in discussing a portrait of your own much-loved companion, please do get in touch.

Scroll across for prices. The link in my bio takes you to my website with more information.

Address

Welton Cliff
Welton

Website

http://www.helenclarkedesigns.co.uk/

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