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Helen Shideler

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Helen Shideler
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  • Home
    • Commissions
    • My Artistic Journey CV
    • FAQ’s
    • Links
    • Photo Album
    • Bio
  • Artwork
    • Available Artwork
    • My Plein Air Journey
    • My Print Shop
    • Animal Kingdom
    • East Coast Stills
    • Feathered Friends
    • Florals
    • Mussels and More
    • People
    • Poured Watercolour
    • Scapes
    • The Pond
  • Artist Blog
  • Contact me
  • Events
    • Fund Raisers
    • Exhibitions

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  • Blog
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  • Home
    • My Artistic Journey CV
    • Commissions
    • FAQ’s
    • Links
    • Photo Album
    • Bio
  • Portfolio
    • Animal Kingdom
    • Feathered Friends
    • Florals
    • Mussels and More
    • People
    • Poured Watercolour
    • Scapes
    • The Pond
    • Available Artwork
    • My Plein Air Journey
    • East Coast Stills
    • My Print Shop

Recent Posts

  • Sun, Salt and Slow Time
    In My Plein Air Adventures, Travelling Colours
  • Q1 and what have I done?
    In Artwork, Fauna - Feathers and Fur, From My Studio, Scapes - Coastal and Land, Still Life - Florals & Much More
  • 2025 A Year of Color and Attention
    In Artful Reflections, Scapes - Coastal and Land, Still Life - Florals & Much More
  • Events,  My Plein Air Adventures,  Travelling Colours

    Memories of California

    11 May 2017 / 2 Comments

    I am somewhat jet lagged after just returning home from almost three weeks in magical California. Seriously with all the flight delays my head hit the pillow at 4:30am! Other than trying to get home, it was truly an amazing experience.  Although it was seriously chillier than I expected it would be.  But the sun was shining almost every day and the sky was so blue. Never had the chance to share the experience while I was travelling.  Happiness is being that kind of busy. PACE 2017 – This is a lot of what it was about The opportunity to paint along side of plein air artists, watch what other…

    Read More
    Helen Shideler

    You May Also Like

    SCA Art Chat with Helen

    30 April 2021

    To Santa Fe and back

    24 April 2018

    Stone Church Artist’s Residency

    23 October 2022
  • Artwork,  Product Review,  Travelling Colours

    Painting of a Dragonfly on the Fence

    15 July 2016 / 1 Comment

    Dragonflies We have a backyard pond complete with a waterfall and lily pads and dragonflies are frequent visitors. Frequent but they do not rest for long. Almost never long enough for me to run and get may camera and get back down the stairs.  And my camera is by the door when I am home! On the Fence But I have gotten lucky a few times. One summer’s day a dragonfly landed on my friend Jackie’s belly. And I had my camera right there.  I just had to convince her not to swoosh him away until I got the photos. This was quite the challenge for her – but being…

    Read More
    Helen Shideler

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    Ducks in a Row

    10 April 2020

    Red Hot Pink poured watercolour

    3 May 2020

    Sunny Serenade, A Lilac story

    12 January 2025
  • Events,  My Plein Air Adventures,  Travelling Colours

    Plein Air Convention -Post #2

    23 May 2016 / No Comments

    Home again home again Now that we have returned from our extended trip to Arizona, we have acclimatized from the four hour time difference, we are recovering from that dratted cold virus, and I have caught up with all the web site work for the upcoming Studio Tour (phew!),  I can finally get back to my painting and blog posting. We fell in love with Arizona.  I mean how could you not, especially Tucson!  My husband and I stayed in this area for an additional four days after #PACE was over and did the tourist bit.  We really could have stayed in the area for a full week and never run out of…

    Read More
    Helen Shideler

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    My Painting in 2014 CSPWC Show

    1 November 2014

    I Had a Total Blast

    6 October 2013

    Week 1 – Gone to the Birds

    7 January 2016
  • Events,  My Plein Air Adventures,  Travelling Colours

    Plein Air in Arizona

    1 May 2016 / 4 Comments

    I have just returned from the Plein Air Conference and Expo (PACE 16) in Tucson Arizona! And what a wonderful experience it was.  I will be creating a few posts on this experience I am sure. There was so much to do and to take in.   I met up with a few friends there Jane Hagen Freeman and Marilyn Wear.  Marilyn was a prize winner – was so exciting to be there to see her win!  We attended many daily sessions for interest and to help us hone our plein air skills.   I also met up with Poppy Balser from Nova Scotia! It was so hot there that my…

    Read More
    Helen Shideler

    You May Also Like

    To Santa Fe and back

    24 April 2018

    Week 1 – Gone to the Birds

    7 January 2016

    SKB Workshop in Dubois WY 2014

    28 September 2014
  • Artwork,  Fauna - Feathers and Fur,  My Painting Process,  Travelling Colours

    The Naming of a Painting of a Raven

    7 December 2014 / No Comments

    Naming the bird Here is my yet unnamed and unfinished painting of a raven. My friends at Google tell me that there are three names for a group of ravens.  Unkindness. Conspiracy. Constable.  When I embark on painting a series I do quite a bit of research on the subject, in this case ravens.  I like to title my paintings with meaning whenever possible, especially if I can come up with a name that includes somme tongue-in-cheek humour.  What’s in a name? I know ravens are important in the culture of First Nations (and I have this lineage on my mother’s side) so my curiosity is naturally piqued. An Unkindness,…

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    Helen Shideler

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    Roses for Valentines

    14 February 2016

    Making of Chill Seekers Polar Bear Dip

    20 February 2021

    Week 3 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

    19 February 2018
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ARTIST & BLOGGER

Hi, I’m Helen. Welcome to my online home. Here, you’ll find a collection of my art creations inspired by light, colour and texture.

Explore, enjoy and feel free to connect!

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  • Artful Reflections (15)
  • Artwork (79)
    • Fauna – Feathers and Fur (19)
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    • Scapes – Coastal and Land (15)
    • Still Life – Florals & Much More (38)
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    • Product Review (7)
  • Kudos (9)
  • My Painting Process (50)
    • Helpful Hints (7)
    • Lessons Learned (23)
    • Poured Watercolour (13)
  • My Plein Air Adventures (20)
  • Travelling Colours (20)

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coastal art Feathered Friends florals and feathers Mussel shell painting sea shore painting

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Copyright

As the artist I retain the the reproductive rights to my artwork in any form. Thank you for following along and appreciating my work.

Memory Lane Omigoodness this is like a happy reun Memory Lane

Omigoodness this is like a happy reunion 

Looking through my pile of watercolour Plein Air paintings. From the beaches of PEI to San Diego and Coronado Island to Bermuda and Wyoming ….New Brunswick and BC and even Florida

So many memories and I remember every day around each of these paintings 
This is why painting from life is so important to me…the colours, the sensations and reason for the paintings are forever embedded in my memory-  and are often teased out in my studio work.
I am so blessed that I’ve been able to travel and paint

Happy memories 

#livelifeincolour #getoutsideandpaint #pleinairpainter #pleinaircanada #helenshideler
Special Commission I am so very grateful that I Special Commission 

I am so very grateful that I was asked to paint this commission. It is a really heartfelt painting for the owners and through the early discussion stage we discovered that we have a connection that made this process even more special…and emotional.  Often in our lives I profoundly believe that we are guided to make connections. This experience was most definitely one of those times. Thank you….

I combined three different photos to create this piece. 
Acrylic on cradled wood panel
12x24”

#eastcoastartist #beautifulnewbrunswick #beautifulnewbrunswick #livelifeincolour #helenshideler
“HIGH HOPES” That look of longing. Of knowing wha “HIGH HOPES”

That look of longing. Of knowing what is up there and but not how to reach it. It’s our peanut feeder. Just high enough to be out of reach and no way for him to swipe one or two. These clever birds will almost always find a way. This one started to bully the blue jays into dropping their treasured peanuts!  Quite the raucous. Quite the show!

12x12x1.5” 
Acrylic on deep cradled panel

#eastcoastartist #livelifeincolour #crowsofinstagram #crowart #helenshideler
DOING THE HOKEY POKEY So much fun….and this song DOING THE HOKEY POKEY

So much fun….and this song was going through my mind for most of the time I was painting it. Who can resist a dancing crow?

12 x 12 x1.5” acrylic on deep cradled panel

#artinprogress #eastcoastartist #helenshideler #crowart #contemporyrealism
“ATTITUDE” He didn’t fly in. He just walked. Stra “ATTITUDE”

He didn’t fly in. He just walked. Straight towards me. I was crouched on the ground at Lily Lake trying to get some great duck reference photos. Then I felt its presence. Turned with camera ready…..

No rush. No fear. Just that steady, deliberate approach — like he already owns the ground. Probably thinking I was going to feed him.

There’s something about a crow coming straight at you. Not frantic. With intent. And all “Attitude”

Acrylic on deep cradled panel 
12x12x 1.5”

#crow #contemporarypainting #birdart #eastcoastartist #helenshideler
“Moonlit Magic” I had a vision for this painting “Moonlit Magic”

I had a vision for this painting with a very dark background…and it worked. But only in the daytime. So I went back in and lit up the background some…and now the painting works in the evening and daytime.

I’m surprising myself at how much I’m enjoying acrylics I’ve again…mind you not the dry time. I have a mini split in my studio. Often the painting works is literally dry on my brush before I can get it on my painting. This is tough on my brushes as well.  Working through my supply of surfaces in hopes of bringing it down to a reasonable stash. Called high hopes eh?

11x14 acrylic on cradled wood panel

#eastcoastartist #helenshideler #studiowork #artinprogress
“Spring Delivery” The robins bring joy to my hear “Spring Delivery”

The robins bring joy to my heart. They are most often the first of the migratory birds to come back - giving us hope that spring really is on its way. And with that hope comes nesting season.  We have had robins nest at our cottage, at our home beside our power meter, and in our climbing hydrangeas in our backyard. It is always delightful and feels like such a privilege to see. 

Spring Delivery is a bit of an experiment. I started out by pouring acrylics….they were not happy to pour on this surface - but I stayed with it and it worked out. My goal was to add some depth before I started painting. 

Acrylic on gesso board. 12x16”

#eastcoastartist #robinsofinstagram #nestingrobin #birdsinart #helenshideler
“SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT” Because sometimes you g “SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT”

Because sometimes you gotta let the world know….don’t you agree?  I have an idea for a series called Midnight. I think you can see where this may go. One of my many goals for 2026 is to use up a lot of the surfaces that I have on hand. Because, you know, artists collect lots of stuff. 

I think this rather handsome corvid is happy to announce that he’ll have company soon. 

A bit of a product review. This is painted on a pre-gessoed cradled panel. I found the surface to be ridiculously slippery and not user friendly. You cannot layer or glaze before the previous layer is completely dry or the paint will lift off almost back to the original white. AAAAANNNNDDD…it scratches super easy. My fingernails left tracks and they were not easy to cover up.  But I have many. And will use them as the finished work looks great and they are pricey (meaning higher quality I think). I have t named the brand…would only do that privately - but it’s most likely not the one you think. 

#eastcoastartist #artinprogress #studiowork #helenshideler #crowart
“Everlasting Memories” What does one do with thei “Everlasting Memories”

What does one do with their collection of shells? Well, rather than make a wreath…I painted a wreath from my shells. It’s funny, but last year I painted a few other shell paintings. When I look at them, I see the same shells painted into this piece. I must only grab the shells near the top of the case for references.

These shells mean a lot to me. I’d collected them over many years and really do treasure them and the days I got to spend at the beach. I know we are not supposed to take shells from the beach now, but at the time it was an acceptable thing to collect.

This painting is a “Round Tuit” - meaning I’ve been planning on painting this project for many years and I finally got around to it!

24 x24” oil painting with shell details in video
Will be custom framed once dry enough

#eastcoastartist #artinprogress #studiowork #livelifeincolour #helenshideler
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Recent Posts

  • Sun, Salt and Slow Time
    In My Plein Air Adventures, Travelling Colours
  • Q1 and what have I done?
    In Artwork, Fauna - Feathers and Fur, From My Studio, Scapes - Coastal and Land, Still Life - Florals & Much More
  • 2025 A Year of Color and Attention
    In Artful Reflections, Scapes - Coastal and Land, Still Life - Florals & Much More
  • When Your Art Page Gets Hacked
    In Artful Reflections, Lessons Learned, My Painting Process, Scapes - Coastal and Land

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Copyright

As the artist I retain the the reproductive rights to my artwork in any form.

My Artwork may not be photographed, sketched, painted, added in part or in whole to any other artwork, or reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the artist prior to moving forward.

Thank you for following along and appreciating my work.

©Helen Shideler

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