WE often hear about how amazingly unique the flora and fauna is that we have here in Western Australia.
And sometimes it can be difficult to capture just how stunning the colours of the wildflower are, or just how bold the native birds can be.
So we should count ourselves lucky that our Mid West is home to the extremely talented Helen Ansell.
The Mullewa-based self-taught artist has carved a career out of her paintings that are inspired by the Western Australian environment,
particularly its flora and fauna.
She has a deep connection with the land, having grown up in the WA outback, and attending primary school in Meekatharra, as well as spending time on her father’s station, Ulalla, 75 kilometres from Wiluna.
Ironically the pieces began to fall into place for her career path when, after studying at university for three years in Perth, she travelled to the United Kingdom on a working holiday visa.
Prior to leaving, a friend suggested Helen have an exhibition to show some of the house full of paintings she had done “just for fun”.
“I had never studied art, I literally had no idea how to have an exhibition and no one to mentor me through the process,” Helen said.
It was a big step as the paintings were all on paper and to get them framed with glass was quite expensive for a university student.
But her leap of faith paid off when she sold everything on the opening night of ‘Inside Out’ at The Park Gallery, Perth.
So, armed with a portfolio, she settled in Scotland for three years and decided to try her hand at making a career out of being an artist.
Helen knocked on the doors of a number of galleries to see if any were interested in exhibiting her work and when they weren’t, undeterred, she hired her own space – a groovy underground bar in Edinburgh with bright turquoise walls.
Working on minimum wages of five pounds per hour in an art supplies shop during the day, she spent her evenings busily painting in the bedroom of her third-floor share flat.
Without a car, Helen said transporting 20 big paintings in a big taxi to her exhibition proved quite a feat.
But once again her hard work was rewarded with another extremely successful sell-out show, after which she was able to quit her day job, pay a six-month deposit on a studio in Leith with some amazing artists, and spend her days in a dream existence of painting.
This all came to an end when Helen’s visa ran out and she returned to station life with her father in the middle of the desert.
“Being overseas helped me to see my own backyard through different eyes,” Helen said.
“And one of the things that struck me the most was how amazing our wildflowers are – the most unique and diverse in the world.”
Soon after returning to WA, Helen was invited to exhibit in the prestigious Gadfly Gallery in Dalkeith, and was amazed when some of the paintings had sold even before she had arrived for the opening night.
In 2013, Helen and fellow artist Peta Riley started a textiles and products company called Mulla Mulla Designs, which was officially launched with an exhibition at the FORM Courthouse Gallery in Port Hedland.
Helen had become friends with Peta, also a talented self-taught artist, while working in the art department at Geraldton TAFE.
Helen was interested in translating her work onto textiles for some time and had tried her hand at graphic design, but soon realised it could take years for her to acquire the skills.
Fortunately Peta took on the challenge and now takes Helen’s painted designs and turns them into stunning repeat patterns.
“She is super talented – often I love what she is able to do with my work more than I liked the original,” Helen said.
As well as having a great working relationship with similar passion and ideas, they have travelled around the countryside, running workshops together, which Helen said was a lot of fun.
A recent trip involved flying to Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, to run a textile workshop with the talented Djilpin Artists, putting their designs onto scarves, cushions and picnic rugs, with the proceeds from their sales all going back to the artists and the local art centre.
Over the past few years products by Mulla Mulla Designs, including tea towels, scarves, wraps and cushions – as well as coasters and cards – have made their way into a number of visitor centres and gift shops throughout WA.
Helen also sells her original paintings through Aspects at Kings Park, where she was the Artist-In-Residence for the 2016 Wildflower Festival, and at the FORM Courthouse Gallery in Port Hedland.
All of the prints and paintings feature uniquely Australian flowers such as banksias, proteas, everlastings and spider orchids, and wildlife including the laughing kookaburra and Carnaby’s black cockatoo, created in beautiful colours and shapes.
For the wildflower season this year, Helen has been running a joint pop-up shop in Mullewa with friend Michele McGinity, which she said had been so successful and had exceeded their expectations – so they are likely to do the same thing again next year.
Helen will travel to Port Hedland for the Hedand Art Awards in October, during which time she plans to meet with talented Roebourne artist Jill Churnside to consider working together in the future.
In the meantime Helen is continually exploring new ideas for her art which she said was aided by living right in the heart of wildflower country.
She has always been inspired by pattern and design, as well as flat shapes and colour, and has been very much influenced by Aboriginal art due to her time spent in the remote Aboriginal community of Ululla, outside of Wiluna, as a child, and long associations with many Aboriginal artists over the years.
Helen said she had to keep a pen and paper with her all the time to record the endless flow of ideas, many of which happened when she was driving long distances.
“I will often come across a flower or bird, or a certain colour combination that inspires me, and I keep a record of my ideas for future reference,” she said.
