Helen Orton

Oil painting, figurative painting, art

Stranger to Ourselves
Oil on canvas 70x60cm
An exploration of the double, the divided self and the shadow self. What is the personae we show to others and is it truly who we are?

28.10.2025 18:44 — 👍 17    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

A painting I’ve just about finished, though they are never finished for me. Don’t we all wear masks whether to fit in or just get through? #WomensArt

12.07.2025 19:05 — 👍 5    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

#WomensArt

21.04.2025 08:06 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

The masks we wear each day and how they are adapted to different circumstances, how we perceive ourselves and how we want to project ourselves are ideas I am trying to explore in my work.

16.04.2025 16:17 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Self portrait oil painting zoomed in face

Self portrait oil painting

Self portrait oil painting

Self portrait oil painting zoomed in

I admit that I approach the painting of a self portrait with trepidation, the unease caused by having to face the realities of my appearance. But then appearance is an interesting word to describe the way we look as it has a performative aspect to it.

16.04.2025 16:14 — 👍 4    🔁 0    💬 2    📌 0

The Conversation
Oil on canvas 61x50.8cm
Perhaps in this case, she doesn’t want to look in the mirror, perhaps a rejection of looking at oneself.

14.04.2025 17:10 — 👍 5    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Loved this episode. Really inspiring.

03.04.2025 06:45 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

The Picture has been Taken
Oil on canvas
50x60cm

02.04.2025 18:38 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Brilliant film. I would have loved to hear their conversation.

22.03.2025 08:50 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Inside Outside
Oil on canvas 55 x 65cm
#figurativeart #oilpainting

19.03.2025 19:38 — 👍 6    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

The Artificial and the Intelligent
Oil on canvas
50 x 60cm
#fineart #oilpainting

15.03.2025 17:02 — 👍 5    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

My first solo exhibition will be at The Base, Newbury, UK from 18th to 30th March.

27.02.2025 16:50 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

The Moment was Enough
Oil on canvas 40x50cm
#oilpainting #fineart #figurativeart

22.02.2025 10:20 — 👍 11    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

#art #painting #portraitpainting

18.02.2025 22:01 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Thank you

17.02.2025 19:01 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

I think this painting is just about finished…

Oil on board
35 x 28 com

17.02.2025 16:15 — 👍 12    🔁 0    💬 2    📌 0

I Cannot Hear Her Voice

Oil on canvas
40 x 50 cm

14.02.2025 17:11 — 👍 21    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

She Feared Unease was the Cost of Curiosity
Oil on canvas 50x60cm
I’ve been looking again at the inspirational song lyrics of David Bowie and it seems to me that he had a gift for identifying the zeitgeist of the times. I wonder if unease is the zeitgeist of our own time?
#art #oilpainting

10.02.2025 18:40 — 👍 16    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

The Brick Wallpaper
Oil on canvas 50x60cm
I am interested in exploring the mirror as a metaphor for self-examination. The mirror is above the gas fire in my childhood home and has been there all my life. I have watched myself age in that mirror.

05.02.2025 12:20 — 👍 18    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

I Will Not Turn Away
Oil on canvas 50x40cm
#art #painting

04.02.2025 18:49 — 👍 27    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0