About the Artist
My name is Helen Tabor and I am a scottish painter living and working in the Scottish Borders. I was born in Middlesex in 1960 and studied English and History at York University. I spent a number of years teaching in The Himalayas before settling in Scotland in 1995.
All my work is in oil on canvas or board. I usually start with a background of collage which creates a textured, patterned effect on which I can build my painting. I often work with large brushes, applying the paint boldly initially and then refining the image as I develop the painting. Using a collage base gives depth and takes me in interesting directions so that the painting is to some extent led by the interaction between the paint and what is underneath.
My inspiration comes from many sources, among them the great Scottish painters of the last century, William Mctaggart, Joan Eardly, Anne Redpath, William Gillies and John Maxwell; music, my family, the surrounding hills, fields and shores of southern Scotland and Picasso.
My subject matter may be landscape, seascape, still life or figures although my main interests are in the properties of colour, the effects created by the movement of the paint and in the mood I create in a painting.
