Follow 55@55 on Substack
Every Friday I paint a new oil landscape for my 55@55 series, and I write about each one on my Substack, Kitchen Table Creatives. In my latest post, one quick squizz at Ivon Hitchens sets my palette on fire for week 2’s piece: The Ageless Morning. In week 1, I painted The Temple Oak, my very first alla prima oil on paper. Both paintings are now in the shop.
Muted blue hills recede underneath a warm sky of apricot, ochre, rose and Naples yellow. I kept the distant Black Mountains thin and flat, then used a palette knife to lay thick slabs of sage and gold in the foreground. Look closely and you’ll find a flick of pink low in the grasses, a small echo of the sky.
This work is the second in a weekly series called 55@55, celebrating my return painting a landscape every Friday for a year.
Your painting comes carefully protected by board, ready to frame as you please.
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The Ageless Morning is an original oil painting by Helen Arthur, a landscape artist working on the Welsh border at Skirrid Studio in the Olchon Valley, Herefordshire.
Medium: oil on paper
Size: 28cm square
Year: 2026
Framing: unframed, ready to frame
Series: No. 2 of 55@55
With a focus on rich colour, gesture and texture, Helen paints remote spaces under big skies or tangled, semi-wild gardens and hedgerows.
Her experimental style is grounded by a love for being outside, experiencing first hand the elemental effects of light and weather on the Welsh borders countryside where she lives.
Welsh Borders and Tangled Life – latest collections
What collectors say…
“I cannot recommend Helen enough. Beautiful art, a willingness to craft a one of a kind piece, and a hospitable spirit. Commissioning and a receiving our painting was a breeze.”
Mike and Charis Caldwell, USA
“Absolutely loved everything. Uplifting…”
Carrie Ebdon, gallery visitor
“Thank you so much for the kind note and the additional information about the inspiration for the image. It's just stunning in person. My wife was beside herself.”
Sculptor Kory Wollens, USA, saw my work online and gifted a print to his wife
Helen’s art is collected internationally. She has exhibited with the RBSA (Birmingham), Royal Cambrian Academy (Conwy), Wales Contemporary (Chelsea), Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, Found Gallery (Brecon), and Bluestone Gallery (Hay on Wye).