artist and creative facilitator

Helen Bradbury

Artist

Helen Bradbury

Artist, printmaker, collaborator.

Working between studio, landscape, and community, Helen Bradbury creates work rooted in connection—between people, places, and the quiet stories that shape us. Her practice spans fine art, education, and healthcare, where creativity becomes a means of expression, healing, and belonging.

Helen Bradbury is a painter and printmaker whose work weaves together threads of place, people, and quiet transformation.

Born in the Midlands of England in 1963, Helen trained at Wolverhampton College of Art, graduating with First Class Honours in Fine Art. Under the guidance of tutors from the Royal College of Art, she honed a practice rooted in observation, reflection, and a deep sensitivity to materials and meaning.

Since moving to Northern Ireland in 1988, her creative path has unfolded in dialogue with landscape and community. From gallery walls to classroom tables, museum halls to hospital wards, Helen’s work reaches beyond the solitary studio. She has initiated and led countless art projects across County Down and Antrim and further afield, forging connections through creativity with people of all ages and abilities.

Her collaboration with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s Artists in Schools Programme extended her practice across the province, while partnerships with institutions such as the Dublin National Gallery, Downpatrick Museum, and Banbridge College enriched her role as an artist-educator.

In 1994, Helen began working with Arts Care, planting the seeds of a long-standing practice in healthcare settings. Here, she explores the quiet power of art to comfort, communicate, and transform, especially for those living with disability, illness, or vulnerability. This work remains at the heart of her artistic life.

Helen continues to exhibit widely, and her public and personal commissions emerge from conversations—with people, places, and memory. Each piece is a response, intimate and site-specific, connecting her creative voice with the world around her.

What Helen Offers

Helen Bradbury’s practice is grounded in presence, process, and connection—offering a range of creative pathways for individuals, communities, and organisations.

Artwork
Original works available for exhibition or purchase—pieces shaped by landscape, memory, and material. Each artwork holds a quiet, reflective dialogue with the world around it.

Personal Commissions
Helen creates bespoke pieces that are deeply personal and site-responsive. Through close conversation with clients, she crafts work that reflects story, setting, and spirit.

Exhibition Opportunities
Galleries, curators, and public venues are invited to explore exhibition partnerships. Helen’s work moves fluidly between fine art and socially engaged practice, offering rich potential for collaborative display.

Creative Facilitation
With a thoughtful and inclusive approach, Helen delivers workshops and projects that nurture creativity across age groups and abilities. Her facilitation extends into schools, community spaces, and healthcare environments.

Materials & Mediums
Paint – oil, watercolour, acrylic: fluid, layered, expressive.
Paper – drawing, collage: textured, fragmented, tactile.
Photography – a quiet lens on fleeting moments: light, shadow, and the poetry of the everyday.
Video – capturing the natural world and environmental stillness: light, rhythm, atmosphere.

Collaboration
Helen actively collaborates with individuals, communities, and health organisations. Her work is rooted in empathy, connection, and co-creation.

She holds full Public Liability Insurance.

figurative work

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wait
Graphite paint metallic pigment on paper 30x92cm

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the space between night and day Oil on canvas 31x31cm

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held
metatic pigment compressed charcoal and oil on paper 36x40cm

kind words

I have learnt not to be afraid of colour.

I have greatly appreciated your commitment to this field of artistic expression and through you have learnt a great deal... More than you will know.

Helen is very good at adjusting to the mood of the room, if she feels like everyone is having a tired day she will create a very relaxed activity and is always thinking on her feet which is a brilliant trait.

Helen lends her creativity, knowledge, skill and love of art to passionate and eager blind and partially people to delve into a world they didn’t know was available to them opening imaginations and giving a platform to a new way of communicating.  She ignited a desire for people to do more and go further with their way of seeing – tempting out their ‘inner eye’.

I loved being able to let go … The freedom of creative thinking is so inspiring. Helen is a fantastic artist and support within our group. I have really enjoyed the whole experience, which was a much needed diversion in the week.

Helen always knew I was capable of creating something wonderful, even when I didn’t believe it myself. She has confidence in me and that means a lot.

Very calming and relaxing. I think this is the quietest I have ever been as I got lost in what I was doing. Beautiful inks make amazing colours. Helen was very helpful in giving inspiration without leading you .

Back again for visit 5. I love how calming and grounding this exhibition is. I just wish there was a wing backed chair to sit in.

As a therapist participating in the group, to have someone adjust and understand what kind of creative medium I need felt very safe. I always came away feeling lighter and that I had left something behind that had took on a whole new meaning for me.

Beautiful Ethereal work. So calm and peaceful. Utterly Beautiful. I’ll be back again. Stunning.

It is a pleasure to work alongside someone that can understand the trajectory of a session based on how a young person presents on the day. Helen’s sensitivity to the needs and grading required to support clients is what led to us developing projects time after time. Even with an often over enthusiastic OT, Helen always completes projects that create huge emotive impact in our clinical environments.

Truly mesmerising and intriguing - Art that makes you think and rewards looking. Brilliant, well done.

Step back and see what you can achieve.

I have learned to step back and look.

Helen’s presence instantly soothes and puts you at ease. She makes you feel supported and inspired and is a wonderful teacher. You leave feeling uplifted – working with her is a joy.