About


Helen trained originally as a textile designer. After some years as a primary school teacher in London and Scotland, she ran her own catering business in south-east London and the City, followed by a number of years in medical research.


Once her children were on the brink of leaving school Helen studied for and received the prestigious Diploma in Botanical Illustration from the English Gardening School at the Chelsea Physic Garden in London. Helen was the Course Director of the diploma course in Botanical Illustration and Painting for the 8 years years retiring from the school in December 2012.

In January 2014 she will be opening a new course under the name of The Chelsea School of Botanical Art at the Chelsea Physic Garden.


Among Helen’s students some have gone on to exhibit internationally, win RHS gold medals, one has founded a Florilegium Society and another to illustrate for Curtis’ Botanical Magazine.  Several past students now teach and assist on the Diploma Course.


Helen works from her studio at home in Ham where she holds classes in botanical painting and workshops by well-known visiting botanical artists.  She also enjoys travelling as a guest teacher and has recently returned from Boston's Wellesley College and the Cotswolds.


Helen is an active member of the American Society of Botanical Artists and teaches workshops at their annual conferences.


She has exhibited at galleries in London and overseas including Ebury Galleries, the Garden Museum, the Chelsea Physic Garden and Hortus in London, Ursus Gallery, New York and the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Pittsburg, USA, the National Botanic Garden for Wales, the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Hampton Court Palace. Helen’s work has been selected for inclusion in Prince of Wales’s Highgrove Florilegium and can be found in the archives of the Hunt Institute, the Chelsea Physic Garden, Hampton Court Palace and the Kew Herbarium, Library, Art and Archives Collections.




Future Exhibitions


August 1st - 30th, 2013

Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society in the Gallery at the Chelsea Physic Garden

Treasures from a Hidden Garden:

Plant portraits by the Florilegium Society


October 6th - 8th, 2013

Painter Stainers Fine Art Society Exhibition at Painters Hall

9 Little Trinity Lane

London EC4V 2AD




Previous Exhibition


2013Teddington Artists at the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington

2012Teddington Artists at the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington

2011Teddington Artists at the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington

Shirley Sherwood Gallery, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew with the Hampton Court Palace Florilegium Society

2010Shirley Sherwood Gallery, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew with Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society

Highgrove Florilegium, Highgrove Florilegium,

Marucube Gallery, Tokyo

Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Hampton Court Palace

2009Highgrove Florilegium, The Garden Museum, London

          The Huntington, Los Angeles

Nijo-jo Castle, Kyoto

2008Highgrove Florilegium, New York School of Interior Design

Bushy House with Teddington Artists

2007Florimania – Hampton Court Palace

National Botanic Garden for Wales – Medicines in May

2006Florimania – Hampton Court Palace

National Botanic Garden for Wales – Medicines in May

2004Mall Galleries – Chelsea Botanical Artists

Chelsea Physic Garden – The Apothecaries Garden

National Botanic Garden for Wales - The Apothecaries Garden

2003National Botanic Garden for Wales – Medicines in May

Ebury Galleries

2002National Botanic Garden for Wales

2001Hortus, London

2000Ebury Galleries, London

Xth International Exhibition, the Hunt Institute

1999Ebury Galleries, London

Ursus Gallery, New York

The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, USA

(Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society Exhibit)

1998  Ebury Galleries, London




Publications


2011Richmond magazine

Art Plantae website

Weekend Telegraph Gardening Section

2010 Hunting PLC Christmas card

Surrey Life

2008The Highgrove Florilegium

2006The Flower Arranger

2005 The Apothecaries Garden

2003House and Garden Magazine

1998Country Life Magazine




Collections


The permanent collection at the Hunt Institute, USA

The archives of the Chelsea Physic Garden

The archives of Hampton Court Palace

The Highgrove Florilegium

The Kew Herbarium, Library, Art and Archives collections




Commissions


By the League of Friends of the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital of Calendula officianalis for presentation to her majesty Queen Elizabeth II to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the hospital.



By private collectors in the United Kingdom, Europe and USA

Helen Allen

Nutmegs

The Kew Art and Archives Collection and

featured in The Sunday Telegraph