Helen Dau is best known for her landscape paintings of seascapes, and bushland in rich and vibrant oil paint. She grew up in the lower North Shore in NSW surrounded by the natural beauty of the harbour which inspired her love of painting from a young age. She went on to study architecture for a while before changing to landscape architecture and studying horticulture. Today, she lives in the Sutherland Shire, near waterways and the Royal National Park, where she continues to draw inspiration from the natural world. Helen enjoys the creative release of painting and the joy and freedom it provides whilst continuing to work in the energy sector. She has been painting regularly over a span of more than twenty years under the guidance of various art teachers.
She finds herself drawn to colours and light reflections in landscapes and the memory and joy of experiencing them. Helen seeks to capture the emotion and beauty of the landscape through heightened use of colour and gestural brush strokes rather than perfect realism.
Inspiration comes from her walks and family holidays and she is primarily a studio painter but has started to combine studio painting with ‘en plein air’ painting.