A native of Oklahoma, Helen F. Howerton was born in Tulsa's St. John's Hospital to Leo and Helen Murray on April 6, 1944. She likes to point out that she has known her husband, Ron, her entire life. Both Ron and Helen were delivered by the same doctor in St. John's only 13 hours apart. However, the two did not officially meet until studying chemistry in their junior year at Tulsa's Edison High School. In August of 2002, they celebrated their 36th wedding anniversary. They have two sons, Jeff and Gregg, who also reside in Tulsa. Hi, a chocolate Labrador retriever lives with Ron and Helen and frequently lies in the art studio watching as Helen paints.
In 1952 Helen was stricken with polio and spent many months recuperating. That Christmas, Helen's parents presented her with her first oil painting set. The first oil painting was a forest scene that was framed by her father. She gave it to her paternal grandmother as a gift. The painting hung in her grandmother's house for nearly 30 years until her death. It presently hangs in Helen's art studio.
Tom
& Hen, an acrylic on paper, was copied from a sketch made on Helen and
Ron's land in southeastern Oklahoma. "We have a large flock of turkey, on
the property" she explained, and "it's fascinating to watch the big
gobbler strutting to impress a hen."
During high school, Helen was encouraged to pursue her interest in drawing and painting by her art instructor and had one of her paintings displayed at Gilcrease Museum as a part of an exhibit of talented art students.
Following graduation from Edison High School, Helen enrolled at the University of Tulsa where she completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in 1966. She studied with Woody Cochran, Alexander Hogue, Tom Manhart, and Brad Place. As elective studies she chose advertising, business, and education classes. The combination of studies provided Helen with the ability to work in drafting design, commercial art, and fine arts. It paid for her education, and also has been valuable in the design of her own brochures and promotional tools.
For the next decade and a half, Howerton worked as a commercial artist for Oklahoma State University, in newspaper advertising, and as an art teacher. Her great interest in painting wildlife led to a full-time career in 1980. As she explained, "creating wildlife art is an obsession, a passion, a way of communicating the awe I feel for this beautiful world of nature that surrounds us."
"Birds and animals," she continued "add so much to our lives and are often taken for granted. There's a peace and unity found in nature; one we need to preserve and enjoy." It is her hope that an "appreciation and a oneness with our natural world be awakened through my paintings."
Her interest has led to several close encounters and amusing events with animals and birds over the years. There was the black swan with an attitude, which charged her when she tried to snap his photograph and a standoff with a big bull buffalo in Yellowstone Park. As she recalled "picture Ron and me at daybreak in a small camouflage pup tent taking photos of prairie chickens at the Tallgrass Prairie, in the rain...followed by the challenge of changing a flat tire on our van in the rain! Or a big grasshopper crawling up my pant leg while I was photographing other critters."
One of her most harrowing experiences was a "grizzly bear back on the North Fork road in Glacier National Park. He was only four feet from the Blazer and I was clicking photos while Ron had one foot on the gas and one on the brake ready to blast off."
According
to Helen "some paintings are created just for fun!" An acrylic on
canvas, The Three Amigos, is just such a painting. Notice the black cats
on the blue scarf beneath the yellow Labrador Retrievers' right paw.
In the late 1980s the Howertons designed and built a large studio onto the existing art studio at their home. The old studio was opened up and it now serves as Helen's reference and slide viewing room. A step into the larger working studio reveals a raised sloping ceiling with huge windows that allow the north light to fill the room. The 17- by 22- foot studio is filled with wall-mounted animals and birds, including deer, pheasant, and a huge 7- by 7- foot bull elk. A Canadian Goose is suspended from the ceiling. "His name is Gus," says Helen demonstrating that the goose is lowered and raised by a pulley system. The artist can study the bird's features and anatomy closely when it is lowered to eye level.
There are baskets of leaves and feathers, duck mounts, and her decoy collection, plus quail and turkey feathers, including a pair of turkey feet, with spurs. A drafting table with easel serves as the oil painting station. A section of two-feet by eight-feet framing table is used to paint with acrylics. "I like both mediums," explains the artist, "oils for their richness and their longer working time, acrylics for their versatility and fast drying time."
The room is completed with filing cabinets; a computer station; sink; desk; and built-in cabinets for supply and print storage. "Give this artist room and she'll fill it up!" says Helen as she indicates numerous drawings and paintings in progress.
One easel holds an oil painting of a commissioned canine portrait, a German Shorthair Pointer, for a physician in Pennsylvania. Helen specializes in creating custom dog portraits for clients throughout the United States.
Recently a patron in New York City flew the artist to Manhattan to meet and photograph his two English setters. Helen completed individual head studies of the dogs in watercolor while the owner watched the paintings come to life. When she returned to Tulsa she finished a composite drawing. It was approved and her work began on the 30- by 40-inch oil portrait with fall colors of New York City's Central Park in the background. The original hangs in New York.
She credits many artists for having an influence on her work: Thomas Moran for his use of artistic interpretation and the reminder that being in the right place at the right time often makes the difference in a career; the French Impressionists for their belief in developing a "new style;" Charles M. Russell for his ability to tell a story with paint and for his amusing sense of humor; Arthur Tate, Carl Runguis, and Bob Kuhn for the individual style depicting wildlife; Howard Terpening for his use of color; and Harley Brown for his color and colorful personality.
Howerton is a member of the prestigious Arts Registry of the American Kennel Club Museum of the dog in St. Louis, Missouri. Her dog portraits are in great demand and are included in numerous private homes and corporate collections.
Helen Howerton has participated in invitational exhibits such as the C. M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana; the Old West Museum in Cheyenne, Wyoming; the AKA Museum in St. Louis, Missouri; and Gilcrease Museum and Philbrook Museum in Tulsa. The Oklahoma Heritage Center Gallery in Oklahoma City featured her original paintings in the summer of 2002.
Howerton's work has been featured on "Oklahoma Living" on KJRH-TV hosted by Karen Keith; the Home and Garden television channel; "Heartland" on KJRH-TV hosted by Jerry Webber; and "Oklahoma Spirit" on KOTV hosted by Beth Rengel.
Her paintings have appeared as cover art, illustration, or featured art for such magazines, periodicals, and newspapers as Art Trends, Waterfowl, Outdoor Oklahoma, Fur Taker, Outdoor News, Tulsa Woman, and the Tulsa World.
Helen was the Oklahoma Artist of the Year in 1991 for Ducks Unlimited Conservation and designed the sponsor print and stamp. She is published in Who's Who in limited Editions and Who's Who of American Women in 2002-2003.
Howerton is a signature member and current Advertising Director for Women Artists of the West. "We have 135 Signature and Associate members," she proclaims, and "you will see our fine art in Southwest Art, Art of the West, Art Talk, and other national art magazines. We're celebrating our 32nd year in 2003."
She also is a founding board member of Signature Sixteen Artist Society and a member of National Oil and Acrylic Painters. She is an associate member of the Oil Painters of America and American Women Artists.
Helen supports and donates to organizations like the Nature Conservancy, Oklahoma Wildlife Federation, Ducks Unlimited, and the Tulsa Zoo.
A schedule of Helen Howerton's art exhibitions, commission information, and images of originals and limited edition prints can be viewed at her website: www.howertonart.com. Images are also sold at www.waow.org/members;hhow.htm and dog prints at www.muttart.com.