Helene works in oil, acrylic, and pastel. Although she has painted a variety of subjects she most enjoys painting portraits and figurative pieces. “When I look at a person, I cannot help seeing the marvelous patterns of light, the turns of form, the facial planes. I find them irresistible, my fingers almost itch to paint them.”  

Helene’s mother, who attended art school in England, was her earliest teacher. Later, in Toronto, Helene enrolled in life drawing classes, and studied the techniques of artists she especially admired, including Harley Brown, Margaret Dyer, Burton Silverman, Chris Saper, and Sally Strand. Since moving to Muskoka, Helene has taken workshops with artists Greg Damery and David Beckett. 

In 1999 Helene became a member of  Muskoka Arts & Crafts, eventually serving as the organization’s president from 2002 until 2008.   

In September of 2009, Helene Adamson held her first solo show at the Auburn Gallery of Fine Art in Gravenhurst. Her paintings are in private collections in Muskoka, as well as in Toronto, New York, and Los Angeles.