Helen Kerr RUA trained in textiles at Belfast College of Art and Goldsmiths College of Art. Her work is in the medium of Batik and Stitch, and is mostly landscape based, attempting to capture the mood or essence of a landscape.
She taught part–time at Orangefield Girls School in the 1960s before becoming Head of the Art Department at Bloomfield Collegiate School, Belfast. She was a founding member of the Octagon Gallery, Belfast, 1971. From 1987, she worked full time from her studio in Dundrum, County Down.
Her method of batik, dyeing cloth using wax resistance, produces soft hues and gentle colours which have become staples of her work, as seen in Lot 89. Adding embroidery (Lot 161) creates interesting details and texture when capturing local landscapes. These works exemplify her great attention to detail and typical mode of working.
A founding member of the Northern Ireland Embroidery Guild, Helen has been supportive of the development of contemporary textile art. In 2013, she exhibited alongside her husband Richard Croft and son Paul Croft in the retrospective exhibition ‘Shared Inheritance’ at the F.E. McWilliam Gallery. Helen Kerr’s work is represented in the Royal Ulster Academy Diploma Collection, the UTV Collection and in various public and private collections throughout the UK.
She taught part–time at Orangefield Girls School in the 1960s before becoming Head of the Art Department at Bloomfield Collegiate School, Belfast. She was a founding member of the Octagon Gallery, Belfast, 1971. From 1987, she worked full time from her studio in Dundrum, County Down.
Her method of batik, dyeing cloth using wax resistance, produces soft hues and gentle colours which have become staples of her work, as seen in Lot 89. Adding embroidery (Lot 161) creates interesting details and texture when capturing local landscapes. These works exemplify her great attention to detail and typical mode of working.
A founding member of the Northern Ireland Embroidery Guild, Helen has been supportive of the development of contemporary textile art. In 2013, she exhibited alongside her husband Richard Croft and son Paul Croft in the retrospective exhibition ‘Shared Inheritance’ at the F.E. McWilliam Gallery. Helen Kerr’s work is represented in the Royal Ulster Academy Diploma Collection, the UTV Collection and in various public and private collections throughout the UK.
