Helen Parsons Shepherd facts for kids

Helen Parsons Shepherd RCA LL. D. (January 16, 1923 – May 9, 2008) was a talented artist from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. She was well-known for her beautiful paintings of people (portraits) and everyday objects (still life).

Helen came from an artistic family. Her father, R.A. Parsons, was a poet. Her brother, Paul Parsons, was also a painter.

Becoming an Artist

As a young adult, Helen Parsons studied at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. In 1944, she was accepted into the Ontario College of Art. This was a big step in her art journey.

At the college, she learned from many great artists. One of them was John Martin Alfsen, a famous Canadian portrait painter. Helen also studied with Franklin Carmichael during her first year. He was a member of the well-known Canadian art group called the Group of Seven. Helen graduated with top honors in art in 1948.

Starting an Art School

In 1948, Helen married Reginald Shepherd. He was also an artist and a fellow student. They moved to St. John's, Newfoundland, together. There, they did something amazing: they started the Newfoundland Academy of Art (NAA). This was the very first art school in the province! Helen taught at the school from 1949 to 1961.

Painting Important People

After the art school closed in 1961, Helen Parsons Shepherd focused on painting portraits for people. Many important officials and community leaders asked her to paint them. She painted the speakers of the House of Assembly and the mayors of St. John's. She also painted the presidents of Memorial University.

In 1976, she was asked to paint a portrait of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. In 1984, she painted the official portrait of Edward Schreyer, who was the Governor General of Canada at the time.

Recognition and Exhibitions

Helen Parsons Shepherd received many honors for her art. In 1978, she was chosen to be a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Art. This is a very special honor for Canadian artists. In 1988, she received an honorary doctorate degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Her artwork was shown in many places. In 1975, the Memorial University Art Gallery (now The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery) held a special show just for her paintings. This show later traveled to other parts of Canada.

The provincial gallery also held two big shows featuring both Helen and her husband Reginald's art. The first was in 1989, called Four Decades. The second was in 2005–06, called Reginald and Helen Shepherd: A Retrospective. A book about their work, Reginald Shepherd, Helen Parsons Shepherd: A Life Composed, was also published in 2005.

Helen Parsons Shepherd's paintings are now part of many art collections. You can find her work at The Rooms, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and the Power Corporation in Montreal, Quebec.

Helen worked on her art in St. John's during the winter. In the summer, she painted at Clarke's Beach, Newfoundland. She passed away in 2008 when she was 85 years old.