About
Helen trained originally as a textile designer. After some years as a primary school teacher in London and Scotland, she ran her own catering business in south-east London and the City, followed by a number of years in medical research.
Once her children were on the brink of leaving school Helen studied for and received the prestigious Diploma in Botanical Illustration from the English Gardening School at the Chelsea Physic Garden in London. Helen was the Course Director of the diploma course in Botanical Illustration and Painting for the 8 years years retiring from the school in December 2012.
In January 2014 she will be opening a new course under the name of The Chelsea School of Botanical Art at the Chelsea Physic Garden.
Among Helen’s students some have gone on to exhibit internationally, win RHS gold medals, one has founded a Florilegium Society and another to illustrate for Curtis’ Botanical Magazine. Several past students now teach and assist on the Diploma Course.
Helen works from her studio at home in Ham where she holds classes in botanical painting and workshops by well-known visiting botanical artists. She also enjoys travelling as a guest teacher and has recently returned from Boston's Wellesley College and the Cotswolds.
Helen is an active member of the American Society of Botanical Artists and teaches workshops at their annual conferences.
She has exhibited at galleries in London and overseas including Ebury Galleries, the Garden Museum, the Chelsea Physic Garden and Hortus in London, Ursus Gallery, New York and the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Pittsburg, USA, the National Botanic Garden for Wales, the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Hampton Court Palace. Helen’s work has been selected for inclusion in Prince of Wales’s Highgrove Florilegium and can be found in the archives of the Hunt Institute, the Chelsea Physic Garden, Hampton Court Palace and the Kew Herbarium, Library, Art and Archives Collections.
Future Exhibitions
August 1st - 30th, 2013
Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society in the Gallery at the Chelsea Physic Garden
Treasures from a Hidden Garden:
Plant portraits by the Florilegium Society
October 6th - 8th, 2013
Painter Stainers Fine Art Society Exhibition at Painters Hall
9 Little Trinity Lane
London EC4V 2AD
Previous Exhibition
2013Teddington Artists at the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington
2012Teddington Artists at the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington
2011Teddington Artists at the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington
Shirley Sherwood Gallery, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew with the Hampton Court Palace Florilegium Society
2010Shirley Sherwood Gallery, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew with Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society
Highgrove Florilegium, Highgrove Florilegium,
Marucube Gallery, Tokyo
Teylers Museum, Haarlem
Hampton Court Palace
2009Highgrove Florilegium, The Garden Museum, London
The Huntington, Los Angeles
Nijo-jo Castle, Kyoto
2008Highgrove Florilegium, New York School of Interior Design
Bushy House with Teddington Artists
2007Florimania – Hampton Court Palace
National Botanic Garden for Wales – Medicines in May
2006Florimania – Hampton Court Palace
National Botanic Garden for Wales – Medicines in May
2004Mall Galleries – Chelsea Botanical Artists
Chelsea Physic Garden – The Apothecaries Garden
National Botanic Garden for Wales - The Apothecaries Garden
2003National Botanic Garden for Wales – Medicines in May
Ebury Galleries
2002National Botanic Garden for Wales
2001Hortus, London
2000Ebury Galleries, London
Xth International Exhibition, the Hunt Institute
1999Ebury Galleries, London
Ursus Gallery, New York
The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, USA
(Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society Exhibit)
1998 Ebury Galleries, London
Publications
2011Richmond magazine
Art Plantae website
Weekend Telegraph Gardening Section
2010 Hunting PLC Christmas card
Surrey Life
2008The Highgrove Florilegium
2006The Flower Arranger
2005 The Apothecaries Garden
2003House and Garden Magazine
1998Country Life Magazine
Collections
The permanent collection at the Hunt Institute, USA
The archives of the Chelsea Physic Garden
The archives of Hampton Court Palace
The Highgrove Florilegium
The Kew Herbarium, Library, Art and Archives collections
Commissions
By the League of Friends of the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital of Calendula officianalis for presentation to her majesty Queen Elizabeth II to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the hospital.
By private collectors in the United Kingdom, Europe and USA
Helen Allen
Nutmegs
The Kew Art and Archives Collection and
featured in The Sunday Telegraph
©2015 Copyright Helen Allen. All rights reserved.