Helen Tabor has lived in Scotland for over thirty years, the landscape and culture of this remarkable place have profoundly influenced her work. In the Scottish Borders, as in the Highlands and Islands, traditional music is woven into daily life, much of it originally composed for dancing. Ceilidhs and Scottish dances are a cherished part of village life, held in local halls and led by small bands who play from memory, carrying the rhythms of jigs and reels with infectious energy. The music, whether fast and exuberant or slow and contemplative, shapes the dancing—sometimes wild, sometimes stately, and occasionally graceful.
For many years, Helen has been part of a ceilidh band, and her passion for music runs parallel to her love of painting. Often, a tune lingers in her mind as she works, its movement and rhythm feeding into the flow of the brush. The synergy between musicians responding to sound echoes the dynamic interplay of color, shape, and texture in painting. Like improvisation in jazz, painting is a balance of skill and spontaneity—a process of discovery, where discipline meets freedom.
This exhibition reflects Helen's immediate surroundings, travels, and imagination. Influenced by artists like Picasso and Bonnard, as well as poetry and music, Helen's work blends abstraction with narrative. Each piece begins with an idea—rooted in reality or fantasy—and evolves through color and composition into something unexpected. Texture, surface freshness, and atmosphere are essential to her process.
