THOMAS HELMICK Artist

I first visited the Grand Canyon in 1978.   I returned thirty-two years later, in 2016, and found myself overwhelmed once more by the majesty and grandeur of the canyon.  What I experienced the first time washed over me again. This time it was not a sketchbook but a camera that helped me capture the beauty of this awe-inspiring canyon.  The impact of this second visit compelled me to start my Grand Canyon 2 Series.

 
The procedure in this series is different in that the preliminary sketches are done from photographs, not from on-site drawings.  In the first series the drawings were made inside the canyon, which allowed for a more immediate and intimate feeling of the canyon’s space. Working from photographs provides a wider and more encompassing feeling of that space.  These paintings are oils on canvas.