“At four years old, I knew I wanted to be an artist! My sister drew and I wanted to do that too.”
Helena van Emmerik-Finn’s early intention had to wait for junior high and then high school when she was finally able to take art classes. Her teacher, Mr. Nye at Quakertown High, exposed her to a wide range of media: drawing, painting, sculpture, jewelry, and ceramics. There were also class trips to museums. All of these experiences, coupled with her dedication – “I took every class I could, including after-school programs” – prepared her for what has been her lifelong career.
She then attended the Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts). She pursued commercial art, graphic design, and photography, in the belief those would help her earn a living but didn’t find those careers compelling, in the end. After graduating, she worked on the Atlantic City Boardwalk as a portrait artist. “I had to hustle people into the shop that sponsored me, but I have a knack for quickly getting a likeness of someone, so it was lucrative.”
Then she traveled widely for years, in Europe, North Africa, India, and London, where she lived for two years supporting herself with her work. She returned when she was about 30, married here, and her husband encouraged her to continue and expand her independent art business. The Doylestown-based artist was specializing in pastels, which show off her drawing and mark-making skills.
We know success in art depends on talent combined with hard work. To earn a living today as an artist, however, demands also acquiring marketing skills. Artists must learn enough technology to offer and update a website, manage a database of interested people, and generate followers on social media, for instance.
Van Emmerik-Finn threw herself into art making and art displaying at fairs, shows, and festivals, sometimes 20 a year in a wide region including Lancaster, Pa., Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square, and the Jersey Shore.
“I joined the Upstairs Gallery in Peddler’s Village and several women artists there mentored me and gave me business tips,” she recalled. When it was still a new technology, she bravely bought a personal computer, learned how to build and manage a database, set up a method to frame her own work, and paid attention to subjects that her clients liked. “My travels gave me subjects that were relatable. People wanted to have those views and I enjoy doing those,” she says.
Another skill the successful artist must have is believing in yourself. “Pastels are not second class,” she notes. “I had to learn not to be intimidated by galleries or oil painting.” Chardin, Redon, Cassatt, and Degas are formidable artists who excelled with pastels.
Although she has always followed her own path, she has not been a lonely artist working in a garret. “By joining the Arts and Cultural Council, I have met a number of artists whose work I have admired for years. It has given us a sense of community. I also have learned that we have amazing poets among us.” Add social skills to the long list of what can be required of the successful artist.
Local Color is a column produced by the Arts & Cultural Council of Bucks County. It appears on the first Thursday of each month.
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.
