Helen Baker is a Canadian abstract painter living in Kingston, Ontario. She is also a local activist that aims to raise awareness about mental illness by donating to the Defeat Depression campaign.

After Helen finished her Classical Studies degree at Queen’s University (B.A. Hons 2009), she was diagnosed with depression. Since then, she has learned to channel the suffering into her art.

Furthermore, after two successful art shows in the fall of 2020, the first in Kingston and then another in Belleville, she has begun painting daily. She has an affinity for vibrant colours and long flowing lines. Helen is also inspired by the effect of stained glass, as it combines the interplay between colour and light. She also often combines both acrylic and oil paints on the same canvas, as she enjoys how fusing both mediums creates a multidimensional effect.

Nowadays, Helen paints by a window with lots of sunlight and classical music. When not painting, she loves spending time with her two hound dogs, Molly and Talullah, as well as swimming all summer long in Lake Ontario.  Helen is also a certified yoga teacher, and she has taught throughout Canada and Australia.

Even now, Helen struggles with the stigma people with mental illnesses often face, so when she found out about the Defeat Depression campaign, a national fundraising and awareness campaign that helps individuals and organizations raise funds for local mental health services, she knew she had to help out. Now she has found a way to give back to her community by donating 10% of her painting sales to this cause she feels extremely passionate about.

Helen’s goal is to inspire hope and put out some much needed good into the world.

Above all, she believes that if art can help lessen her pain, it can help others as well.

My work aims to explore the relationship between depression and intuition with the desire to inspire hope in others who face challenges.

I, myself, have faced the challenges of depression, and have since learned to channel the suffering into my art.

I create my pieces in a meditative state, bringing to the canvas a vibrant tapestry of human emotion.

I draw inspiration from a wide variety of art movements: post-impressionism, surrealism, symbolism, and geometric abstraction. I also derive influence from the effect of stained glass, and the results are a kaleidoscope of colour on canvas.

Also, to raise awareness about mental illness, I donate 10% of my painting sales to the Defeat Depression campaign, a national fundraising and awareness campaign that helps individuals and organizations raise funds for local mental health services.