Helen Lucas

Helen Lucas (born 1931) is a Canadian artist born in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, whose work features Greek Orthodox icons, female sexuality, and flowers.

Lucas was raised in Saskatoon. The eldest daughter of strict Greek parents, the impact of traditional religious observance on her day-to-day life resulted in a difficult childhood. After high school Lucas studied pre-medicine for a year before moving to Toronto to study at the Ontario College of Art where she began to paint. Through her first show received positive reviews, she was directed by the Greek Church to stop her artistic endeavours.

Lucas taught at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, as Drawing and Painting Master from 1973 to 1979. While there she produced a series of political black and white pieces and worked alongside Shelagh Wilkinson, co-founder of Canadian Woman Studies.

Lucas' work is best known for large canvases devoted to colourful flowers, but earlier sketches and paintings explored icons of the Greek Orthodox Church, the Virgin Mary, and female sexuality. The dark nature reflected in Lucas' work during this period has been linked to the turmoil of learning to move beyond the impact of her strict upbringing and the unhappiness she experienced during her 20-year marriage to her first husband. Lucas explains that during this period she "had no feeling for colour." The thematic transition of Lucas' work was chronicled in a film by Donna Davey, Helen Lucas: Her Journey -- Our Journey, which won the Gold Plaque for Best Documentary at the Chicago International Film Festival. The film included an interview with her friend, Margaret Laurence; Lucas's drawings were included in Laurence's book, A Christmas Birthday Story (New York and Toronto, 1980). Laurence described Lucas' contributions as "joyous, beautiful and wise."

In addition to delivering lectures on women in the arts, Lucas frequently appeared on radio and television from the 1970s to the 1990s. She has exhibited her art in Canada, the United States, Europe, Africa, and Japan, and several works were acquired by public collections in Canada, and private international collections. Lucas has published drawings and text in several newspapers, magazines, and journals, and she has been an active participant in Canadian women studies projects. She continues to paint at her studio in King Township, Ontario where she lived with her second husband, Derek Fuller, until his death in 1996.

Awards and Distinctions

• 2012—Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
• 1991—Honorary Doctor of Letters, York University

• Lynn, Marlon (2011). "Shelagh Brenda Wilkinson, September 18, 1928-November 16, 2011: such a long journey". Canadian Woman Studies. 29 (1-2): 77. Retrieved 1 May 2016. 
• Ricciutelli, Luciana (2011). "Marion Lynn and Shelagh Wilkinson: an interview with the CWS/cf founders". Canadian Woman Studies. 29 (1-2): 86. Retrieved 1 May 2016. 
• Lindley, Susan Hill; Stebner, Eleanor J., eds. (2008). The Westminster handbook to women in American religious history (1st ed.). Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press. p. 135. ISBN 9780664224547. Retrieved 1 May 2016. 
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• Kritzwiser, Kay (7 November 1980). "Artist helen lucas says it with flowers". The Globe and Mail. 
• ^ "A talent in bloom". Toronto Star. 4 June 2005. 
• "Inventory of the Donna Davey fonds". York University Libraries. Retrieved 30 April 2016. 
• Trueman, Peter (30 March 1996). "Flower Power Why Lucas documentary is the kind of show CBC should invest in". Toronto Star. 
• Xiques, Donez (2005). Margaret Laurence the making of a writer. Toronto: Dundurn Press. p. 253. ISBN 9781459714694. Retrieved 1 May 2016. 
• "Helen Lucas' biography". Helen Lucas. Retrieved 30 April 2016. 
• "Honorary Degree Recipients". University Secretariat. York University. Retrieved 1 May 2016. 

• Angelica. Toronto: Kakabeka Pub. Co. 1973. p. 71. 
• This is my beloved--sometimes. [Toronto]: Proclaim. 1981. ISBN 9780919415003.