London native Helli Luck was fated to be an artist. Starting from a young age, when she won her first awards, her love of art and natural talent set her on a path that would see her through to a prestigious career. Along with that creativity was something else that ran soul deep in Luck: a love of the ocean that was instilled in her as a child, when her father took her scuba diving and fishing. “I fell in love with the underworld of ocean and wildlife and followed Jacques Cousteau and his team,” Luck recalls. “I was fascinated with what they were doing for conservation of our oceans, and I even dreamed of joining them as an underwater illustrator, combining my love of drawing and diving.”
Though Luck followed a path that led her into commercial art, the painter in her ultimately won out and later brought her to Pawleys Island, South Carolina, where she creates inspired pieces that capture the magic of light and water and the splendor of the ocean that captured her imagination so long ago. “I am still mesmerized by the ocean and find it a place to recharge and find inspiration,” says Luck, whose impressionistic style lends itself well to her subject matter.
“I kayak through the marsh to get a bird’s eye view, take photographs and make color sketches, but it’s mostly a scene that I see that makes an impression on me and inspires a painting,” she says, describing what most resonates with the creative drive in her. “Something about the light at that moment, sculpting out a curve in the marsh and landing on an egret’s back as he fishes, will send me home to try and use paint to tell the story of the view I’ve just experienced. I’m immersed in nature here—no crowds of people passing, no noise from restaurants—so my work is more peaceful. There is a soft haze that you can see and feel near the ocean; it has an impact on the light and everything around it, which affects the saturation of color and helps with the soft palette in my work. This is my new inspiration for my coastal collection.”
In South Carolina, Luck is represented by Gray Man Gallery on Pawleys Island, Perspective Gallery in Mount Pleasant and Lowcountry Artists Gallery in Charleston, and her work is featured at Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet.
