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Helen Burkett FSWS, FWS, SWS, NWS is originally from Arlington, VA, moved to Sarasota, FL in 1974, where she maintains her studio. She attended the University of Maryland, the Corcoran School of Art, and various study groups. She has studied with Frank Wright of Washington, DC, Valfred Thelin of Ogunquit, ME, William Packner of Woodstock, NY, and others.
Helen Burkett's paintings have won numerous awards
and have been included in many exhibits including those sponsored by the American Watercolor Society, the National
Watercolor Society, (awarded signature membership), the Midwest Watercolor Society, the Southeastern Watercolorists, the Transparent Watercolor Society of America, the Southern Watercolor Society,(awarded lifetime membership), the Florida Watercolor Society, (awarded lifetime membership), and others.
She exhibited at and assisted in running the Hilton Leech
gallery and art school from 1975 through the early 1980s.
From 1985 through 2013 she and her husband made their
living traveling around the country selling her paintings at
the museum and community sponsored juried outdoor art
fairs where she also won many awards. Since then she has
been teaching an intermediate and advanced watercolor
painting class which has morphed into a twice weekly Watercolor Open Studio on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.at the Suncoast Technical College, ACE
program, in Sarasota Florida.
Helen and her work were the subject of the article "High
Contrast Florals" in The American Artist (July 1996). Her
painting "Vanilla Dream" is included in the April/May 2010
edition of The International Artist.
She has been included in Who's Who of American Women
since 1997 and Who's Who in America since 1998 and was
awarded the Albert Nelson Marquis Life Time Achievement
Award in 2019.
The main theme of her current work is an exploration in transparent watercolor of sunlight and shadow and the rhythm that evolves from the abstract design they create.
Her paintings are found in many collections throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia in both private and public collections including the Amoco Corp., Central Florida Unversity, Disney Corp., Epsom Clinic, Florida Department of State, Florida Hospital Center, Ford Motor Company, Hayfield Mansion, Orlando Sentinel, Polk Museum, Sarasota Memorial Hospital (main lobby), and the Winter Park Memorial Hospital.