Helen Boucher: finding a true calling post-retirement
Artist Helen Boucher had to retire to get her “forever job.”
“I’m exactly where I want to be and I don’t ever want to leave,” said Boucher, looking around her bright and cheery art studio behind the East Side Family Restaurant on East River Road.
Music plays in the background, easels are set up, art supplies abound and the walls and tables are filled with vibrant art in various mediums.
On Saturday mornings, she works with a group of 20 from Autism Nova Scotia’s Pictou County chapter.
“I love having them in the studio because it makes it special.”
It the same when individuals or groups come in to paint.
“Having a place that is warm and welcoming gets everyone off to a good start. My studio used to be a print shop so the lighting is wonderful. It has handicapped access and lots of room for people to move around and look at other pieces of art. I’ve got great wall space for displaying finished pieces.”
Boucher, who has been giving art lessons in her living room for many years, opened the studio after retiring as a teaching assistant
“I’ve been dreaming of this for a lot of years but it is only now that my children are grown that I can take the risk and put all my energy into it.”
Boucher is feeling her way through her first year, balancing commissions with private and group lessons for children and adults and hosting what she calls Paint Night events.
“Paint Nights are a great social event with groups of friends or coworkers getting together for a few hours of painting. Many people
come in thinking they can’t paint but I scale down the complexity and break the work into stages so it is easily manageable and at the end of the night everyone goes home with their own painting and a lot of satisfaction.”
Her first such night was at the invitation of the New Glasgow Kinette Club and she didn’t start small.
“They asked me and I agreed but it was a big undertaking and I was panicking over how I was going to create and transport 52 portable easels and all my supplies. It wasn’t until we started that I realized how much fun it was going to be. People just loved socializing and accomplishing something creative t the same time.”
She still does Paint Night in private homes, community centres and restaurants but most take place at her studio.
Boucher grew up in a large family where everyone could turn their hands to something creative but art lessons and supplies were hard to come by.
“I remember when my mother bought nylon stockings they would come wrapped around a piece of cardboard that was wonderful for drawing. I have six sisters and a brother and I would be so excited when it was my turn to get that piece of paper. I’d dream of what I might do with it.”
While supplies were scare, Boucher remembers she was always encouraged to draw and paint, even to the point of painting murals on bedroom and basement walls.
“When you grow up in a large family I think you are always trying to find something that is yours and for me it was art.”
A great-aunt who retired from teaching art also took an interest in Boucher and helped her develop her skills.
“When she retired from Halifax she moved into a little cottage across the road from us in Havre Boucher and I was blessed to have her teach me so much.”
At the end of high school, she went off to study commercial art, believing it was her most secure option, but she took continuing education classes at night.
“For a while it worked out but designing letterheads and business cards with rulers and pen and ink became obsolete as more and more people turned to computers. I learned good skills about drawing to scale and balance but within a short time I was obsolete.”
Raising a son and daughter on her own, Boucher knew art could supplement her income but never be her income.
“I’ve always jumped at the chance to draw or sketch or paint and I’ve always enjoyed and been grateful to have students but rising a family on a TA’s salary, I learned to be very frugal and I’ve carried that into my studio. If I’m teaching young people I don’t expect parents to be out buying long lists of supplies. I let my kids and adults experiment with my supplies and figure out what can help them.”
Rosalie MacEachern is a Stellarton resident and freelance writer who seeks out people who work behind the scenes on hobbies or jobs that they love the most. If you have someone you think she should profile in an upcoming article, she can be reached at r.maceachern@ns.sympatico.ca.