Community Spotlight: Helga Winter

This month (March 2025), we’re shining the community spotlight on award-winning artist Helga Winter.

Born in Germany, Helga left for the US in 1971 to study special education and child development. Her art practice began with a chance introduction to woodworking, and, leaving behind all she knew, Helga became a wood turner in 1982. She apprenticed in 1982 and then studied with woodturners Rude Osolnik and David Ellsworth in 1984.

Her art practice has continued to evolve and Helga received an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Tennessee Arts Commission in 1986 and exhibited her wood turnings in various galleries on the East Coast. 

Here are some insights into her art practice in Helga’s own words…

As a wood turner, at first I turned functional work, then I became interested in color and began to dye and paint the wood. Then, in 2013, I was invited to a "Book as Sculpture" show. Deconstructing books taught me a lot about daring to do the "forbidden"!

For several years, I continued turning and making paper sculptures, and when I was no longer enchanted with wood turning, I gave it up in 2018.

Tearing, folding, rolling, stitching, and later eco-printing the book pages, led me to experiment with the "iron blankets" used with the eco-printing process. And thus my lust for fabric fiber began!

Currently, I’m using paper (books and some handmade paper), mostly recycled but also some new, along with fabric, beeswax, and thread in my work. Free-hanging sculptural fiber pieces have been asking to come forth! I will be applying with one such piece to the Time Well Spent exhibition!

I feel that my inspiration is self-ignited, and any kind of natural or man-made form speaks to me, like the ocean, the sand. So I will say, nature might have a big influence. And human beings as well, our outer and inner way of being.

My ideal day as an artist is to be in the studio from 8am to noonish, actively working or experimenting. Even though I do not always get 4 hours at a stretch, I manage to carve at least that much time out of my day 5 days a week. Sometimes, I take my stitching to the beach, or a cafe in the winter, to foster community connections. 

One or two afternoons a week, I meet with artist friends one-on-one. We take turns visiting our studios, looking at our work and providing feedback, taking walks and being supportive.

We've included a few images of Helga’s work and recommend that you head over to Instagram to see more of her work.