Helene Engrand

Hélène Engrand is a French-born artist based in Berkhamsted, working primarily with watercolour ink and graphic pen, while also exploring acrylic, oils and digital media. She holds a BTEC in Graphic Design from WAES.

Inspired by the beauty of nature and the emotions evoked by the world around her, Hélène is fascinated by the rhythm of lines—whether found in the elegance of Art Deco architecture, the intricate forms of plants, or the luminous glasshouses of gardens such as Kew. She paints whatever captures her heart, from portraits and botanical subjects to local landmarks and places rich in atmosphere.

Alongside a full-time career, Hélène paints whenever she can. Art is her sanctuary—a place of calm, wellbeing and self-expression that gives meaning to her life. Painting allows her to preserve memories, capture fleeting moments and express emotions that words cannot always convey. Helene seeks to translate a feeling onto paper or canvas, creating moments of joy and shared emotion. Her hope is that each painting invites the viewer to pause, reconnect with their own memories, and experience a sense of wonder, comfort or delight.

Hélène regularly exhibits throughout Hertfordshire and has also shown her work at the French Consulate and as part of local art trails.

helenengrand.co.uk

This work is presented as a triptych of three panels, with the option for the final panel to be exhibited on its own. Together, the three pieces draw a parallel between the evolution of a person and the imagined future of a city, suggesting that the resilience and hope carried by individuals form the blueprint for the cities yet to come.

The first portrait is minimal and unguarded, mirroring a city at the edge of possibility, a place where foundations are still forming and where vulnerability coexists with the quiet persistence of hope. The second is richer in texture and presence, evoking a growing city learning to expand with intention, confronting its challenges while cultivating layers of community and culture. The final piece erupts with colour and geometric rhythm, reflecting a future city vibrant with diversity, innovation and radical inclusivity, a place where resilience has become structure and hope has become design.

Across the series, the figure becomes a symbolic architect. Their journey from sketch to radiance echoes how cities evolve, through courage, adaptation and the vision of those who believe tomorrow can be brighter. The work suggests that a city’s future is not built by infrastructure alone, but by the resilience of its people, and that each act of personal growth becomes a small but vital contribution to a collective future.

Helene’s triptych invites viewers to imagine a city shaped not by fear of what is coming, but by the strength and luminous hope of those who will inhabit it. It is a celebration of a city stepping boldly into the future, powered by diversity, creativity and the unstoppable energy of its people, a metropolis that is not only growing, but glowing.

The Library, The Forum, Hertfordshire HP1 1DN