Portrait of a Clifton Cafe Artist

Have you seen the colorful collages displayed at The Clifton Café? The regal horse, playful dogs, lovable elephant and delightful birds? The coffee mugs, little black dresses and breathtaking flowers? It is such a joy to look at this art, created by Helena O’Neill.

Wendy Covas, a friend who lives in Fairfax Station, introduced Helena to The Clifton Café a few months ago, and a heavenly match was made. It is such a pleasure to savor the yummy crepes, coffee and conversation while surrounded by Helena’s lovely art.

Helena O’Neill, whose father served in the Air Force, spent her early years abroad. Until she was six, she lived in Germany, which she said she remembers as “beautiful and flowery.”

After that tour, her father was transferred to Spain. Living in a drab part of Madrid, Helena passed her time “looking for color and brightness.”

When she was 14, Helena’s family moved to Albuquerque. There, she got the chance to learn what life in the United States was all about. To her, unfortunately, Albuquerque was a “parking lot,” hot, flat and covered with asphalt.

She was still looking for beauty in her surroundings until her father was posted to Northern Virginia. At the age of 17, she finally found the color, the flowers, the bright gardens and green trees she had been seeking for so many years.

O’Neill began her undergraduate program at George Mason University as a biology student. At that point, she was entranced by the elegance of cells. She had never thought of being an artist, and said she “had never done anything with art.”

Then she took a required art class with Walter Kravitz, an artist who continues to change the lives of students. An eye-opening experience, the class showed her that art could become “an expression of appreciation for the color and beauty” she had missed.

“Becoming an artist was accidental,” Helena said. “Being in the right place at the right time” was the key to unlocking her future, she adds.

Walter Kravitz continued to influence Helena in drawing and painting classes. In painting, she learned from her mentor that “every brush stroke matters.”

Art soon became her avenue of expression.

“Without creativity life is concrete, gray and brown,” Helena said.

Like many women today, Helena O’Neill juggles her family and her career. While studying at Mason, she met Reinaldo Lopez-Carrizo, the sculptor who created “Man Awakening to His Consciousness” outside the Patriot Center.

During their frequent conversations as he was carving the monumental piece, he warned Helena of what he considered a lifelong struggle for women:  the difficulty of having a family and art. “You can’t do both,” he told her.

Finding time for art was indeed a battle for Helena until her youngest child was six. The hours her children are in school are the hours she can devote fully to her art. Trying to be creative, she explains, she is “doomed to serve a fickle master.”

“It takes courage to create, but the more time and effort I put into it, the closer I get to the river,” Helena said. 

As Helena O’Neill creates her captivating art, she brings her vision of beauty and color to Fairfax Station and Clifton.