Helen Ryan
**Waiting** is a series of paintings on linen canvases and wood panels, in various sizes. The background is blank to represent the unknown past of the animals. The large number of paintings reflects the fact that at any given time there are at least 50 dogs for adoption in the DSPCA shelter in Rathfarnham. I visited DSPCA and DogsTrust in person to take photos and also took images from their websites.
These dogs are waiting in rescue shelters. Watching and listening for their humans. Dogs and humans have been close companions for millennia. Working as hunters, herders, rescuers, sledgers, guiders, servers, but most importantly, our friends. Dogs are just a part of our world, but to them we are often their whole world.
My objective is to bring attention to the plight of dogs in rescue centres in Ireland. To encourage people to not buy puppies from breeding farms where bitches are treated with neglect and cruelty but to adopt rescued dogs from animal shelters. The dogs I have portrayed are all dogs who have been rescued or surrendered. I regularly visited DSPCA and DogsTrust to photograph the dogs, and I also used photos from their websites and the websites of other rescue centres in Ireland. My Lovely Horse, Dogs in Distress, Dogs Aid Dublin, Ash Animal Rescue Wicklow.
Helen is a Dublin based Irish artist. Through her painting she strives to reveal the essence of her subject. She has a particular interest in portraiture, of both humans and animals.
Helen works mostly in watercolour and oils and has exhibited in **The Place Project**, IMMA Studios (2022), **How We See**, Diva, Dun Laoghaire (2023), Boyle Arts Festival, Boyle (2023), **Fractal**, Powerscourt Town House Centre, (2024), **Mud Between the Toes**, Pallas Projects/Studios, (2025). Helen was shortlisted for the RHA Annual Show in 2021.
