Helen Buck shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Helen, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What battle are you avoiding?
For me, physical and mental well-being is a lifelong balancing act, and honestly, the physical side is where I struggle most. I’ve realized that life keeps moving whether or not I hit 10K steps or make it to the gym three times a week, and I’d often rather dive into new projects, paint, or chase creative ideas than work out. Still, I know I feel better when I move, so my plan is to mix it with things I enjoy—hiking or biking with friends, daily yoga, and wandering through museums or galleries. In the end, life’s too short to live by someone else’s checklist—so I say eat the ice cream, take the nap, crank up the music, and dance like nobody’s watching.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Helen Rose Buck, and I create paintings that reflect my passions, emotions, and personal experiences, with the intent to resonate with those who need to hear their messages.
Through the careful study of light, shadow, hue, value, and texture, my work spans a variety of genres, including landscape, figurative, still life, botanical, and animal imagery, using multiple mediums.
Currently, my focus is on depicting goddesses and historically significant women as metaphors for my personal journey through challenging times. Animal imagery naturally extends my figurative work, symbolizing inner avatars, moral teachers, and companions in Shamanic traditions. My art seeks to uncover the tools needed for introspection, examining and questioning societal attitudes, fears, and rules—both spoken and unspoken. These images serve as a reminder to persevere, always striving for strength and empowerment.
Through these resilient, sentient, or immortal archetypes, I share the intimate story of personal challenges, growth, and, ultimately, triumph.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
Relationships are tricky, and figuring out why they fall apart can be even trickier. For me, the biggest culprit is usually poor communication, and right behind it is the tendency to jump to conclusions (what I call the JTC trap). Honestly, the two often go hand in hand. Communicating well is something we’re always learning, and so is catching ourselves before we make snap judgments.
Think about it—someone who grew up with a lot of trauma might develop a strong defensive reflex, because their younger self had to protect against what felt like constant attacks. Later in life, that can make it easy to see threats everywhere, even where there aren’t any. Judging someone for being defensive doesn’t really take into account where that reaction comes from.
So, when a relationship hits a rough patch, the best way forward is for both people to take a step back and lean into growth through communication. Things like:
Curiosity – “Why did you feel that way?”
Understanding – “I can see how that might be tough for you.”
Grace – “I might feel the same if I were in your shoes.”
Forgiveness – “Let’s start fresh.”
More curiosity – “Tell me more.”
I’m no expert on this, but I keep learning as I go: never to assume I know someone else’s perspective, and to do my best not to judge too quickly.
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
Fear of failure is a common fear for me. But I still haven’t answered these questions:
What IS failure?
What IS success?
First I look at failure as me disappointing someone. Doesn’t seem to matter that person’s role in my life; friend, foe, relative, spouse, co-worker – the list goes on.
But I gained some perspective a few years ago when I read The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*CK. In that book, Mark Manson pointed out that, “you and everyone you know are going to be dead soon. And in the short amount of time between here and there, you have a limited amount of f*cks to give. Very few, in fact. And if you go around giving a f*ck about everything and everyone without conscious thought or choice—well, then you’re going to get f*cked.”
Old habits die hard but I did begin to use critical thinking methods to determine what really was worth may attention. That alone created more space in my life to pursue or chase my dreams without feeling owned by those dreams.
This lesson came to me at the right time in my life but only after I’d wasted so much time worrying about what others thought of me and not enough time focusing on what I like about myself and what I need to change about myself to make me happy with me.
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle focuses on living a life each moment as if it is the only moment you have. As well, Illusions The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah. This work by Richard Bach is a fictional account of a curious mechanic unintentionally learning the Messiah ropes. It’s a fun, short read that packs a huge lesson in a small book.
Little by little, my fears of disappointing others has been replaced by celebrations and satisfaction of knowing I honor my own choices.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Whose ideas do you rely on most that aren’t your own?
That’s a great question — and honestly, there isn’t just one person I draw inspiration from. It’s more like a mix of random authors, bits of Stoic philosophy, meditation, and just keeping myself open to whatever positive messages come my way.
I get a lot of inspiration from jotting down random thoughts, quotes, or ideas. It doesn’t have to be in a fancy journal either — the back of an envelope, a napkin, or even a business card someone handed me will do. You can imagine how fun it is to empty my pockets at the end of the day and find all these little treasures.
It’s kind of an intuitive practice. Sometimes I’ll find an old sticky note tucked in a coat I haven’t worn for a year, and suddenly there’s this nugget of wisdom that ends up being the missing piece to a project I’m working on. It happens all the time — and I don’t think it’s magic or anything mystical. It’s just the result of years of collecting thoughts, notes, and half-formed ideas that eventually click into place when the time’s right.
Pulling ideas from so many different places keeps things interesting — every day feels like a new chance to connect the dots, and that’s where my creative flow really comes from.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
It isn’t my responsibility to know or care what people think of me, and this message becomes even more poignant once I’m gone.
Far too much emphasis is placed on what others say or think about us, and far too little attention is given to the practice of living a good, gentle, authentic life — day by day.
I hope that people will remember me in a positive way while showing compassion for any of my failures, and understand that this life journey is built on lessons learned every day. Mistakes I may have made in the past are part of those lessons. Maya Angelou wrote: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.”
In the end, all I can hope is that I lived with honesty, loved with kindness, and left a gentle mark on the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Momartstudio.com
- Instagram: @helenbuckstudio
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/helen-buck-b44745359
- Facebook: @momartstudio
