About this site
This website is a dedication to the extrordinary artwork of Mary Jane Theisen (Theisen-Helm). Mary painted, sketched and drew in Wisconsin for over 50 years. She was a collegue and friend to many Wisconsin and Milwaukee artists, and served as a mentor and source of inspiration to many others.
The website project was over 3 years in the making. I (Erik Helm-son of the artist) made a promise to myself upon Mary's passing in 2003 that I would undertake to photograph, document, and organize her works for show to family, friends and art lovers around the world in a virtual gallery. It was a time consuming project. Each work had to photographed, assigned a unique number, measured, described, cross-referenced to any records for applicable titles, categorized, priced, etc. Physically it was a large project which saw me moving endless piles and folders here and there. Once a significant chunk of works was complete, the technical planning for the website could begin. Like any project most of the time is spent in design, testing, challenges and overcoming them. Once the prototype is finalized and tested then the project becomes mostly busy work. One thing I would do differently if beginning again would be to organize the works by size and orientation first in order to optimize photographic quality. You will notice that the image quality varies throughout the galleries. Luckily I saved many of the best works for last!
I hope you enjoy this site and Mary's artwork.
Feel free to leave your comments, suggestions, or ask questions.