Cultivating creativity
Helga Tacke’s creative spirit emerged at a very young age, inspired by a doting mother and a passion for art.
“My mom didn’t ever like me to be bored, so every week, we’d get a coloring book and start drawing,” Tacke remembers.
In the first grade, she crafted a Christmas card that so impressed her teacher, she showed it off to all her colleagues.
“The sense of pride I experienced at that moment helped me to realize how I fit into the scheme of things,” Tacke said. “I wasn’t the best reader back then, but I was good at art and I stuck with it.”
Over the years, Tacke’s keen artistic flair has landed her impressive gigs ranging from drawing portraits and caricatures at Disney World and Sea World in Florida, to designing $10 tokens for Las Vegas casinos to sculpting and designing coins at Sunshine Minting in Coeur d’Alene.
These days, Tacke focuses on her first love: painting.
“I feel that I am motivated in breaking new ground and evolving every day to inspire the mind and soul with original ideas,” she said. “I am always totally in the mindset to create things and make things and learn things.”
Through January, Tacke’s acrylic paintings — accentuated by brightness and vivid colors — are on display in the lower level of the Coeur d’Alene Public Library on Front Avenue in the city’s downtown area. The Post Falls artist said it’s her first public showing since she joined the Coeur d’Alene ArtsAssociation about a year ago.
Referring to herself as a “painter of brightness,” Tacke said her works “hit you in the face with color. There’s nothing subtle about it.”
She opts for a self-described surreal style, like a striking elephant with ears that are petals from a flowering hibiscus plant. Another eye-catcher depicts a stoic tiger with half its face camouflaged by the bright-orange wing of a butterfly, while a third pays tribute to Native Americans and the state of Idaho with the profile of an Indian mirroring the eastern boundary of the state.
“As a young child, my sense of extreme joy came from my creativity,” she said. “I could create pictures in my mind from dots on the ceiling. I would use any means I could get my hands on, fabric, yarn, paper, rocks, paint, plaster … to create a beautiful environment.”
Thrilled with the opportunity to showcase her artwork at the library, Tacke has lofty artistic goals and numerous accomplishments to her credit.
“I’ve illustrated children’s books … and have written a few of my own children’s stories, which I hope to have published,” she said. “At this time my gallery is bursting at the seams with paintings that I would be very honored and excited to display and share with the world.”
Tacke said she doesn’t want to keep the joy of painting all to herself, so she’s opened her Post Falls art studio for art classes.
Helga’s Secret Underground Paintings and Spirits provides an opportunity for participants to enjoy a night out “and get your paint on.”
“Let yourself go where you have never gone before,” Tacke promises on her website. “Just bring your friends and I will supply the rest.” The $40 class includes three hours of painting instruction with paint and canvas provided—and even a glass of wine if students desire.
Tacke said she devoted her life to creating her own masterpieces, not just because she has a proven knack for it, but because it fulfills her passions and a lifetime commitment to the arts.
“I intend to keep creating the rest of my life. It brings me unexplainable happiness to take a blank canvas and give it the emotions, which are buried deep inside of me,” she said.
And it all began with those coloring books so many years ago.
“I credit my absolutely perfect mother for any talent or success that I have now and in the future. She was my spirit and biggest supporter,” Tacke said.
To learn more about Helga’s Secret Underground Paintings and Spirits and how to book an appointment for her art class, call (407) 361-1533 or visit Helga-s-gallery.com.