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Cindy Helms
artist ~ author
Available Now
Book Buzz !!
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"Burn. Baby. Burn. captivates with its vibrant writing style and fast-paced storytelling that keeps you hooked from start to finish. Helms unveils her life story through journaled reflections, sharing how her passion for art and writing helped her survive and navigate challenges, to prevail with a tough-girl adventurous spirit. Her inner thoughts are so vivid and relatable, resonating deeply with the human experience. I was so immersed in the story that I didn’t want it to end—and in a way, it doesn’t! The final pages offer thought-provoking questions that prompt deep, soul-searching introspection. It’s a brilliant touch and a perfect choice for a thoughtful, intimate book club discussion."
--Jody Rigsby, professional artist and truth seeker
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More Reviews coming soon
Burn. Baby. Burn.
The story in pictures
Mitzy, the pony
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Little-me at my Grandparent's House
Cherry Tree Time Machine
My Grandfather in his element
My Grandparents
Mom
Sister and me
Regan
First-grade Me,
where the journals began.
The bus stop where I met Regan.
My dad and me on the pull-out sofa where I stayed when visiting.
My Step-mom and I share the same birthday.
The House I grew up in.
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Baby-me with Sister
My cat Tiger-- the
one that ran away
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Waggles, Sister and Little-me
Grandma and Mom
Mom with me
and Sister
Me with Sister
Dad with me
and Sister
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Me with the cat that died in her declawing surgery.
Seven-year-old-me
birthday party.
Regan posing on
the lower left
Eighth Grade Me
My Stepfather's house that my mom, Sister and I moved into when I started 8th grade.
Eleventh Grade Me
--College-me racing bicycles
--Packed up
--Graduating
--Me and Mr. Spain
--Our fixer-upper city house
--Our getaway mountain house
--Both sold to build the "forever" house
--Which took 18 months to sell
--The NY State house which took 10 years to sell
--The pirate ship we built for the kids
--Dismantling the pirate ship when the neighbor proved we built it on their property by accident
--The 2-year turned 8-year flip house
The reason we bought the 2-to-8-year flip
--M with Older Son
--Older Son 4 month
--The mural I painted
--Henry sniffing baby
--Henry is the baby!
--Older Son's first ski lesson
--Hanging out with dad
A year in the life of M starts and ends with skiing.
M's Sister's family: her hubby, Older Cousin, Younger Cousin, Older Son, Younger Son, M and me.
Younger Son. Trusty SUV. Family bicycles.
M with his ancient duct taped camp stove that can't possibly work, but does.
Family Holiday Photo at the base of the sledding hill which would become memorialized a few years from now.
Our last picture as a family
From NY back to CO
M with Older Son and M's parents
holding Baby Younger Son
Welcome to
the world
Younger Son
Younger Son with kitten that got stuck in the crawl space with my journal tote. Older Son named her Taki-Oak.
Younger Son
quality time with dad
Meeting M
Our bunnies:
Barnum & Henry
M's proposal
M with our dog
Please Can I Keep Him, he's Friendly I Promise
Drawings from the Happy-box
Monster Flower Box
C and I
keep an eye on the sea
Thinkingstein
Stump-Grumps
The sewer line disaster that ate up the entire remodel budget causing us to live in a construction zone for 6 years
Regan and her family move to CO
The boys in the same Cherry Tree Time Machine where Sister and I played at their age.
We were a Halloween family. So much so that we adopted a second black cat on Halloween and named her Halloween. She would come to have several names over the years and would end up being dubbed Fatty Cat Princess Diva Emotional Support Kitty
Road warriors get weary too
The cats sit this one out
The kitty that was caught in the crawl space with my journals. She ended up needing 6 teeth extracted, medication for an ear infection and a procedure for an aural hematoma that left her with a cauliflower ear.
The fireplace where I burned all my journals. And the chair where I drew pages for my happy-box. aka: Mama's Corner.
The Happy-box/
Treasure Trove of "Genius"
West Coast Road Trip
Las Vegas campground where I ran over my laptop bad in the 111 degree heat.
The un/happy campers
A typical camp site setup
Roadside crab stops and tricycle beach blast
The HELMS graffiti in Crescent City, CA
A serotinous Sequoia pinecone needs a forest fire to release its seeds.
My SUV is dwarfed by the trees.
The "I've Got This-- God"
shirts we wore to M's funeral.
The L-O side
The L-O-V-E surround I made for M's black box of remains.
The V-E side
And then life changed.
My daily commute to and from the boys' school.
My two James Bond models at an LA acting competition
The news no parent ever wants: that their son has a congenital heart defect.
In the middle of all the crisis, I published Outside, Inside
On the move.
Gypsy Phase One
Gypsy Phase Two
Move-in day snow storm
Our new bunny: Louie
Churros, tapas and gelado in Spain.
Views, view, and more views in Italy.
My dad was a motorcycle guy. M was a motorcycle guy. I wanted to be a motorcycle guy, too.
I got Midlife Crisis Baby instead.
Crash and Burn when I lost my SUV to the "Guy Behind Us"
A sample of the fancy journals I started using.
The view from M's tree and my drawing of it.
M's Sister and Family on ski trip.
We spread M's ashes at the base of a tree above the sledding hill with a view across the ski slope valley. We were blessed by an M approved fire-sky sunset.
I carved M's initials into the tree using my car key.
The dog's pawprint clay piece is nestled at the base of the trunk.
My studio space with the Summer Art Garden series on the wall.
Stepsister with her Death Wedding Husband
We said good-bye to
Taki-Oak Kitty
See This Woman
Luke 7:36-50
Quotes, Verses, Notes and other sample journal pages
The Year of Favor
Isaiah 61
Philippians 4:4-8
Love Endures Forever
Psalm 118
The Promise of Joel
Joel 1:2-2:27
Beyond all Question
1 Tim 3:16
Peaceful Steps
I am the One
G. Stein, Cézanne, Helms
Museum Face - study
Art History -
my notes
The Promise of Joel
Joel 1:2-2:27
Her Ways are Pleasant
Proverbs 3:13
Kyffn Williams - a study
More Art History notes
Dubuffet - a study
Cézanne, Matisse & Helms
Older Son
HS graduation
Younger Son
earns his
Black Belt
Older Son in his college dorm
Rembrant - I cracked his codes:
A Rembrant original
My study
The series of marks he made
Ski obsessed drawings
Younger Son
and me in England
Me with my review books and Set Free books
Me with Sister on our UP week
Younger Son
HS graduation
Younger Son in his dorm
Halloween
aka
Fatty Cat
SoJo Road Trip Map
aka
Emotional Support Kitty
aka
Princess Diva
Visiting M's tree years after spreading his ashes, we could still see them tucked in the base of his tree.
Me and my San Juan Island moped
Fatty Cat not happy in the screen house setup
Sunset from the deck of the Bow, WA cabin
Me and Cousin at Mt. St. Helens
Me with Regan at her chemo--
the smiles didn't last long.
Hiking with the widows the day Regan died.
Drawings I Sent to Regan
The HELMS graffiti had washed away with the wind and tides. Only a faint outline of the letters remained visible.
My mom and stepfather's 1770's farm house that was the inspiration for my poem,
Making House, Home.
Roadrunners poolside with the Road Runner I hallucinated when I was chased out of the cactus field by a swarm of bees in Joshua Tree National Park.
Family photo-op on Oahu. Older Son's graduation. Beachside brothers!
And then life changed, again.
Through the woods to the lake.
The cute pizza oven and the disaster we sacrificed to the bonfire.
M2.0 and "our" cabin on the lake.
Lightning dancing on the lake my first night alone in the cabin.
My studio with a view to die for.
M2.0 welcomed me to WI with birthday roses and wine.
Selling the Denver townhouse. Moving with New New car and New Used car.
Family selfie at the Chicago Bean
Boys in the Willis Tower Skydeck
Younger Son at his study abroad program in Greece.
Getting "found" again in Thessoloniki
48-days of travel included a month in the UK
In front of our namesake abode: The Helmsley Castle
Hairy Coos
and Yummy Haggis
Mr. & Mrs. M2.0
complete with
His and Hers gargoyles
Glacial Majesty
The EDR in Denali NP where M worked 30 years ago and the heart-felt spot for M2.0's late wife's ashes.
Relaxing in the spa room
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