Picking Flowers by Helen McNicoll

McNicoll was born in Toronto to an affluent family. Her parents were David McNicoll and Emily Pashley. McNicoll became deaf in early childhood due to Scarlet fever , and as a result, focused her energies on playing the piano and developing a keenly observant eye. As a young woman, she attended the Art Association of Montreal, beginning her studies under William Brymner in 1899. In 1902, she moved to England to study in London at the Slade School under Philip wilson Steer. At the Slade, students were encouraged to paint en plein air. Later, McNicoll studied in St Ives, Cornwall with Algernon Talmadge, where she met Dorothea Sharp, a fellow artist who became a lifelong friend. McNicoll and Sharp traveled together to France and Italy sharing studio space, and posing for each other’s paintings.