[7] Over time, Helen's finish became more refined, and she made her children separately instead of from the primary piece of clay allowing for her to vary their placement around the storyteller.

"I made some more of my Storytellers with lots of children climbing on him to listen, then I took them up to the Santo Domingo Feast Day" where Alexander Girard bought them.

[10] Not long after Helen started her figurines, Gerard asked her to increase her yield and the size of her figures.

Helen mulled over the idea, and thought of her grandfather, Santiago Quintana, who she remembered as a great storyteller.

Her husband and son drove one hundred miles to bring home the cedar wood she used to fire her pieces ... on an open iron grate behind her house.

After the success of the Storyteller, Helen eventually drew more from her experiences and went on to develop other types including, drummers, singing mothers, Pueblo father, and Hopi maiden.