ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Heather is a primary school teacher by training and an emerging self-taught artist. Initially accepted into the University of Guelph for Fine Arts, she changed her direction and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with a Minor in Family and Child Studies. She taught middle school for a decade, and then retired her position, staying home to raise her two children. Twenty years later, she decided to explore the discipline of visual arts once again. Now, she works out of her home to paint mixed media canvases. Her work has been shown in local art galleries. Firstly, she was a contributing artist at the Paula White Diamond Art Gallery in 2019 for two shows. Then, in the summer of 2020, she was included in the Blue Crow Gallery for their ‘Square Foot’ show. Most recently, she showed at the Paula White Diamond Art Gallery during their 2022 ‘Big Ideas Summer Show’. Heather has success selling her work through social media, in particular Instagram. Heather has also created a website for clients to purchase items (i.e. yoga mats, notebooks, home decor items) and and has recently created a TikTok account to feature her life and artwork.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Almost a decade ago, after not painting for 20 years, I came back to my work. I needed an outlet to move honestly and without fear. I felt viscerally a need to be seen with my identity independent of my family, therefore not as a mother nor a wife. I wanted to be an artist, who described her life boldly, dynamically, messily, unforgivingly, and in my own way, wild. My abstract paintings are a loud reflection of that desire. Guided by emotion, my acrylic and mixed media work represents the spirit and momentum from within. My work is responsive to the moment and I seek to create art that demonstrates a loosening of constraints. My artwork is an exercise in emerging emotionally and feeling the need to be heard. I love vibrant colour that speaks to the verve of life. Spray paint always adds an ethereal touch to my canvases. Clients tell me that looking at my artwork is like looking at many tiny stories all at once. My hope is that viewers read my work and feel the authenticity in the story that I have told.