Meanwhile, in Santa Fe

Because the solstice is upon us, and it’s a full moon, and it’s sizzling summer hot here today…the studio is hopping !

Yet another show to announce, this time at the Sugarman Peterson Gallery out in the high desert of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The exhibition, An American Trio, will feature works by Katherine Stone, Leo E. Osborne and me. It was written up in the July issue of American Art Collector Magazine ….

cover 2016 72

72 article

The two new works of mine are…

All Politics is Local – 18 x 24

All Politics Is Local

“The muses wanted to weigh in on this election cycle, the prop room decided to step things back a century, and by the time I got around to choosing the right teacup…the eagle was doing a flyby.”

Goodnight Moon – 16 x 20

Goodnight Moon

“Our youngest grand daughter, Zoë, is a firefly, sparkly, bouncy, Tigger sort of a girl. She has the gift of a magical curiousity, and the rare patience to make the most of everything new her 5-year old eyes come across. Our days together are a blast, but I think my favorite part is tucking her freshly brushed and pajama’d self under the covers, giving her an eagle hug, and listening from the room next door as her Gran reads one more book. Goodnight Moon is a favorite for us both. Zoë has her own copy; the book in this painting is the one that sent me to dreamland when I was her age. The mouse is eternal.”

And, after a frantic couple of days when this very website was off the rails…I want to send a shout out of thanks to my tech crew…Ross ! We in the creative department are so glad you’ve got our backs.

Honeymoon continues…

we among the aspens72

Here we are among the aspens in the high desert mountains above Santa Fe…what an amazing week of adventures.

No time now to sort through those couple thousand shots, as we regroup and repack for MV. We leave tomorrow to settle in to the relaxing pace of island time for a few weeks to catch our newlywed breath and to let the creative muses be re-nourished.

I hope to return to the studio, and this blog, in November with fresh ideas and images so I bid you all an autumn full of changing leaves, cool days and warm apple pies…and colorful yarn passing over rapidly clicking knitting needles.

Stay frosty out there my friends…

Covered

As in, my painting of The Captains, is on the Cover of this month’s American Art Collector Magazine…

AAC105

Blog readers will remember the recent entry about my pals Ted and Pete leaving the planet this winter. Being left here without them was not an option, so I took a couple days off from the gallery work I was producing to do a painting of them, on the bluff, looking out over the ocean, on a distant afternoon, when we all shared some sweet simple time together.

Thanks to gallery owner Micheal Sugarman (Sugarman Peterson Gallery in Santa Fe), the magazine tasked John O’Hern to write an article on my work. In talking with Micheal, and then John, interesting questions arose about what an artist paints “just for themselves”.

I have been working up to taking the challenge of figurative paintings, and when I looked around the studio it turns out that I have already begun that process. The ones which John features in the article are all very personal studies. My Captains leans just to the left of my easel where those two can continue to keep me on my toes.

My Captains The Muse

I’m still shaking my head at the certainty that Ted and Pete had everything to do with nudging the painting on to the cover. It’s a very big deal for any artist and I am completely humbled, but oh how I shake my head in wonder each time I walk by the mag (which I have perched on a weaver’s chair in front of the other painting I did of Ted, The Teacozy)…just shake my head and smile from ear to ear at the folly of those pals working their magic from beyond.

The magazine should hit the newsstands soon. Here’s a link to their website, AAC Magazine.

Here’s an excerpt of John’s writing for the piece,
Neill’s paintings of props, fishermen’s
shacks and the landscape are finely
rendered and often full of humor and
subtle associations that enrich the viewer’s
experience. She paint’s her emotional
response to her subjects.
Full figures and portraits, however, have
only appeared recently in paintings that
she painted “just for me,” paintings that are
“very personal and straight from the heart.”
Her partner Pat Lackey has been urging
her to show the paintings. When her Santa
Fe dealer Michael Sugarman asked her
about the paintings she is most proud of
she replied, “I have rarely taken the time to
do work that is just for me. It is interesting
because if I had to answer honestly, these
portraits are the ones I am most proud
of because they are all about love at the
deepest part of my soul.”
Aren’t we aging well is a carefully
composed double portrait of the artist and
her partner. They vacation on Martha’s
Vineyard every summer. The bluff
overlooking the ocean has always been
a favorite spot. It has eroded away but
remains significant in their memories.

John O’Hern

arent we aging well

We will be up there soon. And I know it won’t be the same. There are many friends from that island who have gone on to other shores of late. But holding them close is part of growing up and growing old and we are doing both.

Be well.

fixing old things

It has been a wonderful week around here.

The weather is saying…autumn is here…get out your flannel shirts, brew a pot of organic coffee, take a mug and that little woven basket, and head out to the sky chair
for a morning of spoon carving !

Spoon Carvers Tea

Galleries are calling…wanting…NEEDING new work ! And I have spent the last month doing just that. New paintings will be arriving on the Vineyard, in Denver, and the one on it’s way to Santa Fe sold even before I put the frame on it !

chamber music

So why, you might ask, is this artist sitting around sipping coffee with a knife in her hand instead of a brush ???

Well, I’m in the final countdown before I go in to the hospital on Monday to get me another of those bionic knees. The last hiatus of healing kept me out of the studio for a couple months and I’m aiming to beat that record. I have a renewed sense of purpose, and focus, and a pocket full of positive feedback and kind thoughts, that have filled my creative coffers to the brim and I’m eager to be on the other side of the hospital gown.

The order of the next few days is…. R-E-L-A-X…and the best way I know of to do that is to carve a spoon.

many spoons

And in keeping with the theme of the week, Fixing Old Things, I picked out this old mess of a spoon to start with…

old spoon frontold spoon side

It must be twenty years old and I can see why I never finished it. Been hanging around in the spoon bag for so long it has a rich dark patina and is hard as…well a hardwood.
Here’s what difference a couple hours made…

new spoon frontnew spoon side

It’s more difficult to measure what those hours did for my peace of mind, but my blood pressure cuff might tell the story.

So you all enjoy this fine weather, and the coming of the colors as the leaves and the air and the apples get good and crisp. I’ll let you know when I get back to the easel.
Meanwhile…grab someone you love and take a walk for me !

Lots of Love,
Heather

 

 

 

Exciting news…

Bucket ListI’m thrilled to announce that my paintings will now be exhibited in the Sugarman Peterson Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico… Here’s a link to their website…Click Here

It is fitting therefore that, among the first group of paintings, they will be showing Bucket List. Thanks to gallery owners Michael and Christie Peterson I can now cross one more thing off of my….bucket list !