Artist Bio
Art has always been an integral part of Heather Crowley’s life, even though she has no formal fine art training. Heather grew up surrounded by easels and paint brushes while her mother taught numerous art classes out of her childhood home. Trained as a physician, she chose pathology as a specialty after being drawn to the beautiful world she experienced under the microscope’s lens. To deal with the stress of her career Heather turned to yoga and daily meditation. Unexpectedly, these methods of self-exploration led her to realize she needed to make more time and space in her life to explore her creative path. So in 2009, she left her pathology practice of six years for a part time position with another group in order to do just that.
Heather has found that the process of creating is a form of meditation for her. Multiple washes and dry brush work bring the natural world to life in bright colors in her traditional watercolors and mandalas. She believes our modern lives have become so overfilled with technology and multitasking that we seem to take for granted the beauty that is all around us. She hopes her artwork will serve as a vehicle to remind us and reawaken us to the beauty and mystery of nature and spirit. Heather is a Signature Member of the New England Watercolor Society, a juried member of the NH Art Association, member of Seacoast Artist Association and Nashua Area Artists Association.
Main Subject
Nature, flora & fauna, trees, mandalas
Materials and Techniques
My watercolor paintings are in a photorealistic/realism style with nature themes including trees, animals, flowers and symbols. Detailed pencil sketches are drawn first before watercolor washes are applied. Detail work is performed with dry paper technique and fine brushes. Some paintings include calligraphy and lettering in watercolor. Metallic watercolor accents with mica are used in some paintings. My acrylic & watercolor monoprints are created by painting acrylic directly onto fresh flowers and leaves and then handprinting onto watercolor paper with a watercolor background and watercolor shading/accents. Some watercolor pieces have pyrography on paper as a border. I have recently been experimenting with found object seed collages on wood canvas framed in shadow boxes (I consider these fine art piece collages, not craft but will leave it up to the jurors if these are allowed).
