|
 |
|
 Your feedback and questions are welcome en anglaise ou francais. Click on any painting and an option appears making it possible to e-mail me. I'd love to hear who you are and where you're from.
Born summer of 1942, I was fourth down and fourth up of seven children in Southern Idaho. At two years old I loved the effect of paint on paper, but by the time I was in school, I was too self-conscious and too self-critical to try art again.
In 1976 I graduated from Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho, with a bachelor's degree in English and a bachelor's in art, which had started as a minor and became a second major. My MA from Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, was in English. Though I had written a novel, many short stories, and over 300 poems, I had no confidence in my own "art," and I had to support my children. If I had it to do over - well - it's better to be older and wiser than just older.
Over the years, as I was raising children and teaching English Composition, when I found time and resources, I painted - on canvas, on pieces of discarded plywood, and on paper. When I couldn't find time and resources to make paintings, I painted rooms in my house, put down tile in kitchens and bathrooms, textured walls and reveled in chemical effects of washes on walls. I worked hard after I got home from work in the evenings and on weekends making changes to flat surfaces wherever I found them. When I was doing this, and when I was painting on canvas or masonite panels, I was lost - no - found! - in color, texture, line and shape and completely happy - never happy with the result, but always happy with the process.
In 1983, living by myself again, I took my last name - Heywood - as my first and took back my father's last name as my own in a process of learning to protect myself. This has been empowering.
June of 2006, I quit my job and moved from Kansas City, Missouri, to Boise, Idaho, where, with my younger sister, we remodeled, painted, and 'flipped' a house and in late September that year, with my share of the money, I took my dogs and moved to Heyburn, Idaho, to a little house three miles from my mother's studio in Burley, where at 89 she teaches painting and continues to paint beautiful landscapes and other art.
In April 2007, when I had finished the remodel of my house, I began to paint at my mother's studio, but by May I realized it was going to be an expensive endeavor, and I began looking for work. On May 16th, on my way to a job interview, I realized I only wanted to paint. I decided that if I did not get the job - and I didn't - I would begin the next day working for myself as a painter. I committed myself to paint at least 20 hours a week. Since May 17th, 2007, I've painted 20 to 30 hours a week, and have produced over 200 paintings.
I've given myself time to experiment and splash -I forgive myself bad paintings and move on. I feel my work generally has strong composition, and is moving into a gradual improvement in paint quality. My style is intuitive and often primitive and the words of my old art teacher from college still hold true: "If you could focus your energy, you'd paint like a lazer. As it is, your work looks as if you paint with a staubed off fence post."
However my paintings turn out, I'm happy as I have ever been in my life and wish everyone the same. - Heywood Williams - |
|
Cart
