Heidi Hehn
In my travels throughout the North I absorb the moods of the land and observe the wildlife and the people. Over time, colors, textures, sounds and smells cause memories and impressions to surface, where they are given a second life on canvas. I custom mix all my colours to reflect the colors of the north, such as Dawson Green, Dempster Grey and Tuktoyaktuk Pink.
Although I was originally trained in oils by my painter/sculptor father and his colleagues, I chose to paint exclusively in watercolour for many years. My technique since 1989 has been a fusion of watercolorists’ and oil painters’ techniques in the acrylic medium. I apply many layers of very liquid acrylic by glazing/layering, a method used by the renaissance masters to control the depth and intensity of the colour. I also strive to achieve a perfectly smooth surface with no obvious brushstrokes or transition lines.
I stretch and prepare my own canvases as I use different surface preparations from smooth to rough to achieve different results. By varying the canvas surface, the thickness, colour and number of layers of the paint, and the colour mixture, I can achieve bright, vivid images or more subtle watercolour-like images.
One of my paintings is in the collection of the Governor General of Canada and several others are held in corporate collections as well. My paintings have also been chosen by the B.C. Wildlife Federation for publication as Limited Edition Reproductions. Many of my originals are held privately throughout Canada, United States and Europe.
Click here for Heidi's CV