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| Kiss of Death © Heather Lara |
Heather Lara was born and raised in New England where she developed an
appreciation for nature at an early age. She’s lived many places since her
childhood but now happily resides in Temecula, California with her husband,
two small daughters and too many critters to mention them all.
A volunteer job with the Animal Department at the Living Desert in Palm Desert introduced her to a career as a serious artist.
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| © Heather Lara |
“When I was hired by the Graphics Department full time. I expanded my resume by working freelance for the American Wilderness Experience, helping them open their zoo from the ground up by creating many of the exhibit graphics. When we moved to Argentina it was a sharp detour from my rising career path but I spent my time down there collecting dogs and honing my craft - I even had my first solo exhibition at the Centro Cultural Fisherton.
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| © Heather Lara |
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| © Heather Lara |
My painstaking attention to detail has created a portfolio rich in the diversity of life, from landscapes and portraits in pastel and watercolor to meticulous wildlife scenes in colored pencil. But what I’m sharing with you here is my love of scratchboard, a unique and challenging medium that really lets me showcase my attention to minute detail. I believe that all of nature has beauty, even the smallest insect, and I hope to share this with others through my art.”
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| A Glimpse of the Past © Heather Lara |
Where did you study
art? Though I have no Art degree,
I've gathered education from a number of sources. I went to the
University of California, Santa Cruz as an Art major and came out with a BA in
Biology instead. The art program was a little creepy for a 17 year old
kid away from home for the first time. The few classes I took involved a
lot of nude models - picture not-so-pretty hippies and homeless people, if
you've ever been to Santa Cruz you know what I mean! I did find some
graduate courses in Science Illustration that they let me take as an undergrad
and it was here that I really learned interesting techniques like scratchboard,
carbon dust on cronaflex and stipple. These courses taught attention to
detail, following fur patterns, muscle structure, skeletal structure down to
the tiniest biological detail and it seemed to fit in with my degree.
Over the years I've just practiced my art and never shied away from new
things. I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to art supplies, well who am
I kidding - I'm really one major tragedy away from being on the show but I have
a very supportive husband that keeps me reigned in and organized. If I
read about a new art technique or medium I have to go out and buy ALL the
supplies for it and try it, I teach myself through trial and error.
Sculpture, woodworking, stained glass, pastels, you name it I
have it in my over packed studio and I love it all. I read every art
magazine I can get my hands on and I ask a lot of questions from artists that
inspire me, some have ignored me but others have been an invaluable part of my
education, it never hurts to ask but it can really pay off.
How would you
describe your style? Obsessive compulsive neurotically
focused on detail. I've tried to lighten up, loosen up, let go and
sketch out something free and quick but I always end up going back in again and
again until its hours later and looking like a photograph. I have great
respect for artists who can take a subject and create something artistic and
interesting from it and yet looks nothing like real life. I just draw
what I see.
What is the one thing
most people don't know about you? Everybody
knows everything about me - I'm a consummate over-sharer. OK ... dolls
and clowns freak me out.
Why do you paint
animals? I've always loved animals since I
can remember. Anything-creepy crawly, scurrying, running or slithering I
liked to pick it up and play with it. My sister received a "How to
Draw Animals" book when we were in grade school and somehow it ended up in
my room and I copied every page. I loved it! I did my first solo
art show in the library of Kelly Lane Elementary school (all of my pictures
were done with crayon) and I've been drawing ever since. I'm the kind of
artist that really has to connect with my subject - it can't just be a picture
in book for me. When I travel I try to visit a zoo or animal sanctuary in
whatever city or country I'm in and I spend a lot of time photographing
particular animals that I make a connection with. I contact the animal
keepers where I can and get the background story for the animal and I feel like
it helps me get that extra little bit of inspiration I need. If I do a
pet portrait -which is rare - I like to meet the animal and take my own
photos if possible. I've learned from experience what I need to do to create a
magical piece of art, it's not always possible of course but every once in a
while the stars align and you even surprise yourself.
Why Scratchboard? I'm a detail-oriented artist. I've tried to loosen up and I find
myself going back to the picture again and again to add this little detail,
this little fluff of hair, this little highlight. Scratchboard is one of
those mediums where you have to fill your board with lines, there are no short
cuts. I started like most artists just drawing with pencil and I found I
could never keep the tip sharp enough for the detail I wanted. I
graduated to mechanical pens and found myself going smaller and smaller until I
was struggling with a 00000 pen tip (I was never very good at cleaning it ).
Scratchboard gave me the surface and tools to finally get that detail I
was striving for. I've dabbled in other mediums as well but I
particularly love pastels. They speak to my messy side and I think
working with all the different colors and blending and highlighting, it taught
me enough about color to try coloring scratchboard. I have little
patience for anything in my life but when I sit in front of my easel to work I
could be there for 12 or 14 hours straight. It's very cathartic for me.
What's the best
advice you've ever received? I'd like to say it was the art teacher who
had the whole class bring their most prized work of art to class to share only
to tell us all to rip it up. The message was supposed to be - you could
always do it again and do it better. Well that's a great thought and it
would be nice if it's the truth but I'm certainly never going to try and find
out!! NO, I'd have to say the best advice I got was from an artist
residing in Washington DC, can I say her name? Jodi Walsh if I can.
She said, very simply "get over it". What if people steal
my work and use it as a screen saver or print it out and hang it in their
cubicle at work?? and she said - so what? Get over it. The likelihood
that someone will take a tiny file and pirate it somehow and make millions off
your work is pretty small, and if they do then you have something you can
actually sue them for! In the age of the Internet theft is inevitable,
look at it as free advertising because if they think it's cool enough to swipe
it they'll also show it to their friends. In the end this isn't what we
should be worrying about as aspiring artists, if you're too afraid to put
yourself out there then you won't BE out there and no one will see you at all.
What is the one thing
you will never paint? Dolls and clowns
What's the most
meaningful recognition you've received for your artwork? The second
picture I ever sold is still the most meaningful to me. I've received
dozens of awards and ribbons - 2 best in show even! But this young girl
in her twenties, who worked in an office somewhere - didn't make a lot of
money, made payments to buy my picture and she told me that when she saw it
displayed at the show it made her cry. All she could do was stare at it
and feel complete emotion and connection to what I created and it touched her
so deeply she stood there in the crowd and cried. Now this just happens
to be MY favorite piece as well, of which I have a very close and emotional
connection to, and I thought as I walked it to her door to deliver it that I
was going to cut and run away at any moment screaming mine! You can't
have it! But I'm glad I didn't. I handed it over and felt content
that it was going to hang in a modest home for someone who was buying it not
because it was a good investment or because they are an avid art collector
but because, well, she just loved it. I think as artists we
all want to evoke some kind of reaction in our viewers that is deep and
visceral and it's a great validation of your work when you see it happen.
What are your goals
for the future? I'd like to expand
my audience, get represented in a few more galleries and actually pay my
husband back for the hoard of art materials I've amassed over the years.
Above all my goal is to keep having fun. I'm blessed with two
beautiful little girls and they deserve the bulk of my attention right now, I
figure I'll have plenty of time to devote to my art career when they're in
their teens and hate me.
What galleries
represent your work? Celebration Fine Art
Gallery, San Diego, California and Metalography Gallery, Temecula, CA
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