We were lucky to catch up with Heather Drayzen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Heather, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

In the beginning, I started painting and drawing regularly in my junior year of high school. I transferred to a fantastic art magnet school that set me on my artistic path. I grew up with role models that made things—my mom would decorate cakes and my aunt would sew and put on craft shows. However, growing up in San Antonio in the 1990s, the arts were not offered as a regular program in my district. I had little exposure to artists and didn’t really have any idea of what art was exactly, so that high school art program was mind blowing for me.

I attended School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City where I had incredible instructors (shout out to David Soman, Frances Jetter, and Keith Mayerson among many!) and received my BFA in Illustration. I met my now husband, Josh, there when we were just kids. Then I went onto Rhode Island School of Design for my Masters in Art Education and returned to New York to teach.

It took awhile for me to get comfortable with my teaching schedule and to create routines that would help me get back to painting on a regular basis. I primarily worked in acrylics, watercolor, and drawing until about seven years ago. In 2016, I read “Big Magic” Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert and this gave me the courage to sign up for continuing education life portrait painting classes at SVA on Saturdays with John Parks. John taught me how to paint in oils and mix a proper palette. He emphasized color, light, and brushing. I studied with him for four years for six hours a session in order to get better at painting. Life painting honed my observational skills, color mixing, and painting speed. He nudged me to put my work out there into the world and I am forever grateful.

I joined NYC Crit Club in early 2020 where I gained a broader community of artists. At a time when everything was shut down, I was making wonderful friends and connections online while also receiving critical feedback I needed to grow as a painter. My community has expanded and we now regularly go to shows together, support one another, and meet to give each other feedback in addition to taking Crit Club classes. This year, I’m on sabbatical from my teaching job and have been taking drawing and ceramics classes to hone my chops and develop new skills.

Learning to make art has been a 20+ year process for me that has slowly developed overtime. The only way to speed up this process is to make more art. I’ve learned that there are no shortcuts and dedicating myself to spending time nearly everyday making or taking in inspiration is more important than the final outcome. I do wish I’d read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron even earlier–I started writing in my “morning pages” several years ago and they have helped me to open up new creative pathways and get past “blocks.” The most essential skill is to nourish a curiosity of wonder and excitement for making and looking at work, to ask for feedback, and to do the work and to put it out there into the world.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I document my life, memories and relationships in my paintings and my work is keenly aware of the beauty and fragility of life. My paintings draw upon my lived experiences, interior world, and emotions with a tender and intimate touch. I primarily paint small-scale domestic scenes in oil on canvas often featuring myself and those I cherish in quiet moments. Experiences like sharing a cup of morning coffee, grabbing a bite from the fridge, or taking a nap with the pups take place in an atmosphere of iridescent golden light, highlighting the passage of time while nodding to art historical influences including Bonnard and Vuillard. Jewel-like fields of day-glo color contrast with subtle neutral tones tapping into a psychological energy. I paint these works for myself and put them out there into the world online and in exhibition settings. I am most proud of the authenticity in my work. Each painting is a vignette within the larger narrative of my life, and when viewed together they reveal the feeling of a life lived along with a genuine emotional history. I am forever grateful to my community of artists, supporters ,and collectors. I once heard the phrase “the personal is universal” and I feel this is true of my own work–the more intimate and true I push, the more others can find a place for themselves in my paintings. I recently had my first two-person exhibition with the artist, Julia Blume, at My Pet Ram on the lower east side of New York City–this was a highlight of my career as a painter thus far and it was an immensely meaningful and fun experience to see my work in this beautiful space and to share it with people. Looking forward, I’m excited to head to Vermont Studio Center Residency this July with a group of 50 artists and writers to hone my craft further and get to know a broader community.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The community!

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Absolutely! In terms of professional development and ways to get my work out there these resources have been invaluable:

New York City Crit Club, Founded by Catherine Haggarty and Hilary Doyle (https://www.nyccritclub.com/)

Crit Connection (https://ruthlantz.com/crit-connection/)

Netvrrk founded by Paddy Johnson (https://netvvrk.art/about)

Navigating the Art World: Professional Practice for the Early Career Artist by Delphian

Contact Info:

• Website: www.heatherdrayzen.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatherdrayzen/