We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Heather Weller. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Heather below.

Heather, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

I believe that most people view creative people as happier and while that is the case for some, not everyone is the same. I wish I could lie and say I am a happy person because of my art and my choice to pursue creativity as a career but I am not. People don’t realize that this life isn’t easy. Along with it comes just as much if not more struggle than other careers. Money is a constant concern. On top of that are pressures about the quality and sometimes quantity of the work you make. Do I have enough? Is it good enough? The mental toll of creativity is taxing. I find myself in constant criticism of myself. Often times I do wish I had a regular job. Life would certainly be easier. However, painting is the only thing I know I can do right. Art is where I know I belong. It takes time and privilege to be happy as an artist. For the time being you have to revel in the small things.

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 started painting about ten years ago and at some point made the decision to make it my life. Out of high school I started pursuing a career in the arts at Glendale Community College before transferring to Arizona State University. I have since graduated however I intend to continue my education and pursue a masters degree in the fine arts. It has taken me a long time to develop my own style as an artist and find what I want to do artistically. For a long time I painted what other people wanted me to paint. These were things that I considered safe like portraits or still lives. Things that people wouldn’t consider me crazy for painting. I wasn’t being my genuine self however. It was towards the end of my degree that I realized I wanted to create as my true self. Painting became my way to explore themes I find interesting such as the human subconscious. I attempt to capture the world of nightmares and dreams simultaneously. Through the symbolism of objects and figures I seek to merge reality and the inner workings of the human mind. I consider art as an opportunity to question our perspectives of the world we live in and develop visual statements when words alone are not enough.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I finished college in 2021 at the height of the pandemic. At the end of the degree program for the arts there is a group show. It is supposed to be the crowning achievement and a time to celebrate. However, I did not have the same celebratory experience as those in the program before me. ASU provided a fantastic opportunity to participate in a group show with peers in one of their galleries. My classmates and I put the show together and the experience was overall a good one. The show was well attended and our group was relieved to have the everything up and running after four years of hard work. While this show was supposed to be a pinnacle in my life things at home were rough to say the least. My father was dying and o the last day of the show I drove down to ASU, disassembled, then drove home with time yet to say goodbye. My father passed away April 9th 2021. I had a difficult time coping and I set my paints aside for a year. There were times where I was certain it was time to call it quits and never hold a brush again. Artists aren’t machines like the world thinks we are. Our art and our lives are intertwined. When life chooses chaos it is debilitating for an artist. I can’t put the struggle that was 2021 into words and getting out of it seemed a bigger challenge. I knew art was the one thing I found satisfaction in. It was something that could ground me back into reality when reality was gone. Things took time but as everything else in the past few years I feel like progress is finally being made. I desperately wanted to quit and find an easier way to live my life but this was the ultimate lesson in resilience. Because I endured and made it to the other side, the future finally looks bright with several opportunities on the horizon.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

There are so many answers to this issue and of course the easiest solution is funding. In our schools and public spaces the arts have always been the victims to budget. However, I believe the best way we can support artists is by fostering support at a young age. I work in high school as a substitute teacher and these days every kid has a laptop with a thousand assignments on it. Gone are the days of pen on paper and ultimately creativity. Classes are dull computer work. It’s like we are prepping these kids for a 9-5 office job already. I have witnessed first hand how technological learning creates boredom and bad behavior. Give these same students paper and some markers, and the whole environment changes. They are more engaged and excited about what they are doing. So while technology makes things easier, it also sucks the creativity out of people. There is less room for creative liberty in class work when students are limited to a screen. If society wants to do something for artists we need to stop killing creativity in schools where the interest in art begins. Kids don’t need to be prepped for the work force. They should be allowed the freedom to explore various areas of interest rather than a default office setting.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: hgwellerart
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