Boston Artist Heather Buechler’s vibrant abstract paintings and drawings focus specifically on the intersection between spirituality and the state of one’s mind and presence. Heather’s latest series called Driving Lessons With Mermaids documents her art progression through the pandemic.
“Feeling lost and stressed by everything going on, I had a lot of feelings that needed to come out on the canvas when I went back into the studio. At the beginning of the pandemic, my work was very aggressive. I use painting as a form of expression, so this was the best way for me to work thru the stress I was feeling. Those paintings didn’t fit in with the rest of my work, so I put the canvases aside. Months later, I had a dream that I was supposed to add violet and magenta colors to those unfinished paintings. At the time, we were getting a lot of rain during Nor’easters. I decided to do a series inspired by watching the Boston lights through the rain from my window. The new series utilizes bright colors and energetic brush strokes. I decided to title this new series Driving Lessons With Mermaids to symbolize the craziness we’ve all experienced during this time.” — Heather
To learn more about the artist and to see more work, visit www.HeatherBuechler.com. Heather is available by appointment in her studio at 450 Harrison Ave. Studio 215 in the SOWA Arts District in Boston. Contact: HeatherBuechlerArt@gmail.com
am a Visual Artist and Book Illustrator living in Marblehead, MA. I received a BFA(’93) at Queen’s University in Canada and an MFA(’96) at Illinois State University in the United States of America, where I studied drawing, printmaking, painting, and art history. I have shown my work throughout Canada and the USA and are in numerous private collections. I have worked as a printmaker’s assistant and enjoyed various drawing, printmaking, and painting teaching opportunities over the years. My passion remains in my studio, where I can to create my paintings, works on paper, wall sculptures, and ceramics.
Over the past few years, I have been working on gaining attention from the local community. This effort has resulted in solo exhibitions, many shows both locally and in the US. I also have a strong social media presence and have made connections with people and companies from all over the world. I am also a Book Illustrator. My first book, The Sweetest Superhero, was published in Fall 2016. The book contains 16 of my ink and watercolor paintings.
Currently, I am working on a new series of drawings and paintings on canvas and paper. My work contains whimsical pen and ink drawings that focus on these fanciful creatures in a city-like landscape rich in color, full of creative patterns and bizarre movements. My recent series focuses on abstract human figures that float and dance about on the surface of the canvas.
Raising our two boys and dog, and soaking up the culture and art during several extended family trips, has added fuel to my creative fire. These trips to India, South Africa, Australia, Hawaii, Florence, and Namibia, for example, have given me much inspiration!
Throughout each adventure, there was so much to take in and absorb. Each country had different colors, sounds, smells, and energy. These tactile memories are now bubbling up within me and finding their way onto the surface of the canvas. Each of my figures has its own story to tell. The viewer is part of this storytelling because we bring our own stories and history to the painting. What is your story? How would you draw it?
Now that our boys are older, I have found a renewed energy and focus within myself. This rejuvenated creative drive reflects throughout my drawings and paintings. Thank you for taking the time to view my art. It truly is a pleasure to share my work with you! — Susan
Born in New York City, Annie earned her BFA from Smith College and her MAT in Fine Arts from Harvard. She has taught drawing, painting, and book design in the Boston area and has worked as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer. She has been a mixed media painter and book artist for over 30 years. Her unique, handcrafted jewelry celebrates the decorative possibilities of paper, fibers, and found objects. Annie’s award-winning work is in collections in Boston, New York, Italy, Turkey, Hungary, and Poland. She lives and works in Boston and in the Aegean coastal village of Çesme Dalyanköy in Turkey.
Max works behind the camera eye, fusing his strong design skills and his unique aesthetics for visual art to create images meant to engage the viewer in multi layered stories of the world around them, both natural and man made. His art is diverse, encompassing nature’s impressive landscapes, oceans and mountain vistas, explorations of cities with their architectural beauty and forms and also some work that take on more abstract imaginative interpretation. There is a truly expressive nature to his work, deeply sensitive to his subject, he strives to reveal its individual tone and nuance. Each piece is carefully rendered, each picture an investment of time spent chasing light and shadow, patiently stalking and waiting for the perfect moment that will embody what Max wants to impart about that captured image to share with the viewer
Max is a graduate of the Art Institute of Boston and went on to continued studies at Mass Art. He has been featured in Cape Cod Life and Boston Magazine. His art hangs in many prominent institutions and businesses such as Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod, Logan Airport and Granite Medical as well as in t he hones of private collectors.
I’ve been working on this collection of animals for nearly 2 years. I hope they make you smile, because when I’m painting these little faces, I sure do smile. I paint from my soul while I transform an animal from its canvas infancy to something recognizable, and looking into those soulful eyes that I gave life to, brings me so much joy. I’m fortunate that I can create something out of nothing. Fortunate that I am capable of creating a dimension that really isn’t there, and fortunate that I can merge my two loves, painting and animals.
I’ll probably be working on this collection for another three to four years, then I’ll move onto another series. I feel that if I end a series and never return, that I and collectors can savor the scarcity of that collection, rather than painting many units over and over again because it’s marketable.
Alyssa Niekol Hernandez — whose upbringing was predominantly shaped by the guidance of a single mother and the tethered bond with a twin sister — sculpts pieces that serve as portals to the intricate layers of femininity and personal identity. Inspired by the ever-shifting forms of nature and the profound depths of individuality, her latest collection delves into the intangible dance of energies that accompany periods of growth and self discovery. Instagram: @movin.jpg
THE WONDER AND AWE: Paintings by Cristy Walsh
