All posts tagged: artwork

Answering your Instagram questions

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I get a lot of questions on my Instagram about my practice. So I thought it may be helpful to both my collectors, aspiring collectors and other artists to share a list of those FAQs. Here we go. Where did you learn to paint? This is one with a bit of a back story, so indulge me for a second! I am self taught. I actually studied Psychology at the University of Exeter because at the age of 18 I didn’t think I could make any money as an artist and had absolutely no idea what career I wanted to follow. I mean how many of us actually do at the age of 18? So anyway off I went to uni to study something I found interesting at A Level but let’s be honest, I had no intention of becoming a Psychologist. Surprise, surprise when I graduated and came back from travelling I was lost. In the first few months/years of trying to find a job I was suited for I floated from office job …

Why do we create?

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Have you ever wondered why we paint? I have. What is it about painting that makes the chit chatter of our minds quieten down to nothing but calm? It’s almost like a meditative state, pushing colours about the canvas, watching your inner world grow and change from white nothingness to vibrant somethingness. It’s therapeutic, addictive and challenging all at the same time. An escape from your own thoughts nagging and the passing of time. For more of my work find me on Instagram @emilylouise_art or visit http://www.emilylouiseheard.com

Painting the future – A wedding gift

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  Earlier in the year, I posted that I was working on a secret painting. That painting was commissioned by a customer who wanted to surprise her sister with a unique wedding present. She asked me to paint the bride and groom on their wedding day, before the wedding had actually occurred. So I got out my artistic crystal ball (all artists have one on stand by) and tried my best to paint the future… With the brief of a teal theme, white dress, the venue, and a few Facebook photographs of the couple to work from, I had to try and imagine the scene. The most difficult part was deciding what to paint the bride in. Would she be wearing her hair up or down? Veil or no veil? Big dress? Lacy dress? Ivory, white, diamantes, plain or silk dress?? I really didn’t want to get it catastrophically wrong, so aired on the side of caution, aiming to keep it as simple as possible. Painting a couple I have never met, and creating a scene from …

Where Do You Find Peace?

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There is something about a beautiful tree at a riverside with the sunshine dancing though the leaves.  I can’t explain how beautiful I find it.  It is one of the places that makes me feel most peaceful.  So I have started to paint my favourite place.  This is where I am so far.  What makes you feel peaceful?

A Colourful Start To The New Year!

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After a fantastic Christmas and New Year (with a cheeky ski trip to Bulgaria), I am back to the easel with a SKIP, HOP and a SPLASH of paint (preferably not on the carpet please).  I have so many fun new ideas I cannot wait to get onto canvas, with plenty of commissions lined up!  It’s fair to say I am very much looking forward to what this year has in store. And because I am feeling so happy I thought I would share the good vibes with a lovely sale on all of my paintings for one month only (hoorah for bargains!).  So to start the new year off, if you feel like infusing a boost of colour into your home then head on over to my Art Finder store for sales galore (yes, I am a poet…I did not know it!).  There’s 10% off everything, which is always nice isn’t it? Just click the link below https://www.artfinder.com/artist/emily-louise-heard/sale/ Much Love  x

Why Art Is Like Magic

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There is nothing quite like the joy of learning to paint and finding out all the little ‘tricks’ that improve your artwork.  As a self taught artist, who first really began painting just over a year ago, I am still in the process of discovering effective techniques- and I really do mean DISCOVERING.  There is an absolute wealth of information available in books, magazines, and on-line for anyone who wants to learn a thing or two about the ‘proper way’ of painting.  I could have spent hours and hours reading some of these sources of information in great detail before I embarked on my journey of discovering how to paint, but I didn’t.  I found that the more I read, the more I became overwhelmed with information and afraid that I would do it wrong.  As a general rule,  I just don’t believe that something done for enjoyment should be tainted by any sort of anxiety or fear of failure-where is the joy in that?  So I threw caution to the wind and started to paint, and despite having NO idea what I was doing, …

Why do we like art?

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‘Moving objects, like asteroids and Twitter tweets, come and go in short order. Art is stationary and it doesn’t change, except in how it is beheld’-  Perry Fisher Not only have I always loved art, but I’ve also always been immensely curious about it.  More specifically,  why do humans like to look at and create art?  What is it about viewing a certain image that generates a particular emotion, or desire to create within us?  So I decided to see what answers the vast world that is the internet has to offer, as well as provide my own little thoughts… Before I begin, I think it is important to note that these speculations are only covering humans in general, and do not account for individual differences in taste.  Although I am equally interested as to why it is  ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’,  I think I will cover this in another post to keep this one to the point 🙂 WHY DO HUMANS LIKE TO LOOK AT ART?  We are social creatures.   Art provides an …

The Little Things…

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  There are a few little things about being an artist that I would like to draw attention to.  Some of these points may be fairly obvious to most of you, but  I think these points also cover some of the things that nobody really talks about. Things that I had to find out on my own… HANDY LITTLE SNIPPETS 1)  Do not underestimate how much paint you will get on yourself.  No matter how careful you are, or how meticulously you think you may have washed your hands, YOU WILL get paint on yourself or some unwitting inanimate object. I often find myself rushing to clean up the paint that I have smudged over my favourite mug,  unknowingly smearing more paint on with a hand I thought was paint free.   And that’s the thing about paint, it has a cunning way of hiding just out of plain sight (somewhere sneaky like an elbow or a foot) and reappearing somewhere uninvited (like your mobile phone). This is a war I am forever battling against, …