As a self proclaimed artist Heather Neiman has been painting since the age of ten years old. A native of Akron, Ohio, a wife of thirty two years, a mother and grandmother, Heather has been calling Oakland Park home since 1990. Heather moved to Florida following her parents footsteps who wanted to move away to a piece of paradise to avoid the atrocious snowy winters.
Showing Her Artistic Skills at Publix
It was at Publix in Wilton Manors where Heather’s talents started to blossom publicly. While working for the supermarket chain, she was giving the opportunity to create promotional displays, signs and banners. Her artistic creations at Publix grabbed people’s attention allowing Heather to grow as an artist.
Her artistic skills lead to the creation of her notorious window painting, which she has been doing full time since 1997. Many of them seen around town especially during the holiday season. Heather’s commitment with the community and the work she has done for other people has granted her the opportunity to be commissioned to do what she loves. Her commission work has been created anywhere from painting on a river rock to a canvas to a store front window.
A Journey of Ideas
We could say a personal artistic journey is how artists explore and transform their ideas, the evolution of their practice over time. One of Heather’s milestone evolution has been being able to see her artwork hung and available for sale to the public in her own space called Art Bar at Lola’s Market in Wilton Manors.
The casual bohemian atmosphere at Lola’s Market was a perfect match for Heather’s new beginning. This is where Art Bar was born. This transition gave Heather an opportunity she was hungry for. It was here where she was able to display and began to sell her fine art publicly. This experience was a game changer for Heather as it boosted her confidence on what she does and why she does it. At Art Bar, Heather also welcomed people to attend some of her painting classes. This became a destination for many people and families alike.
Art: As Important as the Air We Breathe
For Heather art is as important as the air we breathe. Art was her calling, she was born to paint, it’s a natural gift she was given. Heather’s painting color palette is cheerful and bright. Pink is one of Heather’s go-to colors while painting, her signature color, an eye catcher. Music is a big influence on Heather’s creations. She compares her painting process to a conductor in front of the symphony. Whereas in the symphony the conductor raises the volume level on the violins while lowering others. For Heather, paint has the same function, they seem to talk to each other. After some brush strokes and her intuition, her artwork is revealed without forcing it.
Heather’s work aims at projecting raw emotions. Hope, learning lessons, perseverance, vulnerability, happiness, and soul searching may be some of her personal emotions while creating her paintings. However, in the process of selling her artwork, she came to realize that it was better to hear what interpretation her customers had about the painting instead of selling her own. Even though Heather sees her soul in her paintings, she found it most rewarding to see what others’ souls had to say.
Heather is a social butterfly, a people person and a social media enthusiast. She has built her following, her business thanks to her outgoing personality and social media. One of Heather’s distinctive signatures while painting live at public art events is her ability to encourage people to participate in her painting process. People are flabbergasted whenever Heather invites them to put their own personal artistic signature creation on her own artwork. For Heather, this process helps build communities while making new friends, discovering new talents while embracing each other in the name of art.
The Sunflower Fence Project
The Sunflower Fence Project was born thanks to the relations Heather has built with people along the way. One of Heather’s long term loyal customers happens to love sunflowers. This is a customer of over fifteen years, a customer that has provided Heather the ability to do some of her window work at the nursing facility she used to work. Given how much Heather’s client loves sunflowers and knowing what Heather can deliver, she commissioned Heather to paint a grisly wooden fence on her property. Painting the sunflower fence took Heather between six to seven hours. She used exterior and interior house paint for durability.Heather’s organic relationships with people have led to many wonderful accomplishments.
All financial gains aside, Heather’s greatest satisfaction is to see people’s reactions while staring at her artwork. To see peoples reaction when she is painting LIVE and she invites people to participate, to actually paint on whatever she is working on is priceless to her.
Heather is now back home in Oakland Park. Her studio is now located at Zero Empty Space 3560 Ne 12th Ave Oakland Park. Like the Sunflower Fence if you have anything sitting around needing to be extraordinary Heather is your artist. You can find her on Instagram @HeatherNeimanArt , or visit her website at HeatherNeimanArt.com.
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