Explore the Captivating Creative Paintings of Heather Cooper
Lush and detailed, inspired by nature and the world around her
Heather Cooper
A Canadian fine artist, has an illustrious and celebrated career that spans over four decades. To many, the name Heather Cooper conjures visions of finely detailed paintings in mythical and romantic themes.
"My paintings should make the viewer think and wonder, opening the door to interpretation – slightly realistic but also surreal and symbolic, an imaginary mystery that begs a question."
"Life is a continuum of theatre, a character which never shows a face; for when its mask at last stripped away another mask takes its place."
Heather believes in life as ‘le carnaval perpétuel’;
“We get wrapped up – sometimes torn up – by a moment in life because each of us is a certain kind of person in a certain kind of mask. We sometimes forget there are other layers below, and how helpful it can be to peel away the surface mask and see what the person beneath it has to offer”.
She has been commissioned to paint the portraits of such celebrities as Pope John Paul II, Fay Dunaway, Moses Znaimer, Marilyn Lightstone, Sigfried & Roy, Bobby Orr, Darryl Sittler, Henri Richard, Kate Wheeler and Alex Tribek. Her paintings are in private collections all over North America. As prints, her works have become a medium of their own in celebrating North America’s performing arts.
Over the years she has created intricate paintings for organizations such as the Stratford Festival Theatre, the Canadian National Ballet, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Canadian Opera Company, the Houston Opera Company, the Baltimore Symphony, the Houston Zoo, Guelph University and the Smithsonian Institute garnering wide spread recognition.
“Years ago, my father and mother made me a gift of a wonderful wooden box. The hinges were brass. The handle was leather. And the initials glued to the front panel were mine.
When I opened the box I discovered a neat row of oil paints in colourful tubes, glass bottles with turpentine and linseed oil, a pair of canvases and a handful of long-handled brushes – longer than my canvases were wide.
It was my eighth birthday.
I began to paint for love and quickly became a passionate consumer of cardboard-backed canvas boards. The loving gift of my parents had awakened a gift inside me. I responded with one of my own: my first painting, an imaginary cottage in an orchard.
My childhood accomplishments were given freely to relatives and friends to decorate their homes. In return, they gave me encouragement and confidence.
The circle was complete, with the gift returning to the giver.
Over time I learned an artist must live with the dualistic roles of idealist and realist.
The quandary of dualism rears its head many times and in many ways during an artist’s development. To gain experience and insight an artist must be outgoing and worldly. Yet finding the time required to create demands a lifestyle that borders on monastic.
An artist’s talent, inspiration and imagination are a gift. And the vitality of that gift is reflected in the work. The art that we have come to treasure most is that which transmits enough of this vitality to revive our souls. An artist whose work touches us earns our gratitude by establishing a bond that enriches us all.”
Heather is committed to the imaginative expression of ideas and has a passion for things well done.
“The greatest works are never properly rewarded and likely never will be because in order to achieve that greatness the artist leaps beyond boundaries and applies talent and imagination that far exceed expectation. Only by giving from the heart in this way will an artist summon the inspiration, ideas and insight that kindle the finest work.”