Heidi Hoffmann

Artist's Statement                                                                                                               

My paintings of water focus on the artistry in nature; on the intriguing mobile patterns formed by the motion of the waves with the myriad of colours refracted by the sunlight.  I began producing art with this subject matter after a work trip abroad with stopovers in Hawaii and Tahiti, where I was hugely impressed by their tropical waters.   

The paintings with lines of poetry (poems from London local Donna Bamford) are carved out using the sgraffito method so that the underlying colours show through the layers of oil paint.  I wanted to bring Donna's beautifully crafted poems out of the closed book to be seen in an illustrated format by readers and art lovers alike.

My two still-life paintings are a study of objects we use in our daily life.  Some objects are treasured as heirlooms while others are discarded after a single use.  It is ironic that these objects can be beautiful and ecologically damaging at the same time.  

I started out as a Freelance Artist after graduating from the Ad Art Program at Fanshawe College in 1986, doing commissioned watercolour paintings and pen & ink sketches of houses and murals.  In the 90's I changed gears and worked overseas as an ESL Instructor.  When I moved back to London, I returned to a focus on art.  In the early 2000's I began exhibiting my work and experimenting with mediums such as oil pastel and mosaic tile, as a way of abstracting and simplifying the image. Now I work mainly in oils, including all of the pieces for rental/purchase at this shop.  I also continue to do commissioned artwork part-time.