"To me art is
not just a painting, design, or manipulated image, but instead
the installation of the soul through the medium of choice. Art
shows the identity of the one it was created by or for. It
captures the fire in the eye and freezes it, forever caged
though the jail bars of the medium. However, when an individual
glances upon the art work, that individual sees the same piece
of work designed yet feels something completely different. It
makes them think, ponder the meaning. Involving them in the
work. It makes them feel the soul within the art work, it makes
them watch and wait for it to come to life and tell them what it
means. That is art."
The most recent
works completed by Heather Heininger include
KI4MQR,
K3JEM, and W9SEM[the Department of Homeland Security]'s Contact,
or QSL, Card. She is also in the midst of finishing a
Prismacolor drawing.
At the age of
nine, Heather began taking private art lessons until she
finished her senior year in High School at the age of 18. This
long-term endeavor proved to be fruitful for her, as her
knowledge in art and composition grew tremendously. She also
found herself the recipient of multiple "People's Choice" Awards
through her private instructor's personal shows.
Throughout her
10 years as a 4-H member, Heather was a participant in the Fine
Arts category. She collected many Reserve Champions, Champions,
and a Grand Champion before being sent to State with her
painting "Sacred One".
As a sophomore
at the University of Indianapolis, Heather took a class focusing
on Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Throughout this class,
Heather found her niche with art. She found that not only was
she able to manipulate pictures, but she could also add the
light of the image's soul to its composition. She found herself
at the computer labs on the campus between classes and in the
evening trying new strokes, fonts, and filters on different
images.
This is when
she also discovered GIMP, a GNU Open Source program with the
same capabilities as Adobe Photoshop. This Open Source program
is the source of her image manipulations. Heather also
discovered the hidden gem of Inkscape at this point, another
Open Source program which imitates Photoshop Illustrator. In the
program she designed the paint scheme for Matthew Durkee's race
car.
Throughout her
life, art as always played an important role. It was shaped her
into what she is today: an artist both on the computer and upon
canvas, mat board, and paper.
