Contemporary Expressionism



American painter Heather Dawn Batchelor refers to herself as a contemporary expressionist. From small, colorful pieces to large wall size paintings, her paintings use bold colors and gestures to illustrate her memories and experiences.

 

 

 

As long as she can remember Heather has been trying to find the right outlet for her creativity.  Whether it was ballet, jazz or theatre - art has always been an important part of her life.

Heather was born in Indianapolis and grew up in the city until her parents moved the family to a horse farm in Boone County, Indiana. Along with animals, Heather grew up with art and music as major influences in her life; her grandmother was a painter and her father a photographer who introduced her to jazz. Her mother had always dreamed of being a singer and enrolled Heather in piano and dance classes when she was very young. After high school, she lived and studied in many different places including NYC, LA, China and The Herron School of Art before finally settling back in her home state of Indiana to raise her two children. 

For many years Heather's creative focus was on building an equestrian handbag company. Combining her love of animals and art, she started by designing whimsical fabrics and sewing bags by hand in her upstairs guest bedroom. Eventually, her bags would be sold globally on five out of seven continents.

After the bags, she returned to her love of painting. In 2018 she started painting again to regain a sense of control of her artistic process and a way to escape into her whimsical fantasy world.  Always a storyteller, Heather’s paintings are a glimpse into her imagination where colors, shapes and animals are free to play.

Currently, Heather resides in Ocala, FL with her husband and enjoys spending her days in her studio painting everything from small, whimsical equestrian  pieces to large-scale gestural pieces.

Heather’s work has been shown and sold throughout the US and Internationally.