Interview with Gro Heining
I am a self-taught Norwegian painter, b. 1949. Drawing and painting have always been a way of expressing myself. My first exhibition was in 1982, with more than 45 exhibitions in Norway, USA, Spain and Italy.
Oslo Painting School (1985) and Olav Mosebekk Drawing and Painting School (1996) and painting workshops in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA (1991). I spent several years in the colourful scenery and culture of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Arriving for the first time in 1987, it was for me as if returning to my creative origins. Exhibitions, book illustrations and animal designs for T-shirts influenced my growth as an artist.
I work with various techniques: acrylic, collage, water-based oil, oil pastel, watercolour and mixed media, both on paper and canvas. Editioned Giclée prints are also available of my artwork.
Since 2014, I have been sharing time between a mountain village in Andalucia, Spain and my home base in Norway.
How would you describe yourself and your artwork?
I would like to call myself a colorist and a transformational painter.
Nature is my primary source of inspiration. Painting for me is a meditative state of being, where I connect to the elements and the rhythm of nature, weaving dreams and visions into my artwork. My intention as an artist is to be able to communicate that all things are connected with one another and to the universe. The interconnectedness of all things in nature represents a deep unity within myself. My hope is to inspire the viewer.
How do you go about beginning a new piece? Do you have an idea already in mind, or do you start working with materials or sketches to find the departure point?
I am attentive to my dreams. A seed or a color from the dream is often a starting point. Or, something happens in the outside world and I illustrate my response with sketches, words and thoughts. To give you an example, my Phoenix series started in 2020, coinciding with the Covid virus. Living in such transformational times, I chose to focus on the mythology of the bird Phoenix, I absorbed myself in sketching, thinking, writing and meditating. Often, the sketch is figurative. I translate it into my way of painting. When I hold the brush in hand, my painting process becomes more intuitive. The Phoenix series resulted in 9 paintings made in the time frame of 2020 - 2022. Is it complete? I do not know, yet……
When do you think your most prolific time of day or week is?
I am in a state of mind of painting everyday. If I am not painting on the canvas, the process is taking place inside me in my heart, my mind, my conversations and dreams.
What is a barrier you as an artist overcame? Is there anything that enables you to develop your work as an artist in your life?
I remember at school, being 7 - 8 years old: the feeling of not be able to make an exact drawing of what I was looking at. I did it my way with colors. I also made up imaginary beings using pencil or ink pen and created stories. When I was 18, and I made the choice of administration and languages, and not art school. I quit after 10 years of administrative work to follow my passion for painting. I loved colors. I experimented a lot, using different expressions and techniques. I am primarily self-taught. The need for inspiration and dialog with teachers and fellow artists, led me to start basic drawing and painting schools in 1985 and 1996.
To live in another part of the world has been a good education for me. I really felt at home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Living both in Spain and Norway since 2014 has been a source of creative inspiration. And sharing life with my creative photographer companion for now 35 years - has been a colorful journey - we are mutually enriching and igniting our individual creative paths.
Did you have an idea of what you wanted to create right from the beginning?
In my earlier years, I was more of an intuitive painter. I did not have a specific idea about what I was going to paint. I just painted. Today I work in a very different way. I study and think about the idea/theme for a long time, and fill up a notebook. Looking back through 65 years of painting, I can see clearly my favorite themes in my artwork through time. Painting has become a kind of pathfinder in my life.
What is the meaning or creative inspiration for your work? We’re curious what the narrative or story is to what you are producing?
To paint the invisible. What we cannot see, but feel. How colors speak to us. That everything is connected. We are not alone. Every step we take, what we do and every thought we make, are having an impact to our world, and the importance of understanding that these dynamics require time and gentle steps, has become a daily ritual for me just like painting.
Besides your artworks, are there any other things in life that your voice as an artist may consider vital or valuable? What makes you joyful and creative, in other words?
My wonderful family. Nature, music, poetry and friends. Creating collective art with my 4 grandchildren. And to just be in the present.
Are there any exhibitions or places where people can see these beautiful creations in person soon? Anything on the horizon?
Not this year, but you are welcome to visit my home in Norway. There are a few book projects coming up in 2022 and I have been applying for competitions and awards. At the present I enjoy the process of drawing, feeling that something might be changing in my expression. This is interesting. Now is a time for listening, seeing and waiting.
Website https://gro-heining.no
