Heather Thomas Olson is an American oil painter who lives in Western North Dakota and paints full-time in her home studio.
Heather graduated in 2010 from Dakota College at Bottineau for floral design and horticulture. Although Heather had been a painter and creative her entire life, she has become a disciplined daily painter since 2019. As a self-taught artist, she painted daily for an entire year in acrylics. Focusing on her skills, she then switched to oils. Her work is a broad spectrum of realism and surrealism that includes portraiture, plants, animals, still life and landscape. She toes the line between traditional and experimental techniques. She draws her inspiration from the Avante Garde, Peewee Herman, Gothic and weird pop art, low art, and outsider art. She’s also influenced by Sargent, Sorolla, Flemish and Dutch painters, and Bouguereau.
Heather states, “My work is a journey of ideas, dreams, and the byproduct of the skills that I have learned. As a self-taught artist, I may not always have the answer to the question. If I need light to look a certain way in a painting, I have to find a way to make it happen.
My work consists of portraits, pets, animals, landscapes, and still life. I have always painted, but over the last five years, I have focused on improving by painting every day. I started with acrylic, and after a full year, I focused only on oil paint. This is where the rubber met the pavement.
My passion for painting and learning has taken over my life. Each painting is a learning experience. It will be a lifelong endeavor. It is an obsession, a compulsion that is not just an enjoyable hobby.”
Be sure to join us on Saturday, October 18, from 2-3:30 PM for an artist reception!
