Heather Heitzenrater – “I love feeling like I am escaping reality”
Being creative can sometimes be exhausting but remaining creative during a nationwide quarantine can seem impossible. With the recent “stay-at-home” orders now in place, it can be difficult to feel inspired, active, and motivated. That’s the purpose of the Pittsburgh Creative Collective: to bring together those talented and hard-working creatives of our community. Our goal is to support each other.
One of those very talented artists is Heather Heitzenrater, a local painter and creator. She spoke with us about her work, her history with art, and how she’s been working through these new limitations.
“Hindsight” 
“Inner Strife”
Noah: Tell me (and everyone) a little bit about what you do, Heather.
Heather: I am a figure oil painter. I paint the human figure as realistic as I can and then create surreal environments for them to explore. These environments are inspired from reflective materials like, mirror mazes, infinity rooms, and Mylar. My work is also very colorful.
N: What lead you to this type of painting? Have you always done this type of creative work or have your interests changed over time?
H: I have always been the “art kid”. When I started art school at Edinboro University, I had all intentions of being a freelance illustrator. I did a lot of pen and ink and watercolor work. After I took my first painting class, I was hooked. I switched my concentration from drawing to painting. During those painting classes I had trouble painting reflective objects. I made it my focus to try and conquer this trouble area. At the same time, I really loved painting and drawing the human figure. I wanted to try and bring these two objects together. I came across a roll of reflective mylar and I set a model in front of it. The rest is history. I have been painting my current style since 2014 and I am still excited every time I go to start a new painting. I have also always loved color, so it was really important to have as much color in my work.
N: I think it’s great that you faced those problem areas head-on. How do you typically find inspiration for your next project/piece? Do you ever struggle to find that inspiration?
H: I am a scenic painter at ScareHouse, a local haunted house, and I get a ton of inspiration from working there. I love anything that is immersive, colorful and reflective. I follow a lot of theater, burlesque, fashion and circus pages on Instagram. I love feeling like I am escaping reality and in another world, which is the experience I want to give my viewers. I don’t struggle to find inspiration. I have a sketch book full of ideas. My work takes a while to make and I’m not sure if I’ll ever catch up to everything I want to paint.
N: About this quarantine…It’s certainly disrupted a lot of people’s creative flows and even uprooted lives. How have you been able to stay positive and creative over the past month?
H: During this quarantine I have good days and bad. Somedays I am ready to go, and I paint all day. Somedays I don’t feel like doing much. On those days I still make myself do some computer and marketing work. If I don’t feel like painting, I don’t make myself because I know it won’t be my best work and I’ll just end up painting over it. It’s been a little harder to get into the mindset of painting during quarantine. My husband and I rent out a studio space through Radiant Hall, but since it is a communal space it has been temporally shut down. We have a small apartment, so we moved everything in our living room to our bedroom to make a mini studio. The lighting isn’t the greatest and we have to be careful with the fumes. The other day I painted outside in our garden and it was fabulous! It’s nice having a husband that is an artist as well. When I see him paint it makes me want to paint and vice versa. We miss our studio and the community, and we can’t wait to get back to it!
N: What’s some advice you would give others facing creative blocks during this quarantine?
H: The best advice I can give to creatives during this quarantine is don’t push it or force it. This is a traumatic experience for many, many, people. If you are not in the creative mind set, that is ok! A lot of people feel like they have to be their most productive during this time and you don’t. Everyone is handling this in their own way. Celebrate little things and try to give yourself one or two tasks a day that you know you can accomplish. Maybe pick up an old hobby or try a new one. Take this time to reset and refocus and enjoy the stillness from our busy lives.
If you want to see and support Heather’s work, you can visit her website at www.heatherheitzenrater.com
You can also view Heather’s work through her social media:
