“While I do appreciate and sometimes implement symbolism or visual metaphor with some intended meaning, my creative drive is fundamentally motivated by my need to invent and by my deep love for aesthetics. Put simply, beauty alone makes a work of art important for me. My style is the culmination of my experiences and influences in urban and rural settings. I often paint with interiors in mind and have been especially influenced by vintage and modern graphic and textile design. I paint many subjects, but my popular animal portraits might be considered “anthropomorphic realism,” in which animals of all varieties pose with flowers or objects and are foregrounded on damask style backgrounds. After a decade of living and working in Chicago and Africa, my family and I now reside in San Antonio. I work from my home studio and have regular gallery and cafe shows and each of these presents new projects and ideas. In addition to being featured on the PBS program ARTS and HGTV, I have a permanent collection hanging at the new children’s museum here in San Antonio.” – Heather Gauthier