Today we’d like to introduce you to Heidi Moe Weinreich.
Heidi, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I still remember the day I realized that I was going to be a painter. I was in the late twenties and stood in a Bookstore looking at books about how to paint. I said to myself that one day I will paint. And the same day I bought my first art supplies. A seed was sown. But ten years went before it began to flourish.
Even if I’ve been creative since my childhood, I didn’t see an artistic career as an option when I was young. I am educated in my birth country, Norway, as a Computer Programmer and System Designer. But I was never really happy with my choice.
When I was 35 years, with three daughters and a Danish husband, I quitted my job in the oil industry in Norway, and we moved to Denmark. We bought a farm on the beautiful Island Moen, and we became organic farmers. What a change in life. And it felt so right. There I was, a “city girl”, far out on the countryside with cows, pigs, hens, and horses. And I loved it all. We had five great years where we showed everybody that it’s possible to both take good care of the environment and the animals and also make a living out of it.
In 2001, it finally was the right time for me to follow my artistic heart. Our daughters were not that small anymore, and we had sold our farm. I had a lot of time and found my ten years old art supplies and started to paint. I immediately realized that I needed some professional help and I went to Art Schools both in Denmark and in France.
My first exhibition was in 2002. Now I had found my inner passion. My art business developed really good, and after some years I had an okay income out of it. But when the financial crises came to Denmark in 2008, it became difficult to be a full-time artist. Today I work parttime with Financial Accounting and administration and parttime as an Artist. We are still living on this beautiful Island Moen one hour south of Copenhagen.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you hope others will take away from your work?
IT´S ALL ABOUT LOVE
The process of artmaking is both wonderful and sometimes a struggle. During the creative process, I’m totally frustrated, and I doubt if I ever will succeed again. Sometimes I put my ongoing work away for weeks. Often I end up with a completely different result than I planned. That’s when the process is taking over, and I let go of the control. That’s a great feeling.
I love my paintings. The one coexisting theme in all my works is love. I can only paint what I love. They’re like babies I’ve been carrying, given birth and nurtured. And finally, they move away from home.
My favorite motives are elephants and seascapes.
By painting Elephants, I hope to help create awareness for this beautiful, intelligent and seriously threatened animal. My big dream is to come to Africa one day and visit one of the help organizations that rescue elephants. 10% of my sales of elephant paintings go to a nonprofit organization helping elephants.
My absolute favorite place to be is on the beach. Luckily we live on an Island with beautiful beaches all around. I spend a lot of time here walking with my dog. On the beach, I find peace in my soul, and here I fill up my depots with energy and new ideas come to my mind. The sound of the waves has a therapeutic effect on me. Painting seascapes give me the same feelings of peace and freedom. Maybe that’s why blue colors definitely are my favorites. It’s the colors of the ocean.
As an introvert person showing and expressing my feelings with words is hard for me. As a highly sensitive person, I have a lot of feelings as you may see in my paintings. And if you are in near contact with your own feelings, you might get a story out of every painting.
For me, painting is a way of dealing with all these feelings, and without it, I probably would explode. Painting is my therapy. I think I’ve succeeded with my work and mission when the viewers also feel the positivity, hope, and love in my paintings.
Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
Many things have changed in the world, and I think art has become more important than ever. The political and social-critical art that illuminates problems in our society is important to create awareness. There are so much hate and cruelty in our world today. We more than ever need art that gives us positivity and hope and remembers us to take care of all the beauty of life. Sometimes we need to escape from all bad news in media and just feel our heartbeat and our love. My escape is when I paint.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
In local galleries and at art fairs mainly in Denmark.
Follow me on Instagram: @moeweinreich_art
Follow my art page on Facebook: Heidis.dk
My homepage www.heidis.dk
I am opening a webshop later this year.
Contact Info:
- Address: Heidi Moe Weinreich
Graeskevej 15
4780 Stege
Denmark - Website: www.heidis.dk
- Phone: +45 20 40 04 54
- Email: heidi@heidis.dk
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moeweinreich_art/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moeweinreich/
Image Credit:
Johnny Weinreich
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