Today we’d like to introduce you to Heather, Oh So Lovingly
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Hi I’m Heather, I own a company called Oh So Lovingly – I am an artist creating what I like to call elegant art for an elevated life.
I paint chinoiserie on silk, working with gouache and watercolors, mixing the occasional cocktail of acrylics. I adore painting nature in all of its majestic forms. I have been a student of color & design since I was young. I often joke that I’ve always been an artist, but never actually painted until 2020 when I began to teach myself chinoiserie art. It’s always been my favorite style – beckoning you into another world dripping with wonder. Oh, and butterflies. Beauty transcends dimensions, and as an artist, I feel called to a higher way of seeing the magic in this world. I am honored when others say how much joy my pieces bring to their home.
I started designing textiles from my artwork and that has been SUCH fun! Designing wallpapers & fabrics is an entirely new way of using my brain and I love switching between both. My debut textile collection was even featured in the Real Simple Magazine designer show house! Designing wallpapers and fabrics at an accessible price point on Spoonflower has been such a joy because my work gets to brighten up countless homes.
When you add those finishing touches to the butterfly wings or the birds feathers, there’s truly nothing as magical. Everything I paint is documented on my YouTube channel and Instagram. I think people love seeing birds & butterflies come to life. Painting and designing textiles is a long process, so my Youtube channel is able to capture all of it, it’s definitely a slower pace than the instant gratification of Instagram, and every week I tell a new story about what’s happening in the studio. It’s a fun time.
All of this to say, I adore being creative. As someone diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, I can tell you creativity is the anecdote to anxiety. Painting fills me with joy and lets the light in, so I hope I can help others see the world through the eyes of an artist.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
One thing I like to tell people is that creativity is a muscle – you can’t use it all up. The more you use it, the more you have. When I’m in a creative rut, I think of how sore I am after pilates… Realizing that the muscle can get tired but on the other side of that tiredness is a wonderful, new, and stronger creativity.
I set out on this endeavor knowing & accepting this would NOT be easy or quick. I knew it would be hard and I knew it might take longer than I wanted it to. As creatives, we have to create a demand for our own commodity, we have to be the face of it, we have to market it, we have to do all the legal things and taxes, we have to grind while working another full time job. I also knew I wanted it enough.
I want to create a legacy through my work that makes people feel joy and instantly brightens up a home. To me, that is SO worth the hustle. Also, I find it enjoyable to constantly be on the move.
Something that has given me time back and helped propel things more efficiently is by alllllways asking. I have learned so much from other artists just by asking them – they are always so willing & lovely. Women lifting one another up is my absolute mantra, and being scrappy with my resources. I spend where I absolutely HAVE to, as Mark Cuban says to business owners, ‘the goal is to NOT spend money.’ I like to run a lean business.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m most known for chinoiserie art prints, which has become this lovely and accessible way for most people to own chinoiserie and I love providing that. I also do custom commissions, for example dining room panels or wallpaper/fabric designs.
I don’t move on until I get an emotional reaction to my artwork. Just last night, I was finishing some bristling bamboo leaves for an upcoming triptyque launch and I looked at them altogether and felt this well of joy rupture within me… I have a visceral response to it & know only then, I’m finished. Once I see it framed and hanging, I actually have cried before, as have others. As weird as that feels to confess, that’s how I know I’m done and can be proud.
I create different worlds. I want my work to be OF reality but reality adjacent, with a whimsy to it that moves your soul. Something I LOVE leaning into is movement, adding lines that indicate a painting is alive – that helps. I’m a stickler for color. I take at least 30 mins to mix the perfect paint color.
I want the feeling to be as powerful as the proficiency of the painting.
I like to pay attention to the way colors look at every hour of the day. How does this green look during the sunrise, sunset, how can I add to that.
I adore doing commissions too… because I get to know my clients. I go into their homes & I know exactly what they’re going to love.
I want you to get lost in my paintings. When I’m creating them, I lose track of how many hours it’s been. I don’t eat. I don’t notice if the sun has gone down or come up… I want you to get lost in my work just as I get lost in creating it.
How do you think about happiness?
I think choosing everyday to be happy is essential. We can decide to be happy if we so desire. What we dwell on perpetuates. But the main way I’ve come from a deep dark struggle with anxiety to an excitement and captivated outlook at the world is by allowing myself to truly absorb the beauty that I observe. I often visit the greenhouse at my local garden store just to soak it all in. The earthy scents, the feel of the petals, the colors talking to each other. In the beginning I had to force myself to see the world this way, but it has become second nature and I’m happier for it. That’s what I try to show others in my social media content, everyone should see the world like an artist. It’s too amazing to gatekeep!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://OhSoLovingly.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ohsolovingly
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ohsolovingly
- Youtube: https://bit.ly/3BSXJPU
