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MICHAEL HEFFERNAN
WAYFINDINGthe synthesis of visual & poetic language
landscape paintings
Landscape works are created from a combination of sources, memory, painting and drawing on site, and passages from my poetry. Many paintings are influenced by my Irish roots and love of nature on both sides of the Atlantic.
"Easterly Distant Winds" 48"x60" oil on canvas. From my poem My Inner Way Home. (Sold)
"Dusk on the River" 36"x36' mixed media on canvas.
"Autumnal Days" 48"x60" oil on canvas.
"Wayfinding" 72"x86", oil on canvas. based on my poem "Wayfinding, and ongoing series.
"Riverbank" 36"x36" mixed media on canvas.
"Modulating Banks" 58"x74" oil and mixed media on canvas. (Sold)
"The Wind Sprang Up" 48"x48", oil on canvas. Based on my poem The Silence of Feeling.
"Kolb Farm Trail I" 30"x40", oil on canvas.
"Long Shadows Over Sedge" 96" 24" oil on cradled panel. Based on the poem of the same name.
"The Baronies of Ui Chairin", Diptych, 72"x36" oil on canvas.
"The place you call home" 36"x48", oil on canvas. Ireland. (Sold)
'A Crimson Marsh Sky", 36"x36", oil on canvas.
"March Winds", 38"x38", oil on canvas.
"Passages Through Spartina", 36"x48", oil on canvas. (Sold)
"Kolb Farm Trail II", 30"x40", oil on canvas. (sold)
"Lake Inlet", 32"x38", oil on canvas.
"My Inner Way Home", 40"x40" oil on Belgium Linen. A second in the series based on my poem of the same title.
"Outerbanks" 36"x36", oil on canvas. (Sold)
'The Shallows" 36"x36", oil on canvas.
"The Banks" I, 65"x74", acrylic on canvas, this piece is based on my poem with the same title. It is part of a series inspired by the banks of the Chattahoochee River where I visit several times a week.
botanical paintings
A gallery of botanical based works
"Peonies I", 42"x42", oil on cradled wood panel. Love Undying Series, based on my poem of the same name.
"Peonies III", 36"x48", oil on wood panel. Love Undying Series, based on my poem of the same name.
"Peonies VI" 36"x48", oil on canvas over birch wood panel. Love Undying Series, based on my poem of the same name. (sold)
"Kolb Farm Thistle", 40"x40", oil on canvas. Shown with poem. (sold)
"Spring Growth", 48"x60", oil on canvas. (sold)
"Kolb Farm Thistle", 45"x38", oil on canvas. (sold)
"Peonies V" 18"x18", oil on birch wood panel. (Sold)
"Potted Clematis" stilllife painting of creeper outside my studio. 18"x18", oil on cradled birch panel. (Sold)
small works & en plein air paintings
This gallery shows smaller works and paintings done on site. These works often inform larger paintings.
"Kolb Farm Meadow" 8"x10" oil on linen, en plain air.
"Jekyll Island" 8"x10" oil on linen, en plain air.
"Inlet" 24"x30" oil on canvas.
"The Banks IV" 12'x12', oil on Arches 350 gram watercolor paper.
'The Banks II", 12"x12", oil on Arches 350 gram watercolor paper.
"Peonies V", 18"x18", oil on birch wood panel. (Sold)
"Outer Banks", 22.5"x27", oil on canvas. Created from sketches done at the Outerbanks of North Carolina.
"Kolb Farm" 18"x24", en plein air, oil on linen.
abstract expressionist paintings
My abstract paintings are derived from my poetry. I work in series typically, this ongoing body of work is called "Wayfinding", which explores the synthesis of language, through poetry, visual art, music, and film., in collaboration with other artists. It’s a creative journey of seamless expression, storytelling, and emotional connectivity. This has been the foundation of solo exhibitions and an ongoing body of work.
"The Gift of New Light" 48"x60" oil on canvas. (sold)
"Ink-blue-black Dawn" 42"x42" oil on canvas.
"Days Dawning" 89"x65.5" oil on canvas.
"Modulating Banks" 40"x50" oil on canvas.
"Rooks Murmured III" 42"x42" oil over mixed media on cradled wood panel.
"Rooks Murmured", 48"x60" mixed media on canvas.
"Imagine", 54"x50", oil on canvas.
"Cathartic Retrospection II" 42"x42" oil and cold wax on canvas.
"Kites in the Wind", 43"x58", oil on canvas over wood panel. Poetry Series, based on my poem of the same name.
"Blacksmith Hammered Rooks Murmured", 60"x60", mixed media on canvas. Poetry Series. (Sold)
poetry
I enjoy writing poetry, and began writing during the pandemic in 2020. I find it is now often the starting point for conceptual sources of ideas that inform my abstract works particularly. Poetry writing is an integral part of my process.The award-winning film below was created by Brandon Peterson and is the anchor poem in the ongoing Wayfinding body of work.
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wayfinding visual poem
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background
an Irish artist in the American South
Michael survived a heart attack while cycling in June 2018. The trauma of that event led to his reevaluation of priorities and return to his passion for painting full-time.Michael's artistic practice is a unique blend of visual and poetic language. From his studio in Marietta, north of Atlanta, he delves into ongoing abstract conceptual works, a journey he embarked upon during the pandemic, lockdown, and isolation. In June 2020, he began writing poetry as a coping mechanism, drawing from childhood memories and his life in Ireland. This intense focus has birthed a practice that combines mark-making, visual expression, and storytelling, with his contemporary landscape paintings often reflecting themes from his writing.Michael's ongoing endeavor, 'wayfinding through visual and poetic language,' has been a remarkable success. In 2023, he held two large solo exhibitions of his work, which were well-received by the public and critics alike and marked a significant milestone in his artistic journey. His work has been shown in prestigious galleries in Ireland and England and sold to art collectors throughout the US, a testament to the universal appeal of his art.Michael's journey is a testament to the human spirit's capacity for reinvention. Born in Dublin in 1954, he graduated from the National College of Art & Design (NCAD) in 1975 and Birmingham Polytechnic with a postgraduate in Industrial Design Engineering in 1977. His successful career as an award-winning designer led him to the US in 1989, where he spent over 35 years in leadership positions in entrepreneurial companies in healthcare, science, technology, and professional services. His transition from the corporate world to the art world is a fascinating story of passion, resilience, and creativity.Michael is represented by Robert Kent Galleries. He has exhibited at Sol Art Gallery, Dublin Ireland, Mason Fine Art Gallery, in Atlanta Georgia, and several regional and local galleries in the southeastern United States. He had two large solo exhibitions of Wayfinding in 2023 at Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, Marietta, Georgia, and Quinlan Visual Art Center, Gainesville, Georgia. His work is sold throughout the US.
artist statement
Working on a large scale provides another dimension for expression. As I progress there is a consolidation between landscape and abstract expressionism. I use a lot of texture in my work and feel a tactile quality and three-dimensionality in the surface with built-in layers of color; editing, removing, and adding elements is not unlike the process of poetry writing and finding the right words to express with economy of language. The synthesis of language to connect and move.The seamless expression excites me, the search and expression of emotional connection with the viewer, providing just enough for the viewer to participate, interpret and engage in the work. I like to think I can draw the viewer into the paintings, and they discover interesting passages each time they engage with them, especially over time. I strive for consistency in my visual vocabulary, and I continue to extrapolate and explore as I progress in my obsession with the materiality of paint and its boundless possibilities.
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previous works
The paintings below are selected works sold throughout the United States. Wooden stretcher bars and cradled wood panels are all handmade in-house and only the finest materials are used in all hand-stretched duck cotton, and Belgium linen canvases.
"Seamless Expression" 50"x54", oil on canvas.
"Glory Blooms" 60"x72" oil and mixed media on canvas. Based on my poem of the same name about the start of the war in Ukraine. Now part of the permanent collection at Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, Marietta, Georgia, USA.
Peony's III, 36"x48", oil on wood panel. Love Undying Series, based on my poem of the same name.
"Rooks Murmured" 60"x60" mixed media on stretched canvas. Part of The Peterson Private Collection.
"Dick's Creek" 16"x20", en plein air, oil on linen.
Vickery Creek, Roswell Georgia. 16"x20", en plein air, oil on linen.
36"x48", oil on canvas commission.
60"x60" Oil on canavs - poetry series.
"Outer Banks" 36" x 60", oil on linen, commission.
40"x40" oil and cold wax on canvas. The Banks Series.
"North Carolina Marsh" 36"x36", oil on canvas.
"Curracloe Beach, Ireland, 8"x16", oil on cradled wood panel. En plein air.
36"x48" oil on linen, commission.
"Kolb Farm Thistle" 40"x40", oil on canvas.
Commisioned work, 40"x40", oil on canvas.
"Kolb Farm Thistle", water color sereis. 24"x36" on arches 340 gram watercolor paper.
"In the shallows", 48"x48", diptych, oil on canvas.
"Summerhill", 40"x50", oil on canvas.
"Jekyll Island", 36'x36', oil on canvas.
"Morning Hike", 36"x48", oil on canvas.
"Low Country", 40"x40", oil on canvas.
36"x60", oil on canvas. Commission.
"Subterranean Pond", 48"x60", oil on canvas
"Through the Marsh", 48"x48", acrylic on canvas.
40"x40", oil and cold wax on canvas.
"Subterranean Pond II", 40"x40", acrylic on canvas.
"Nocternal Marsh", 48"x72", oil on canvas.
Interview on NPR affiliate WABE
Interview on Common Éire