Heather May Stephenson

I am a fine artist with a degree in Fine Art from Sheffield Hallam University. I paint in oils on high quality canvas. My practice explores the sublime in nature. I make regular visits to the Peak District and an animal sanctuary where pigs wander the woods freely having been liberated from the meat industry. Environmental concerns and ethical questions, especially regarding non-human animals and the normality of speciesism within our society, have informed my practice. I have experimented with depicting the woods and other natural landscapes and the animal form, as part of my practice through a verity of processes. These include painting with thick oil paint using a palette knife. Layering paint in order to etch lines into its surface and depicting elements of the woods within floating shapes in paintings and drawings. Subtle messages of harmony between humans, non-human animals and our natural environments are carried through to my finished works. more...