ISSUE 11 ◦ by Heidi Horchler
 
 

Make Room for Beauty | 7.10.20
 

First, I hope you and your loved ones are all well. I don’t know about you, but lately I feel like I’ve been through a wringer, and put back through again. At times I’ve felt like I want to do something to be helpful. When I figure out there’s really nothing I can do, I want to scream and throw things. I’m mad at everyone and at the same time, I wish everyone would just be nice to each other. I want to give everyone a hug, but I also want to be left alone, far away from everything and everybody. 

Getting inundated by ALL THE OPINIONS on news and social media, and completely disgusted by the incessant preaching and judgement from all sides, I decided early on that adding my 2 cents would only add fuel to the ever-growing fire of unhelpful, unwanted vitriol.

So what could I do? Besides taking care of my home and family and being there for my friends, what could I put forth that would actually make a positive difference in someone’s life? I asked myself these questions in a state of creative flow as I painted one day. I wasn’t painting for any other purpose than to play with colors on paper, just something for me. I posted my work later on Instagram, and started getting comments.

“I love the colors.” “Lovely details.” “I love the life [the color] gives work…” “…wonderful color contrast and at the same time balance. Love your composition!” “This is a great painting.” “Loooove these colors!” “Looking good 😍”

I began to realize that my little contribution to the daily screen scroll was having an impact, however small. And I thought if I can bring just one spark of positivity to someone’s day, then that is the thing I can do to help.

“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.”

- Maya Angelou

So my mission is to make beautiful things and sprinkle them out into the world to help make your day a little brighter!

Here is an excerpt from a receipt Instagram post:

For those of you who follow along, I just wanted to say a quick thanks. It means so much to me to see you getting involved in the comments and sharing my work. My mission is to bring creativity to everyone’s lives - ESPECIALLY those who consider themselves creatively challenged; OR those who LOVED creativity as a kid, & somehow got away from it. You crave it again but lack the confidence and think it’s silly for you, a grown adult, to all of a sudden buy a bunch of watercolor supplies. I mean who do you think you are?

While self promotion is a necessary evil, I do not consider myself an “entrepreneur;” rather a teacher, creative motivator, and an artist.

Go out into the world with a new appreciation for the visual, textural, and beautiful world around you. Immerse yourself in color, lines, and rhythm. See beauty in the ordinary. Share it with your friends. The more we are distracted by love, appreciation, and beauty, the less energy we can turn towards judgement and spite.
“If you see beauty in everything, you are an artist."

Art on the web:

Contemporary abstract artist, Jason Anderson not only shares his finished work, but his small pen & ink working sketches as well (below).

This instagram account is a collection of “Fairy Tale Art,” right up my alley of dreamy escapism, from all eras and styles. The piece here is by one of my favorite classic illustrators, Kay Nielsen.

Charles Rennie MacIntosh was a Scottish architect, designer, and artist. He is most famous as the architect of the Glasgow School of Art but was an accomplished designer and watercolorist, as was his wife, Margaret MacDonald.

I was first introduced to MacIntosh by my friend Alicia and her Aunt Anne during the summer I spent in Scotland. His work has stayed with me since, and I often turn to it for inspiration.

 

Worth watching:

I’ve been into period-piece escapism lately. Perry Mason and The Alienist are two gritty crime dramas that completely soak you into their mysteries. Knives Out is fun, entertaining, and stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Plummer, Chris Evans, Michael Shannon and Daniel Craig, doing a flawless Southern drawl. Need I say more?

Perry Mason on HBO. Set in 1930’s LA. With Matthew Rhys, Jonathan Lithgow & Tatiana Maslany. (Also, a close personal friend of mine worked on this project so I get to see her in some scenes!)

The Alienist, on TNT or HBO Max. Late 1800’s New York. Daniel Brül, Luke Evans, and Dakota Fanning take the leads.

Witty, quick-paced whodunnit style murder-mystery with a stellar cast and non-predictable ending.

Something Funny
 

No project this month!

But please let me know if there’s something you’d like to learn, or if you have feedback on previous projects.

Next issue I’ll have a series on color mixing :)

If you’ve missed previous projects, check them out here!
 

Announcements

I was interviewed for Voyage Phoenix magazine! Read it here.

My online store is live! Click here to view.

Also a reminder about email notifications for my blog posts: I’ve set up a new email list for them! This will be separate from the newsletter subscription, so it will require you to enter your email again, this time on my blog subscription form, here (scroll about halfway down). But don’t worry, no one sees your info besides me, and I will never EVER share it.

Please leave a comment on my videos on YouTube or Instagram.

Our son and his girlfriend enjoying fireworks by moonlight from the roof on the 4th of July.

Thank you — as always — for your support, and a big thanks to those of you who’ve reached out via email or social media. This little project of mine is getting some legs and I have you to thank for it! I’m still going through my reply list so if you haven’t heard back yet, you will :)

xo, Heidi

P.S. Feel free to ask questions. Reach out through any of the social links on my website (below) or email me at heidhorch@gmail.com.