“You know how your mom buys you paints when you’re young? I just never stopped painting,” says award-winning artist and instructor Heidi Nelson of her lifelong journey in art. Best known for her watercolor portraits of people and pets, Nelson recently received an honorable mention in the Bloomington Art Center’s member show with Family Reunion, in watercolor and charcoal.
Nelson received her bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Murray State University, and works in a variety of mediums, including oils and watercolors. Although her portraits are best known, she also strives to push herself artistically. “I want to create works that are personal, uniquely mine,” she says. Many of her pieces focus on the human figure, her now-grown daughters often the models “simply because of availability,” she says with a laugh. Nelson has also been honored at the Minnesota State Fair with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Northstar Watercolor Society in 2010, and an honorable mention in 2011 with her piece Abel’s Kin.
Nelson also encourages others to express themselves creatively through her courses for St. Paul Community Education, various homeschool programs and her own classes, Heidi’s House of Art and Respite. She says that art can be relaxing, and keeps her classes simple to inspire students not to give up on something that can bring so much joy.
