Heather Rippert

Biography

Heather Rippert, fine artist, living in Clearwater, Florida, has been painting and drawing from the time she could hold a pencil. Growing up an only child, she discovered a magical world to disappear into every time she picked up art supplies. Her high school art teacher and mentor, Michael Mulhern, was instrumental in her artistic development and love of many mediums. She received a BFA from Maryland, Institute, College of Art. While there, she was hand picked to attend a semester abroad at Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland where she delved into printmaking and black and white photography.

In 2007, she painted many coastal landscapes, primarily watercolors, of the Jersey shore. This process informed her decision to relocate to Florida in 2010. Her masterful and sensitive watercolors, acrylics, pastels and mixed media artworks explore the realm of spirit and energy that lies behind whatever her subject matter may be. Rippert is continually selected for exhibitions and awards. She was one of ten who received a 2022 Emerging Artist Grant from Creative Pinellas. Rippert has participated in Art Expo NY and Art Expo Las Vegas, was nominated Creative Loafing Best Local Visual Artist in Tampa Bay 2017, is a signature member of the Florida Watercolor Society, The American Watercolor Society, and was featured on Great Day Tampa Bay Live in June 2019 about her Solo Exhibition, ‘Transitions’ at TECO Public Art Gallery.

Artist Statement

Painting is my medicine. There is a union that occurs when the brush is in my hand and the page beneath my brush. Art is a devotional practice for me. Watercolors and acrylics are my primary mediums. When I sit down to do my work, intensity builds slowly. I start with soft and subtle layers of color on top of an initial sketch. The act of painting ignites vitality within me. The further I move into a piece, the more pulsating light, fluid and gestural marks, deep color and contrast, emerges like a visual symphony. Aliveness translates on the page, in my work.

My artwork and process are an extension of all the things that matter to me. My life experiences inform my work. Spiritual growth and development as a way of life is a major force in my creative expression. Walking through life, perpetually seeking the ‘lighted path’ is a theme that can be felt in my paintings. I find inspiration in the beauty of the natural world and am particularly drawn to light and the mood created from the source. My work dances between representational and atmospheric abstraction.