

"The Queen Mother" | 18" x 12" | acrylic on wood | 2014
Heather McKey

Heather is a traditional acrylic painter, depicting imaginary birdlife and sea creatures with unexpected and striking features.
Her fanciful creations are embellished with a variety of shells and botanicals intermingled with feathers and patterns borrowed from nature. Strange yet familiar, decorative and friendly, they are soulful and exotic as they draw viewers into their dreamy world of landscapes and seascapes.
Thoughtfully planned and painted with sensitive detail, the natural grain of the wood surface underneath influences the design and layout of each painting.
From the onset of her debut solo gallery show with Distinction Gallery, collectors now enjoy her paintings in their homes across the world. Heather lives and paints in her home studio in the quiet mountains of San Diego County with her husband and young children.
_____
Education
ART MENTORSHIP WITH JUDY NACHAZEL, 1991-2001
Ramona, California
PALOMAR COLLEGE, FINE ART AND ILLUSTRATION, 2000-2007
San Marcos, California
ART MENTORSHIP WITH CHRISTOPHER POLENTZ, 2003-2009
San Diego, California
Exhibitions
The Olde Ramona Hotel Gallery, 2003
Gallery 97/Back Door Gallery, 2008
San Diego County Fair Fine Arts Exhibition, 2009
Gallery 97/Back Door Gallery, 2009
The Olde Ramona Hotel Gallery, 2009
San Diego County Fair Fine Arts Exhibit, 2010 & 2011
CPSA Explore This! 8 Online International Exhibit, 2012 - 2013
Main Street Gallery 5, 2012
One Plus Six Equals Seven, Distinction Gallery, 2013
San Diego County Fair Fine Arts Exhibit, 2013
Animal Fairy Tales, Fables, Fact or Fiction, Las Laguna Art Gallery, 2013
10th Anniversary Show, Distinction Gallery, 2014
CPSA Explore This! 10 Online International Exhibit, 2014 - 2015
Wonderbirds, Solo Show Debut, Distinction Gallery, 2014
CPSA Explore This! 11 Online International Exhibit, 2015 - 2016
One On One, Sparks Gallery, 2015
Prints On Wood Show, Distinction Gallery, 2015
LA Art Show, Distinction Gallery Booth, 2016
Natural Beauty, Solo Show, Distinction Gallery, 2017
Natural Histories VI, Antler Gallery, 2017
Pigments of Imagination, Joint show, Distinction Gallery, 2019
20th Anniversary Show, Distinction Gallery, 2023
Awards
The Olde Ramona Hotel Gallery | 3rd Place
San Diego County Fair | Fine Arts Exhibition, Honorable Mention, People’s Choice Award
San Diego County Fair | Fine Arts Exhibition, 2nd Place, Honorable Mention, People’s Choice Award
San Diego County Fair | Fine Arts Exhibition, Honorable Mention
Colored Pencil Society of America |CPX Signature Status Award
Publications
To The Point CPSA magazine issues, 2013, 2015 & 2016
Enchanted, Out of Steps Books, 2016