Heidi Mayo's Portfolio: pastels, stories, poems, Plymouth, MA

My early training was at Vesper George School of Art in Boston, and with Gay Youse in Duxbury, Massachusetts where I worked alongside her and assisted with instructional programs. I studied filmmaking and writing at Emerson College, Boston, and have BFA in Mass Communications. In earlier years I worked mostly in oils, 3D, and later acrylics, not giving much thought to creating anything unless there was a direct need for it such as stage sets, costumes, holiday gifts and cards, or illustrations in my multimedia work. I was in the process of writing a book, and began sketching illustrations for it, when suddenly the need to create in the purest sense struck me. I got some pastels and went to work. The paintings in this portfolio are the result of that intuitive leap. I now teach pastels to adults and kids privately and for The Plymouth Guild.

I love the immediacy of the pastels. A medium that seems so delicate is actually very hardy. Their luminescent quality, portability, and forgiving nature make them the perfect medium for me. They have an uncanny way of capturing and keeping the light of the moment. Our local landscape is changing so rapidly, just as the light changes during any given instant. What I’m doing with these pastels is catching brief moments in time and place. Right here, right now.

Painted Ladies Art Exhibit
Susan Benoit, Gayle Loik, Heidi Mayo, Maria Hopkins
at the South Shore Natural Science Center, February 28 - April 5, 2008