Heather Guthrie

instagram: cheatherguthrie_art                 
Twitter: @chguthrie_art

Biography & CV

As with any other artist, my work is constantly evolving. That’s why making art is so compelling. Having returned to practice in my maturity, absence definitely makes the heart grow fonder. 
 
I draw, I paint, I make collage. I play with images connecting history and time. I work with the face and the figure - images of women particularly appeal. The presence of objects is no co-incidence - my life has been shaped by museums. Like people, the objects we make, use, treasure and discard are also travellers in time.
 
As a child, I dreamed of being an artist. I found I could draw people. I won a couple of prizes. Art School became a career ideal. Worried parents asked - can artists really make a living?
 
My dream led me to study both art history and practical art for an MA Fine Art (HONS) from Edinburgh University (1981 – 86). Museums became a passion. Fast forward. I graduated with a PG Dip Art Gallery & Museum Studies at Manchester (1990-91). Fast forward again. I forged a long career at Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery (1991 – 2016). But a busy life as a museum exhibition curator left no time, nor head-space, to make art. Then, the merry-go-round stopped. I made my exit. Only then did art practice re-affirm its meaning for me. Finding my way to Artpocket and studying on their Post-Graduate Programme in Creative Practice (2018-2020) set me off on my creative path.
 
So now I am an artist. This exciting journey takes me to places I could never imagine. As a part-time tutor, I teach Love Art? Let’s talk about it! within the art in context programme. The act of communicating art to others enriches my own practice. And that spurs me on to see what more I can do.
 
Combining art history, visual art practice and museology - and the endlessly fascinating conversations between them - means that what I do now doesn’t feel like work at all.