(Close-up section of Summerhill II)
Michael Heffernan is a fulltime visual artist, residing in Atlanta and working from his studio at the Artisan Resource Center, Marietta, Georgia. As a contemporary painter, his painting style is between spontaneous expression and control; between emotion and passion for freedom and immediacy in the application, while striving for balance in the nature of the subject. His work explores the balance between extemporaneous, instinctive mark-making, and deliberate brushstrokes that translate into an energetic and interesting visual narrative, identifiable throughout his series of landscape and abstract paintings. His abstract narrative work is often inspired by his love of poetry combining written and visual language to evoke the essence of the subject.
He has a keen interest in abstract landscape painting in an expressive style to capture the essence, atmosphere, and indeed emotion of a place often influenced by dramatic weather. His source of ideas is derived from a combination of painting, sketching, and photography on location, completing work in his studio.