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 Heidi Bjork Interview
Heidi Bjork is an international artist from Reykjavik, Iceland. She has been
painting all her life and focusses primarily on black and white watercolour
art.
Heidi took time out from her busy schedule to discuss her art, where her
ideas come from and other things. I hope you enjoy this.
How old were you when you first began drawing and painting?
I started to draw when I was around 3 and I haven’t stopped since. I started
to enjoy working with watercolours about 10 years ago, I find them very
natural to work with.
Iceland is a very beautiful country and its history and folklore are well
documented. In what way did this aspect of Iceland alongside your country’s
artistic traditions have an influence on you?
I have heard that my artwork has a raw energy in it and I like that, Iceland
is a country full of energy, with hot springs and very unique landscape. I
grew up with folk and fairy tales about ghosts, witchcraft and trolls. Since
I was small I have always been drawn to mysterious stories and characters.
And with my darkness in the background, I grew up with that. In the winter
it gets very dark in Iceland for a few months. When you grow up with that,
you just find it cosy and darkness can be very beautiful.
 Much of your work explores passion and emotion, where do your ideas come
from and do you start working on a piece of art immediately or wait for the
ideas to develop further.
They come naturally to me from daily life in many different ways from
various places and scenes. Music can also inspire me, I love good music and
I work with music in the background most of the time. I am a romantic
person, so I see something beautiful in many things around me. I very often
have an idea in my mind for a while before I start working on it.
Would you say that good work arises from being emotionally engaged with a
piece of art?
Yes I think if you are emotionally engaged, you can express that in your
work. I think if I would have never experienced love, it would be hard for
me to express those feelings in my paintings.
You enjoy working in black and white, colours considered to be cold yet
the themes of your work, the passion and emotions are anything but this. Was
this a deliberate juxtaposition and what do you enjoy most about these
limited tones?
It started when I was doing portraits a few years ago, I found it
challenging to work with just these two colours. I love the black tones and
the simplicity of these two colours. It wasn’t an intentional juxtaposition,
but sometimes art creates itself.
What would you say is the most rewarding thing about being an artist?
To able to create what you see in your mind and share it. Creating art gives
you a voice so you can share your thoughts and feelings with others. It’s
very important to me to be able to do that. I love connecting with other
artists and see what they are up to, I could spend days just looking at good
artwork, it gives me energy.
Who are your most important artistic influences and why?
Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, Erro (Icelandic Pop Artist). I love the fact
that all these artists have very strong distinctive styles. It has been
important to me to find and develop my own unique style through the years.
Authors can suffer from writers block, do you ever get artists block?
Most of the time my head is full of ideas, so I am grateful for that. So it
does not happen very often, if it does I find the best thing to do is just
to get some fresh air and get back on it a little later.
How hard do you find it balancing your artwork with your social media
commitments?
I don’t find it hard at all, I really enjoy social media. I try to give it a
little bit of time every day, Social media gets more important every day. I
really think it is a big part of being an artist today.
You’ve also written a book The Art of Marketing Art Online Using Twitter.
Why did you feel the need to write it and what has the feedback been like?
I was getting all sorts of messages from my Twitter followers asking me lots
of questions about Twitter. I wanted to give helpful information to other
artists, because Twitter has given me so many new opportunities. The
feedback has been very good, I have not seen any other book about this
subject specifically helping artists market their art using social media.
Do you also channel your creativity in different directions i.e.
photography and video?
I love photography, but it is has always just been a hobby. I like drawing
cartoon characters too, so all the children in my family have some cute
character drawings from me. Creating Mosaics is also something that I find
very interesting and I really enjoy working with tiles.
What are you currently working on and when will you be exhibiting?
My artwork has been selected to published in the upcoming “International
Contemporary Masters V” book, due for release in November. This annual art
book is filled with art approved by a jury and presents the work and trends
of artists from all over the world. I am very excited to get my copy. There
is also something else exciting that I can’t reveal at the moment. At the
moment I am also working online building my zazzle stores and of course
continue to paint.
Do you have any words of wisdom for would be artists out there?
Follow your own vision and be true to yourself.
Where can we all find out more about your work.
On my blog http://heidibjork.com/
That was Heidi Bjork. Thanks for your time Heidi and it was a pleasure to do
the interview.
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Photography Blog
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be added soon. Watch this space.
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