Here is my story...
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I am Mary Veatch, owner of Art From the Heart Studio. Originally from Orem, Utah, I now live in the historic rural community of Glenns Ferry, Idaho. I am the proud mother of four adult children and grandmother to four boys and two girls (ages 1-19 years). I am also momma to Angel, a seven year old Chorkie and my best friend. Before 2018, I had never painted anything. I could not even draw a stick figure. I crocheted for about 35 years and created beaded jewelry, but arthritis in my hands made it difficult to continue those hobbies. I missed being creative and truly needed a new creative outlet.
My Passion Was Born
In early 2018, I learned about the Friendship Rock Project. Kids and adults were painting rocks and hiding them in public places. The people who found the painted rocks could choose to keep them or re-hide them. I became really interested in participating in this movement, so (after doing some research about how to paint) I started painting rocks and hiding them in my community. It made me so happy to picture the smile on somebody's face when they unexpectedly found a cute little painted rock. My passion for painting was born!
Learning to Paint
I immersed myself in doing everything I could to learn more about painting. I joined art groups on Facebook and watched hundreds of hours of videos on You Tube. I soon discovered Dot Art. Dot Art is a technique by which the artist creates beautiful designs and pictures using only dots. I taught myself to create mandalas and pictures using only dots of paint. How much easier could it be? I continued to improve my art talent by asking a lot of questions, watching a lot of videos, and practicing every single day. I spent money and made mistakes. And soon, people were asking me to paint for them. I began giving pieces I painted as gifts and receiving very encouraging feedback. As my confidence grew, my interest in learning new techniques grew as well
Fluid Art
One day I read a post on Facebook where a woman was talking about creating her own backgrounds for her dot art. She said she "poured" the background. I had no idea what that meant, but I couldn't wait to find out because her backgrounds were absolutely gorgeous! I learned about Fluid Art (also known as paint pouring) and my life has not been the same since. At first I only wanted to learn fluid art to create backgrounds for my dot art, and I did, but the more I practiced and poured paint, the more my confidence grew and the more I wanted to learn. I became really passionate about painting. Within about two months I had created over 200 pieces of art (I know because my grandsons counted all of the art in my house...209!...not including what I had given away). I painted on canvas and vases and constantly experimented with other surfaces to paint on, even painting on the bottom of a frying pan once. I began to teach other people to create beautiful pieces of art and was thrilled by their reaction as they realized they were an artist after all.
Painting Becomes a Business
I continued to practice fluid art and thoroughly enjoyed the process, learned new techniques continuously, and painted every day. Then I learned that I could paint on old vinyl records (saving them from the landfill) and realized these could be made into unique, one-of-a-kind, working clocks. After making several clocks, someone asked if she could buy one to hang in her classroom. she said it looked like Jupiter. I had no idea what to charge, but I was overjoyed. This was the first time I was paid for my art. In February 2020, I was invited to display my art in a beautiful boutique called The Calico Cupboard in Glenns Ferry, Idaho. What an honor!
Art Therapy
In 2019, I volunteered at the Women's Crisis Center in Malad City, Idaho teaching art classes. I experienced so much joy and satisfaction as each person learned to express themselves. We had so much fun and I loved teaching art! Previously having been certified as a Master Life Coach, I completed coursework to add Art Therapy to my life coaching credentials. Therapy through art is a very effective way for individuals to move past old hurts and experience increased feelings of confidence and pride.
A New Art Studio
For almost two years, my art studio was in my kitchen (or more accurately, my kitchen was in my art studio). In November 2019, I purchased a beautiful home in Glenns Ferry, Idaho with a free-standing four room garage. Now I could create the space to do art, teach art classes, and provide art therapy life coaching. In January 2020, my family and I began the renovation on the garage. We removed one of the walls to create a ~30' X 18' classroom with room for a workshop and gallery. I plan to begin teaching classes in April 2021. (See the gallery and blog pages for more on the renovation, including pictures.)
Grand Opening
We are open! The ribbon cutting and grand opening on April 10, 2021 was such an exciting day! Even Covid couldn't keep us down!
"And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true." -Harold Arlen
My Passion Was Born
In early 2018, I learned about the Friendship Rock Project. Kids and adults were painting rocks and hiding them in public places. The people who found the painted rocks could choose to keep them or re-hide them. I became really interested in participating in this movement, so (after doing some research about how to paint) I started painting rocks and hiding them in my community. It made me so happy to picture the smile on somebody's face when they unexpectedly found a cute little painted rock. My passion for painting was born!
Learning to Paint
I immersed myself in doing everything I could to learn more about painting. I joined art groups on Facebook and watched hundreds of hours of videos on You Tube. I soon discovered Dot Art. Dot Art is a technique by which the artist creates beautiful designs and pictures using only dots. I taught myself to create mandalas and pictures using only dots of paint. How much easier could it be? I continued to improve my art talent by asking a lot of questions, watching a lot of videos, and practicing every single day. I spent money and made mistakes. And soon, people were asking me to paint for them. I began giving pieces I painted as gifts and receiving very encouraging feedback. As my confidence grew, my interest in learning new techniques grew as well
Fluid Art
One day I read a post on Facebook where a woman was talking about creating her own backgrounds for her dot art. She said she "poured" the background. I had no idea what that meant, but I couldn't wait to find out because her backgrounds were absolutely gorgeous! I learned about Fluid Art (also known as paint pouring) and my life has not been the same since. At first I only wanted to learn fluid art to create backgrounds for my dot art, and I did, but the more I practiced and poured paint, the more my confidence grew and the more I wanted to learn. I became really passionate about painting. Within about two months I had created over 200 pieces of art (I know because my grandsons counted all of the art in my house...209!...not including what I had given away). I painted on canvas and vases and constantly experimented with other surfaces to paint on, even painting on the bottom of a frying pan once. I began to teach other people to create beautiful pieces of art and was thrilled by their reaction as they realized they were an artist after all.
Painting Becomes a Business
I continued to practice fluid art and thoroughly enjoyed the process, learned new techniques continuously, and painted every day. Then I learned that I could paint on old vinyl records (saving them from the landfill) and realized these could be made into unique, one-of-a-kind, working clocks. After making several clocks, someone asked if she could buy one to hang in her classroom. she said it looked like Jupiter. I had no idea what to charge, but I was overjoyed. This was the first time I was paid for my art. In February 2020, I was invited to display my art in a beautiful boutique called The Calico Cupboard in Glenns Ferry, Idaho. What an honor!
Art Therapy
In 2019, I volunteered at the Women's Crisis Center in Malad City, Idaho teaching art classes. I experienced so much joy and satisfaction as each person learned to express themselves. We had so much fun and I loved teaching art! Previously having been certified as a Master Life Coach, I completed coursework to add Art Therapy to my life coaching credentials. Therapy through art is a very effective way for individuals to move past old hurts and experience increased feelings of confidence and pride.
A New Art Studio
For almost two years, my art studio was in my kitchen (or more accurately, my kitchen was in my art studio). In November 2019, I purchased a beautiful home in Glenns Ferry, Idaho with a free-standing four room garage. Now I could create the space to do art, teach art classes, and provide art therapy life coaching. In January 2020, my family and I began the renovation on the garage. We removed one of the walls to create a ~30' X 18' classroom with room for a workshop and gallery. I plan to begin teaching classes in April 2021. (See the gallery and blog pages for more on the renovation, including pictures.)
Grand Opening
We are open! The ribbon cutting and grand opening on April 10, 2021 was such an exciting day! Even Covid couldn't keep us down!
"And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true." -Harold Arlen