Artist Biography

My name is Heather Wanamaker and I have been a practicing artist for over 20 years.  I first realized my passion for art when I found my grandmothers watercolours as a child.  My passion was then nurtured by my high school art teacher who organized a trip across Europe. I graduated high school and was accepted in to the Fine Arts program at Langara College in Vancouver and completed my diploma program in 2004. I then took a couple years off school and worked at a framing and art supplies store. There, I surrounded myself with fellow artists which only intensified my desire to go back to school.  In 2006 I was accepted in to the Fine Arts program at the University of Victoria where I graduated with honours in 2008.

I currently live and work in Whitehorse, Yukon and am inspired everyday with the landscape.

I want to represent Yukon’s seasons how I see them, through vibrant swatches of sharp contrasting colour. My ultimate hope with my pieces is to draw out a common feeling with my audience. It could be a memory they had of a winter hike, as the last rays of daylight streamed through the spruces, or how the light from their cabin reflected off the snow as they returned from the outhouse.  We all have shared memories of how it feels throughout the seasons in the North, and I hope to showcase paintings that reflect those shared memories.