I’m Suzanne Heron, now on Lasqueti Island, BC.

I started Blue Heron Art in 2011 with an annual calendar of the Victoria, British Columbia area, and a perpetual calendar featuring the artwork of 12 Salt Spring Island artists. I’ve since worked with local artists in the Okanagan Valley & the Kootenays to produce annual art calendars that celebrate those regions. The calendar led to art cards, giclée prints, and a place-based Baby’s First Year . . .

I find joy in building community through art; in getting to know places and putting down roots; in hearing and sharing people's stories. My people are European settlers in this country, and I am grateful to live on the traditional territories of the Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples of the Coast Salish Nation. I believe that a sense of place is part of our universal need for belonging, and hope that we can share a love of place in a spirit of peace and conciliation.

I use a process called "digital painting" to create my artwork . . .

Digital paintings are made using a Wacom tablet and stylus, linked to my computer with a digital painting application.  I can tell the tablet to "be" any kind of surface I want: canvas, watercolour paper, wet, dry, etc., to get the texture. I tell the stylus to "be" whatever brush I want to use: round, flat, angled; how long the bristles are and how many there are; the size, how much "paint" it has on it, how much that mixes with the "paint" already down, how much texture shows.

I start with a reference photo, or photos, and paint on top of it in layers. First is a wash or blocking layer, using the colours in the photo, that obliterates the original photo, replacing it with the look of a blocking-out on canvas. I continue to go back to the photo to reference lines, or to  “dip into” the colours, working from the background up to the foreground in layers,  just like you would with paint on canvas.

I can also use my own colours to paint out something I don't want, or to paint in something I do want. As I go along, if I don't like something, I can erase it, or go back in time, or eliminate a whole layer. It's very cool! I don’t have to take time to mix paints, clean brushes or prime a canvas.