Heather L. O'Neil is a realism artist specializing in portraits. She clearly portrays the unique likeness of her subject through the use of soft pastels.
Art has always been a subject of interest to O'Neil. Born and raised in Dubuque, Iowa, art has always been a subject of interest to O'Neil. As a young adult, her interests also came to include photography. Large-scale, monochromatic pastels based on her own photographs have proved the perfect combination of her interests.
In 1997, she married and moved to New York. While living there, she worked as a commissioned artist, building her collection of work as well as clientele. In 2008, O’Neil returned to Dubuque.
Over the years, she spent time in Africa, South America, Central America, and Europe with a camera in hand. She is now basing her artwork on the collection of images she captured.
After living several months in the Democratic Republic of Congo, O’Neil was deeply affected by the desperate conditions there. Moved by the expression on the faces of people she would encounter, O’Neil was motivated to create a series entitled “Face of Congo”. The emotion of her experience is effectively portrayed in the first three portraits in this series, "Congo Girl", numbered I, II, and III.
Email info@heatherloneil.com
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