by J. Brooks Terry
Contributing Writer
Despite spending time in some of the most exotic locales around the globe, home-grown artist Heather Blanton says she often finds inspiration by looking no further than her own backyard.
“Traveling – seeing art and different cultures - definitely opens your mind and your creative energies. It’s key,” said Blanton, who has shown her art in spots as varied as Amsterdam, Spain, and Australia, “but I love Jacksonville. I’ve basically been here my entire life, and I’m excited by how it’s developed and changed.
“I’m inspired by everything I see, but it’s a beautiful city and I love using it as a backdrop for my art.”
Blanton, born and raised in Jacksonville’s Grove Park neighborhood, has been enjoying a healthy spike in her already bourgeoning career this year, even with businesses in the area and across the country tightening belts.
The portraits of hall of fame performers found at Veteran’s Memorial Arena? That’s her. The pieces depicting different areas of the city found throughout Riverplace Towers? Her too. Blanton even stepped outside of her usual stretch-canvas and “impressionistic Polaroid” medium this year to create the cover of the upcoming winter issue of Florida Coastal School of Law’s magazine.
Blanton works from inside her Vilano Beach home studio. In it are dozens of pieces she’s created for herself, as well as many more works in progress for her clients, which include Gate Petroleum among others.
“I’m so fortunate to be able to do something I absolutely love – something I have a passion for,” she said. “I’ve worked jobs in past – sales jobs, for example - that were nothing more than a paycheck, and there really is no comparison.”