Introducing the Artist

About the artist, Theo Heartist

Theo Heartist is the genius/pseudonym who is helping me release my inner artist and creative potential.

Theo’s character and personality is still a mystery to me, though I hope to get to know him more intimately as we work together. His sense of humor is incredible. Theo has the innate ability to get away with much more than I could ever hope to. Without a doubt, Theo is bolder than I am.

Theo is experimenting with a variety of media and art forms. I could list many of Theo’s talents, but Theo prefers the element of surprise and would like to remain unboxed.

Latest thoughts

Have you seen this bird too?
A stone carving of tarāpuka, the black-billed gull. This endangered bird was one of many that nested near the Ashburton Bridge during the summer of 2023-24. On Christmas Day, I photographed one of the birds and then later created some lino-cut prints. And then from the lino-cut print, created the stone carving. I made one print onto some reclaimed Oamaru stone and then using that image, carved this sculpture of the gull out of the stone. I thought an alternative name for this sculpture could be Jonathan Limestone Seagull, but this species of gull does not appear to spend much… Read more: Have you seen this bird too?
Have you seen these birds?
A collection of lino-cut prints of tarāpuka, the black-billed gull. Printed on different colored papers and assembled like an Andy Warhol inspired poster, the work has a handmade driftwood frame to give the birds a home amongst the river debris. The tarāpuka (black-billed gull) that featured in the photograph, Have you seen this bird? is repeated here in linocut prints. A reflected silhouette of the photograph was transferred to an offcut of lino and then carved. The resulting linocut was then printed with blue and white inks on a range of colored papers. Finally the resulting images were pasted to a board as if they had been put… Read more: Have you seen these birds?
Have you seen this bird?
During the 2023-24 summer, the Ashburton River, near the Ashburton Bridge was the home to a colony of endangered black-billed gulls (tarāpuka). On Christmas Day 2023, I captured several photographs of these birds. It was a challenge to get a good shot. The nesting area was fenced off to protect the birds and they were very energetic. I’ve mounted two prints of the photograph on the sides of a piece of reclaimed post to give the impression of a lost pet notice. I have made other works based on this photograph. A collection of lino-cut prints, “Have you seen these… Read more: Have you seen this bird?

Current work

Prospective

Theo is currently working on our initial collection/exhibition, a prospective of our future work. Partly inspired by viewing an artist friend’s retrospective exhibition looking back on 25 years of his work. And partly as a desire for a career change, Theo’s cheeky creativity will show the world what they can look forward to from us.

Hart Istory

Theo is doing an informal study of art history and stealing art, techniques, and ideas from great artists. His work in this collection includes 40 Most Mentioned, Ten to talk about in hushed tones and Virgin and Child #1.

The Land of Confusion

Another collection Theo is working on is a series of geographical artworks. Some of these portray feelings of place and displacement like Small Worlds while others highlight non-unique place names such as Thirty Seven Woodvilles, Fifteen Hastings and North & South.