FOSTERING COMMUNITY BLOG
Thanks to the incredibly talented and supportive @peterhealypaintings, Houston Angels now has its very own mural in downtown Houston! Stop by — 813 McKee St Houston TX 77002 — to #BeAHoustonAngel and get your photo taken in front of Peter’s beautiful artwork, in honor of our foster families and youth across Houston. Read on to learn more about Peter and how he got involved with this special project. PETER HEALY FINE ART http://peterhealyfineart.com/ Peter Healy is an Irish Artist and Illustrator Born in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. He’s had the pleasure of living in Ireland, England, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, and is now proud to call Houston, TX home, where he lives with his wife and two daughters. Peter considers his work to be an ongoing visual echo chamber of the world around him. A lot of the time his art reflects change in life. Some are thoughtfully and carefully assembled painted objects, neatly organized in comfortable space. Others are 2D chaos and a big bang of color.
INSTAGRAM LIVE INTERVIEW W/ PETER Melissa: First of all, your work is so beautiful. We’ve had so many compliments already. Peter: Well I’m just grateful to be able to put whatever little talents I have to help a great organization like yours. So I’m honored. Melissa: Can you just tell everybody a little bit about yourself? And how you got involved in this project? Peter: Well, I’m obviously not from around here, as you can tell by my accent. I’m from Northern Ireland. I lived on the border between the North and South of Northern Ireland and this is now my home for the last ten years. And my wife and I know DeAnna, and she asked me to contribute and do the mural. I was delighted to do something to be part of the community and to do it for such a great organization. Melissa: So where did you get some of the inspiration for how you did [the mural]? We knew we really wanted to give you creative freedom. We had the idea of doing the angel wings and the halo, but we just wanted to let you as the artist do what you wanted with it. Peter: Well, I obviously researched a lot of angel wings and I thought to myself I wanted to put a different spin on it. I was mulling over it for quite a while, then one morning in the wee hours, it came to me and I thought of a combination of water clouds - almost like if you had a bucket of water, throw it in there, and it kind of explodes. I wanted that feeling of a giant explosion of life. And I added the colors as if you had layers of the water exploding, and I wanted to make that in the shape of wings. As you can see, I use bright colors in my work anyway, so I just dipped into palettes I already love and tried to make it a vibrant, whimsical, fun mural for everybody. Melissa: Yes, I was just going to say - If anyone goes to your instagram page or your website they can see all of those similar colors and see that's your style. It fits in with everything, it's just so beautiful. I love it so much! I can’t wait to go out and get a picture in front of it... some of our team members already got a picture. Is it your mother-in-law who adopted two children from foster care? Can you just talk about that a little bit? Peter: Yeah, sure, I mean, they’re distant relatives and my mother wasn’t exactly looking to foster. She had three full grown children at this stage in her life. She saw the girls in need and she stepped in and it was like, see a need, fill a need. So they’re very much part of our lives, we’re all very close. My daughter is three and she looks at those girls like big sisters. They’re just a joy and we’re delighted to have them as a part of our family. Melissa: So where can everybody go check out more of your work? What are you working on now, what do you have coming up, and where can they find you on social media and your website? Peter: Sure - they can always check out my work at @peterhealypaintings - that's where I post all of my stuff on my instagram page. I have a studio partner, @mattmessinger9, and we’re going to have a show, if all goes well, on August 1st, so that’s where pieces like this and all of my new work is going. We’re based out of Hardy and Nance Studios near where the mural is, near McKee street. It’s a community of artists in a wonderful setting. We’re very excited and delighted to show off our new works. My website is www.peterhealypaintings.com . Mostly my instagram is where to find everything, I always post my new stuff there. Melissa: And you actually donated [a painting] for our silent auction. I think it sold for $250! We had multiple bids on that one. Not only did you paint the mural, but also you found the location. Which we were not sure how to do when we first had this idea, so thank you for that too! Peter: Yeah, I reached out to one of my landlords and their group is called Urban Genesis . His name is Ivan and he very graciously donated that wall for our cause. It’s a great location, easy to park at. They were brilliant and I’m so happy they let me have it. And it looks great with that skyline behind it. Melissa: That picture that we just posted with the sky and everything, it’s so beautiful. When DeAnna sent that to me, I was like, “Oh my, a perfect picture!” Peter: I know, I’m so happy when I see it. Every time I come out of a certain side of Hardy and Nance you can see the Houston skyline and the mural is just at the base of it. So it’s just like a platform for the rest of the skyline. It’s just stunning over there, so I’m really delighted that [Ivan] gave me such a prominent and accessible wall. You can see it coming right off the freeway. Melissa: I can’t wait to go see it. Well, thank you so much, I appreciate all you’ve done for National Foster Care Month, for us, and for this event. I hope everyone who is listening follows Peter to check out more of his work, and we’ll post more details about you and the mural on our instagram. We were trying to do [the reveal] live and it started raining! Peter: It’s no problem. I’m just delighted to be a part of it. Im honestly so very happy to do something for your wonderful cause. So it makes me feel amazing to get to be any part of it. Thank you. Melissa: Thank you Peter, and thank you DeAnna for making the connection for us!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2023
Categories |
Stay Informed |
Contact Us
|
Get Social |