Marie Heerkens' Mushroom Art Gallery

MARIE F. HEERKENS grew up in the countryside near Rochester, New York where she was born in 1963. Hiking, camping, and cross-country skiing brought her even closer to nature. This, combined with a love for drawing and painting, naturally led to themes of plants and animals portrayed in her artwork.

"I couldn't wait to have art class every day in school. The first year that became a reality was in ninth grade. I tried to increase this number until my senior year when I took 3 fine art classes a day and spent every study hall in the art room."

College brought a different direction to her work: surrealism. Marie went to Nazareth College in 1981-1983 and completed her degree at S.U.N.Y. Geneseo 1983-1985; graduating with a B.A. in Fine Arts.

"Finding work after college was much harder than I anticipated. I found that most people did like my surrealistic paintings but preferred to buy realistic artwork depicting wildlife. So I have returned to drawing and painting my first love: birds, animals, plants... anything found in nature."

In college, Marie discovered another outlet for her creative eye: nature photography. This has become quite an obsession, leading her to the study of mushroom, plant, insect, and bird identification during the past ten years.

Marie has exhibited in many galleries and shows, including:

Lake Ontario Bird Festival, Mexico, NY. 1998--1999.
Duck Decoy & Wildlife Art Show, Clayton, NY 1995--1998.
Chief Oshkosh Native American Arts. Egg Harbor, WI. 1997--1998.
Lost Arts Trade Company Inc., Williamsport, PA. 1996--1998.
The Annual Genesee Region Orchid Society Spring Show. Rochester, NY. 1995--1998.
The Mill Gallery. Honeoye Falls, NY. 1994--1997.
Lederer Gallery, Geneseo Alumni Art Exhibition. Geneseo, NY. 1996.
N.Y.S. Fair Wildlife Art Exhibit. Syracuse, NY. 1995.
The Tea House Art Gallery. Rochester, NY. 1994.
The Carriage House Gallery. Canandaigua, NY. 1994.
Beneath the Books Gallery. Livonia, NY. 1994.
Pyramid Arts Center. Rochester, NY. 1989--1993.
St. Johns Home Art Gallery. Rochester, NY. 1991.
Bloomfield Academy Museum. Bloomfield, NY. 1991.
The Beaux Arts Ball. Rochester, NY. 1991.
Ellicottville Regional Art Exhibition. Ellicottville, NY. 1990.
Earth Day Art Show. Rochester, NY. 1990.
WXXI Fine Art & Craft Showcase. Rochester, NY. 1989.
The New Surrealism Show at Godivas'. Rochester, NY. 1989.

Marie is a member of many organizations including; Genesee Region Orchid Society, North American Mycological Association, Rochester Area Mycological Association, The Peace Network, The Nature Conservancy.

In 2003, Marie added "author" to her list of accomplishments with the publication of her newly revised edition of The Field Guide to Mushrooms, the classic treatise originally authored by William Sturgis Thomas and first published in 1928.

INDEX to Marie Heerkens' Mushroom Art Gallery

About the Artist
Marie's Mushroom Paper Artcards
Marie's Ganoderma Art
Marie's Mushroom Photography
Marie's Ink Artwork
Marie's Mushroom Watercolors
Marie's Silkscreen Designs
Mushroom / Mycology Links

SEE MORE OF MARIE HEERKENS' NATURE ARTWORK AT
WWW.NATUREARTISTS.COM
and at
The E-Museum of Pyrographic Art

E-Mail Marie Heerkens at heerkens@aol.com

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