Heather McVea

1947 Born Dalby QLD: 1961 Stared Nursing NSW: 1970 Registered Nurse NSW: 1961-1984 Nursing all fields: 1986 Started learning pottery with Barbara Stiener: 1987 Started TAFE ( Pottery): 1988-1991 Completed Ceramics Course Graduating with Honours
Exhibitions; - (Ceramics ,Group) Art for all– Bellbowrie, Wobbumarjoo—Brisbane Grammar; Marist Brothers Rosalie,- OLR Kenmore; The Gap High School The Gap; Brigidine College Indooroopilly; Arts & Craft Pullenvale; Hillsdown Exhibition Taringa; Moggill 125 yrs. Celebration; South Brisbane TAFE; Ceramics Waterfront Place
Brisbane 1997-2011 Joined DFAQ (Art Group Exhibitions too many to list over 14yrs.) including Teaching art seminars, Convenor Paint-in Conventions, Craft Expos, Newsletter Editor.
2011 Retired from DFAQ for serious Spinal Surgery in
2012 2018 Joined DSC
2019 Exhibiting at Straddievarious Gallery Cleveland
Hello fellow artists, my name is Heather McVea and this is my story. I was born in sunny Queensland 210 klms west of Brisbane in a town called Dalby. I grew up in NSW after my father was killed in a tragic accident. Completing my schooling I ventured into the medical world of nursing.
Having graduated I continued my profession of nursing for many years. During this time, I met my soulmate Peter in 1970 - we were married in the Autumn of 73 & this year we celebrated our 48th wedding anniversary. We have 3 children, all adults & 9 grandies & 1 greatgrandchild. My husband’s work brought us back to the Sunshine State to build the tallest building in Brisbane at that time (1984, Riverside Centre).
Not one to sit idle I took up the Tuckshop Convenor for my children's school. This allowed me to meet, make many friends & put down roots, to make Brisbane our home. Working in the Tuckshop gave me the opportunity to meet my future business partner, (fashion world) we both liked to sew. Being crafty we made one off garments & 3 dimensional applique works, this turned out to be quite successful, but unfortunately my business partner become very ill later on so that ended that career.
But this is not the end of this story my partners sister in-law gave me some clay to play with, I loved this medium, so the next career I started was ceramics. Here I attended South Brisbane TAFE & graduated with honours fours year later. This allowed me to open my own gallery producing many works of art including domestic works. This continued till 1995 when my husband having completed the International Airport & was transferred to NZ to build a 32-story hotel in Auckland, this meant packing up to move for the next few years, so no more potting for a while.
But as it is with life, there are always curve balls, I became ill when we returned to QLD, so again I could not resume my pottery, having had major surgery. Not one to have idle hands & having done art in ceramics I ventured into the world of Folk Art, here I became a member of the DFAQ & was with them for 14 years.
My involvement with this wonderful association (D.F.A.Q. ) had enabled me to not only be a member but also as a,
1.. Convenor for the RNA Craft Expo,
2.. Convenor for a number of Paint-in conventions held by the DFAQ (“1999 Celestial Event”, “2002 Natures Fantasy”, “2004 Arabian Nights”, ( this involved hosting many artists, not only from Australia but overseas artist as well),
3.. Newsletter Magazine Editor ( our Magazine was posted to many countries around the world to fellow artists).
My wonderful time with the DFAQ has given me a boarder range of art involving so many different mediums and approaches to art, that now my art gives me great pleasure, after having spinal surgery in 2012.
To continue my story, we moved off our acreage to the wonderful suburb of Thorneside, where life has given me another chapter, as I am now a member of the “Donald Simpsons Centre” art group. Here, there are many fine artists who all inspire me even more with my art.
Personal Statement “Live life to the fullest, you can achieve any dream if you are prepared to give it ago. Life owes you nothing, it’s what you put in that brings great rewards. Humility & honesty in accepting constructive criticism as a learning tool towards your art, helps create a greater understanding of the art you create.” “Happy Painting”