Beginner's - ArtTrader Magazine

Art TRADER
m a g a z i n e
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Shelli
Heinemann
-36-
S
Interview by Andrea Melione
Shelli Heinemann, an award winning soft sculpture Teddy Bear
artist, has taken on the Mail Art world and blessed it with her
luscious French patisserie aesthetic. Her work reflects longings
for the past combined with the excitement of modern tastes, and
her art is sure to thrill a diverse and discerning audience. In this
interview she discusses her inspiration, her materials, and how
Mail Art has had an impact on her life.
I’m a mom and a wife first. My sons, my family, are the center of my world and my priority. Art comes second.
I couldn’t live happily without either.
I’m also California born, schooled, and raised, and very proud of that; it’s a great state, very progressive and
open minded — like me, I think. In the late 80’s and then again in the early 90’s, I attended UCLA, and earned
a BA (Psych) and an M.Ed and credential, so I could teach elementary school if I chose. But in 2004, after
many wonderful years as an at-home mom, I stumbled inadvertently into a surprisingly rewarding, creative
niche making high-end, original teddy bears for adult collectors. Selling from my website and occasionally
through eBay is where I earn my wage — for now, anyway. We’ll see how our faltering economy supports
that niche going forward! I found Mail Art and ATCs a few years ago now, and I’ve been hooked — and wildly
distracted by them, and loving the incredibly cool, interesting “art people” I’ve met online in this hobby — ever
since.
I think of myself as an optimist and a seeker, and I love to learn. I hope I’m still learning, still growing, when
I’m 98 and drooling and bedridden and maybe smelling kinda poopy. No matter how dire things can get
sometimes — and things do get dire, at times — I see beauty all around me, and find magic in surprising
places, every single day of my life. This makes me one of the luckiest people on earth, I think. So life is
good.
Have you had any formal art training?
No, none at all. Not a single class; not in elementary, junior, or high school. No one-day workshops. And
no college courses surveying art history, although I admit to one highly specialized class in “Greco-Roman
Art and Architecture,” which involved a lot of sepia-toned slides. Can you say AMPHORA?!? But I never
learned or studied technique. In short, I am art-ignorant, I admit. But I make up for that with intense curiosity
and wide-eyed enthusiasm, and a willingness to try just about anything!