Heamarkat
Meet Heamarkat, an artist, a ceramicist, and a trike rider! Art is a lifestyle for her. Everything that surrounds and excites her is automatically processed and transformed into art. She makes art to engage the viewer in a contemplative visually charged and emotional experience, and likes to keep her pieces edgy and thought provoking. However, Heamarkat also believes in form and function. She likes her art to be useful in every day life.
How'd you get your start? Have you experienced any set backs?
My creative enterprise started in the 4th grade with the purchase of a book on macramé for 50 cents from a used book store, which I still have, btw. After honing my macramé skills, I realized that I could make money creating something that other people didn’t know how to make. I continued at a young age to teach myself many different crafts, all from reading books. I learned beadwork and created consigned pieces for a bride and her bridesmaids, I studied the art of Pantomime and created a troupe and made money from doing theatre, and I took cake decorating classes and ended up winning first place at the Del Mar Fair for one of my cakes. I’ve been inspired to create my entire life. In high school I learned stained glass and that’s also where I fell in love with ceramics.
I took a drawing class at Long Beach City College and the instructor gave a homework assignment to draw something from memory. I drew a beautiful tree from heart and the teacher did not believe that I drew it without copying it. From then on, he did everything he could to belittle my artwork during class critiques and graded my pieces poorly. Because of that, I lost my inspiration and stepped away from art for years. I look back and regret giving a bad teacher that power over my creative spirit.
I later returned to art with a vengeance. I spend long days working on my business, if I’m not creating pieces, I’m glazing, or doing photo shoots of my work, and tracking ideas that I have for new pieces.
“To create your own art as a business, you have to want it. There has to be a driving force to keep moving towards the goal. There has to be focus almost to the point of obsession. Art is all I think about, it’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do."
Describe your perfect day out and about locally.
My perfect day out is spent on my tricycle. Even during the frosty days of winter here in Southern California, I enjoy bundling up and spending hours riding through my neighborhood. I love to dance and thrive when I hear live music. That is what I have missed during Covid the most is live music. I enjoyed many shows at Alex’s, Harvelles and Gaslamp, and of course, Elinor. Live After 5, in downtown Long Beach on the third Thursdays of every month, was an event that my friends and I would not miss. I can hardly wait to get back to that real life for us.
Describe your day at home or in your workspace?
My perfect day at home starts with the sunrise. My brain is up and running from the get go, and I love the quiet peacefulness of early mornings. I’m blessed that my studio is just a few steps away in my garage. My mind is chaotic but in a weird organized way, and my studio reflects that. My studio is my favorite space in my house; it has a nice creative vibe and inspires me.
What holds more value for you: creativity or knowledge?
I have a quote on my refrigerator that I penned as a teenager on a tiny scrap of paper that is from Albert Einstein. It reads, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” I look at this every day, and it inspires me to be true. For me, the basis of creativity is passion and interest. Creativity definitely stems from imagination taken a little farther. When I find something new that piques my interest, I research the process and lean into it.
"I have loathed maraschino cherries and pineapple my entire life. I am authentic and don’t waiver."
What gets your creative juices flowing?
I’m easily distracted by an item that I find has potential to become something else, or to take it in a different direction to create something new.
If you could move to any other place in this or any universe where would you go?
I love where I live right now. There is no other place I would rather be.
