Carmen Heinrichs

Carmen Heinrichs is a self-taught artist from the heart of the Canadian prairie.

She presently resides in Elbow, Saskatchewan, with her husband and daughter.

Carmen grew up on a farm in the Herschel/Fiske, Saskatchewan, area and that experience has provided the inspiration Carmen draws upon for many of her country lifestyle paintings and drawings.

In 1998, Carmen and her brother, Bruno, worked together making wooden keepsake boxes and furniture. Carmen would use both her woodburning and painting skills to create an original scene on the wooden creations that Bruno had built.

Gradually her artwork took on a new, unique look.

She combined her enjoyment of woodburning and painting on slices of wood that could even be framed if desired.

Many different types of wood make up the backgrounds of Carmen’s artwork, though poplar, birch, willow and basswood are most frequently used.

Sometimes the patterns in the grain of the wood inspire Carmen’s ideas of what she should paint on any particular piece, other times her ideas determine
the type of wood to be used.

To start, Carmen sketches directly onto the piece of wood with as few pencil lines as possible. She then uses her woodburner to add detail to the piece. The work can either be complete at this point, or Carmen can enhance the piece with acrylic paint, depending upon the desired effect.

Each piece can take several hours or weeks, depending upon the size and detail of the work.

Carmen and her husband, Brad, share in the construction of the rustic wooden frames for Carmen’s work, while her brother, Bruno, handles the majority of the woodworking involved in her various projects.

Carmen also paints detailed wild and domestic animals on rocks
found in the field.

Picking rocks today has taken on a whole new meaning compared to when she and her siblings picked rocks in the dusty fields as youngsters back on the farm!