Self Portrait Blog

My name is Heather Collins and I am a first year Scenic Painter at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. I was born and raised in Yadkinville, NC. I have one brother, Jared who is 12 years old and unlike most siblings we actually get along and rarely ever get into disagreements. My mother's side of the family is Irish, English and Scottish with a few Cherokee relatives. My father 's side is mostly English, Philippines and Cherokee Indian. I have a happy medium between both sides and although I do not look it, I am about 1/3 Indian. My mother works at Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance in Winston, and my father works at Flow Acura as a Master Technician. Although I have never been out of the country, I would recommend to people moving to the U.S to explore everything this country has to offer. Traveling will be an easy way for newcomers to feel the culture and the everyday American lifestyle that surrounds them. Living here in the United States is diverse all over but is much more different than any other part of the world. Technology is an everyday norm for the people who thrive here. We depend on it to get us places and to keep us in contact with everyone else.

Father and Mother

One of my favorite hybrids, Betsy.

Growing up, my family had a farm and I raised the animals we had there. I would wake up in the morning around 4 A.M and take care of the horses, cows and chickens. My uncle who lived near us had a garden which I helped harvest and gather every season change. I loved the animals at my farm but really what interested me was painting and artwork in general. Technology has had a strong influence on me and the way I live now. When I turned 11, my family and I moved away from our farm and into a home with no animals or garden to keep track of. This change allowed us to breath from the hard work we had been doing to keep our farm afloat. Although I miss the farm and the animals, I am grateful for the move because it allowed us to advance with the rest of society in a forward thrust into the future with technology. Not only did I live on a farm and had that experience, but I became involved in all the sports my school offered. My favorite being Track and Field and Softball. I played both of those from 3rd grade until 12th grade when I graduated. Sports gave me a feeling of release and the freedom to do my best. It seems that painting gave me the same feeling, even more so.
I had been painting and drawing since I learned that I had hands. Living in a mostly country setting surrounded by the more conservative folk, my individuality and creativity was simply looked at as being the odd one out, or the weird girl in town. I never really minded the strange looks toward the way I dressed or presented myself, or even when I went to town covered in paint from a long days painting adventure. Individuality to me is probably the strongest aspect anyone can have and own to carry on in the world. If you have that, there really isn't anything that can bring you down.