“Amy Moglia Heuerman and her girls” The Naples Press

A visit to Amy Art Gallery + Studio reveals a light-filled space that showcases Amy Moglia Heuerman’s art, a reflection of her heart and soul, and doubles as a working studio with a reception area and chic salon seating. In addition to abstract and coastal art, it is her signature series of paintings, dubbed “The Girls,” that is receiving an overwhelmingly positive response.

A visit to Amy Art Gallery + Studio reveals a light-filled space that showcases Amy Moglia Heuerman’s art, a reflection of her heart and soul, and doubles as a working studio with a reception area and chic salon seating. In addition to abstract and coastal art, it is her signature series of paintings, dubbed “The Girls,” that is receiving an overwhelmingly positive response.

Approach one of her girl paintings; it looks back and beckons with its charm and arresting intrigue. The faceless figures invite interpretation and a sense of wonder — for Heuerman, they reflect memories of a carefree time in her life. They are works that could grace a foyer, a grand living space or a lucky youngster’s bedroom.

Heuerman began her art journey as an illustrator and later moved into painting large coastal and abstract pieces. Then came her “Girls” paintings, which serve as her muse — she has painted more than 100, drawn without facial features in backgrounds that are either plain or mottled, featuring a textured color field. The series, awash with well-placed color and whimsy, was born from the artist’s “inner five-year-old spirit of joy, naivete,” painted from a time “where I was protected and loved, where the big bad world could not touch me,” the artist recounts.

Born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and raised in Tennessee, Heuerman moved to Rumson, New Jersey, at 13; then to Omaha, Nebraska, as an adult with her husband and children. In 2013, she moved to Naples. Her first gallery in Bay Harbor, Michigan, opened in 2018. In 2021, she opened her first downtown Naples gallery on 10th Street South, and in 2023, she renovated and settled in her current dream gallery on 1st Avenue North. We chatted about everything Amy.

The Naples Press: Tell us about the inspiration for your signature “The Girls” collection.

Amy Moglia Heuerman:
Feeling scared and uncertain during the time of early COVID, wondering when and if I’d see family, one morning I ran into my home studio and started painting splotches of color with a palette knife on a 60” x 60” canvas, making a bunch of lines, not knowing what I was painting. They became people — together but separated, just as we were during COVID. The first painting was “Distance,” and then other faceless figures in joyful movements emerged. They are only a posture; they are abstracts. Not portraits, but paintings of feelings.

TNP: What is your artistic process or approach from concept to completion?

Heuerman: When I step up to the canvas, I know the genre in which I will paint. I start every canvas with a coat of red and begin to listen to the energy, feeling the painting — bright, bold, strong, or soft, pale and pensive. I consider my focal point and how hard I will apply lights and darks. Next, I layer values, starting with dark, then the pale ones, and then I fill in. A tension begins, and the energy is born; at that point, I know the palette. I like my paintings to have a living history, and I make marks that are hidden or bolder. If you peeled back the layers of paint, you would see layers of information, like a person. Looking closer, you will see that the painting tells a story.

TNP: How do you bring your ideas to life?

Heuerman: They are not ideas but feelings. Sometimes, a painting jumps off the brush or palette knife, and sometimes it’s a fight. Other times, a painting develops a life of its own, and I have to let go and feel it come to life. The painting may want one direction, while the conscious mind wants another, and you must let the painting go in its own direction. I am entirely focused on what I am doing when I am in the zone. The more I let go of the conscious thought, the closer I get to producing. I am like a vessel — the hand putting ideas on canvas. There’s an energy directing me to grab a brush, a palette knife or an egg carton. The more I tap into the energy and feeling, the more I’m connected to a higher power.

TNP: Going forward, what are your art goals?

Heuerman: I am working on a coffee table-style book of my girls’ paintings that I will pair with inspirational, uplifting quotes from figures from William Shakespeare to Winnie the Pooh. I want to encourage young individuals that we are special in our own right.

TNP: Tell us about your Morning Art Breaks sessions at your gallery.

Heuerman: They are designed to engage the summer population by offering a variety of speakers and topics to help enrich a celebration of Naples’ creative spirit and sense of community.

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