Today we’d like to introduce you to Heather Prall.
Hi Heather, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I spent years building a career in HR, earning my SPHR and SHRM-SCP certifications and a master’s in business along the way. But after about 13 years in that world, I stepped away from the traditional workforce to pursue something entirely different: painting.
I started as most artists do, experimenting, showing up, and putting work out into the world however I could. I sold through Saatchi Art and Artfinder, took part in in person shows, wrote a newsletter, and even placed work in local galleries. I learned some hard lessons along the way, including working with a gallery whose owner ended up defrauding some of the artists he represented.
That experience became a turning point. Rather than keep chasing open inventory and online platforms, I made a deliberate choice to pivot toward a much more intentional model: private collector relationships and appointment only viewings. I stepped back from festivals, online galleries, and the noise of trying to be visible everywhere, and instead focused on building real connections with the people who resonate with my work.
Today I paint abstract work from a purpose built studio in my home in Colorado, working almost entirely through direct relationships with collectors and select commissions. It’s a smaller, quieter way of doing business, but it’s one that actually fits how I want to create and who I want to create for.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been a smooth road. For years, the financial return on the effort I was putting in was modest at best, and that gap between how much I was investing and how little was coming back was discouraging in a way that is hard to describe unless you have lived it.
The lowest point was a studio clearing sale I ran on nine original paintings. I put real thought and work into it, and not a single piece sold. That was a hard moment to sit with, but it also became the turning point. It forced me to stop and honestly ask myself what wasn’t working, rather than keep pushing the same approach and hoping for a different outcome.
Making the decision to walk away from the models that are often presented as the standard path for artists was not easy either. It felt like a risk to step back from what was expected and build something quieter and more intentional instead. But that decision led to a business built on private collector relationships and appointment only viewings, which has been a far better fit for me.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My work is rooted in fluid acrylics and sculptural abstract canvases. I work intuitively, layering color and texture rather than planning a piece out in advance, and I’m drawn to organic, tactile forms over anything rigid or literal. A lot of my process is about responding to what’s already on the canvas and letting the next layer reveal itself.
I specialize in large scale pieces designed for specific spaces. Right now I’m creating a 60×60 sculptural abstract canvas for a stairwell installation, which is a good example of how I like to work: thinking about a piece in relationship to the room it will live in, not just as a standalone object.
What I’m most proud of is that my work feels personal rather than produced for a market. Because I work directly with collectors, each piece tends to carry a real story, tied to a specific person’s home or vision, rather than sitting in inventory waiting for a buyer. I think what sets me apart is the combination of an intuitive, textural painting style with the discipline and people focused thinking I developed over years in HR, which shows up in how closely I work with the people I create for.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I wouldn’t describe myself as a natural risk taker. I tend to think things through carefully before I act, which probably comes from my years in HR, where decisions had real consequences for people and you learned not to move impulsively.
That said, I’ve come to believe that avoiding risk isn’t actually safe. Staying in a situation that isn’t working, just because it’s familiar, is its own kind of risk, one that’s easier to ignore because it doesn’t feel like a leap. The choices I’ve made in my art career reflect that. I’d rather make a considered change than keep doing something I know isn’t right for me.
So my approach to risk is less about being bold and more about being honest with myself about what isn’t working, and being willing to act on that even when the outcome isn’t guaranteed.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/heatherprallart
