“A robin in the Irish rain sings out its liquid phrases and bubbling cadences, throat to toes tense and outstretched to give voice to those highest, brightest notes. Painter and bird move in unconscious harmony. Artist, like bird, stretches her whole body to sweep the brush across linen, as colourful notes spill out. “I don’t listen to music when I work. I work in silence. But it’s never silence.” All the sounds of the outdoor world feed into Heidi Nguyen’s paintings, and birdsong is a constant backing track to our lives, if only we stop, listen with her, and join in the joyous dance. In the monotypes too, Heidi doesn’t just show us nature, she lets us feel the wind in our hair, taste saltwater on our lips and feel the tickle of seaweed on our skin as we duck underwater with her on a wild swim.” Rosemary Lawrey

Originally from France, with a Vietnamese father and Swiss mother, Heidi Nguyen has lived and worked as an artist in County Donegal for the past 23 years. She studied traditional arts at Atelier Met de Penninghen, Paris, and worked for over ten years as a graphic designer before embracing a new career in contemporary painting.