DISNEY TREASURES COLLECTION: DIG A LITTLE DEEPER

Heather Edwards

MEDIUM: Giclée on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
SIZE: 16" x 12"
EDITION SIZE: 1500
ARTIST: Heather Edwards
SKU: DFA-T-DIGALITTLEDEEPER

ABOUT THE IMAGE: Inspired by Walt Disney’s Animated 2009 Film The Princess and the Frog. Tiana carefully plates up a serving of her family's gumbo recipe, as she contemplates the dream that she and her late father shared, to one day open her own restaurant in 1920s era New Orleans. Artist Heather Edwards thoughtfully depicts Tiana in a moment of reflection, recalling the time she prepared this very dish with her father and renewing her determination to "dig deeper" and persevere, knowing that only then will her dream become reality.

ABOUT THE MEDIUM:  Each Treasures On Canvas Collection Features stunning Limited-Edition artwork by many of your favorite artists. All titles are released in limited editions of 1500 and arrive beautifully gallery-wrapped and come complete with a Certificate of Authenticity. Officially Licensed artwork by Disney

ABOUT THE ARTIST: Some stories begin on well-defined roads or with billboard accomplishments. But the story of an artist usually begins somewhere less noticeable, perhaps even unrecognizable to most. It is just such a beginning that gave life to the art of creator, Heather Edwards. Paintings were born from 5:45 a.m. mornings during summer breaks from school in Paradise, Utah, waking up to breathe in the crisp air and watch the sunrise and glow through the blades of grass in the lawn. Ideas sprung from thunderstorms, the struggles of working on a small farm, and from the loyal companionship of pets. Personal experiences combined to shape the narrative behind each forthcoming creation.

From that vantage point, life itself became the paint on the brush and the guiding force behind everything Heather made and from as early as her pre-school years she knew that making art was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. However, receiving extra training or attending an acknowledged art school were not to be part of her story. Yet, it was from her own father that she learned one of her most valuable lessons: observe. It was a simple enough concept, but it stuck.

Heather's paintings are the product of decades of observation of people, of environments, of animals, and of textiles, as well as the convergence of every scrap of knowledge that came attached to them. The wonder and magic of Disney movies, both the imagery and the music, also helped cultivate the ideas that began to take form in painting, and now, boldly recreating Disney characters in a way that brings them into the realism of our world has become an exciting new passion.

To Heather, every painting is personal, but not necessarily in the way, most might think. "I don't necessarily want the viewer to have the same response to my painting as I have. Instead, my hope is that the expression I paint on the board through hours of observation and execution of detail will speak to them in a way that ignites thoughts and feelings unique to them.”

ABOUT THE FILM: The Princess and the Frog is a 2009 American animated musical comedy fantasy film based on E.D. Baker's novel The Frog Princess, which was in turn inspired by the Brothers Grimm's fairy tale The Frog Prince. The film was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, with songs and scores composed by Randy Newman and featuring the voices of Anika Noni Rose, Oprah Winfrey, Keith David, Jim Cummings, John Goodman, Jenifer Lewis, Bruno Campos, Michael-Leon Wooley, Peter Bartlett, and Terrence Howard. Tiana, the main character, is also notable as Disney's first African-American princess.

The film, which began production under the working title The Frog Princess, is an American fairy tale, Broadway-style musical set in, and around, New Orleans at the height of the Roaring Twenties.