Erika Rae Heins
Bio
I love calligraphy.
A few weeks ago, I was telling my Art History students about the medieval monks in their scriptoriums, and I confessed that I would have loved that job. They looked at me like I had just told them I wanted an appendectomy. Maybe that’s not an aspiration that most art teachers have?
My interest in Tolkien art and my love of calligraphy (and the whole medieval-esque illuminated manuscript thing) developed simultaneously. My first Tolkien piece was also my first large-scale calligraphy piece that wasn’t a college assignment. It was several years later, after I’d opened my Etsy shop with a few of my more generic watercolors, that I decided to try my hand at a set of four Tolkien quotes I could turn into notecards. My shop took off; I figured I had found my niche– after all, I enjoyed it ridiculously– and began filling my shop with hobbitty art.
Since then, I’ve been easing my way into the local convention scene. I work several other jobs– including teaching English and art at a local Christian school– and do not have as much time to devote to my art as I might like, yet. My goal is to turn it into a viable second job. This will be my first year at Norwescon, and I am looking forward to it immensely.
Samples
