828-333-2820
cindy-wheeler.com

I grew up in the mountains of North Carolina, near Asheville, on a mountaintop that overlooked the vibrant blues and greens of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I left the beauty of the high country when my professional journey as an artist began at Auburn University, where I earned a BFA in Graphic Arts. After graduating, I moved to New York City and spent the next two decades illustrating and writing children's books full-time for major publishers including Random House, Viking, Penguin, and Alfred A. Knopf.

In 2006, I traveled to South Africa and volunteered in Cape Town with Cheetah Outreach, a non-profit conservation organization. I returned to the United States with a profound appreciation, respect, and love for Africa - its people, animals, and art. Afterward, I lived in the Sierra Foothills of California and delighted in the light and color filled landscape of the West. In 2016 I returned to Asheville, North Carolina. I have now come full circle - with a fresh palette of colors and rich experiences to inspire my painting!

My lifelong passion for light and landscapes - whether on the East Coast, West Coast, or in other parts of the world - stems from years of living closely with nature and experiencing its ever-changing palette of colors. This has blended with a deep affinity for transformational moments - those instants in time when the cast of the light, or tilt of an animals head, changes a moment from ordinary to extraordinary. I strive to capture those moments.

I capture moments with acrylics, oils, pastels and watercolors. I choose my painting medium on the basis of the moment I am depicting. Each medium has special characteristics, and I enjoy maximizing those qualities in my paintings in combination with the moment I am portraying.

All of my paintings are from my own photos. A large part of the inspiration for my paintings is determined by the composition, light, and color, captured in the moment - though elements can then be shifted around to achieve perfection!