Anita Heckman
LightNews LightNews
banner
anitaheckman.bsky.social
Anita Heckman
@anitaheckman.bsky.social
2.2K followers 1K following 250 posts
Artist, printmaker. Monotypes, collage. Birds, patterns, night sky, spiderwebs, wings. Nature, reflections, wonders & wanders. Nonviolence, justice. Keep hope alive! Instagram: @anitaheckmanfineart Shop: https://www.anitaheckman.com/
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
anitaheckman.bsky.social
Anita Heckman @anitaheckman.bsky.social · Dec 20
Thanks for appreciating my art. In this difficult moment:
“Find people who bring you solace and be with them… Get around art. Get around beauty. Get in nature.… These things sustain us. It’s a very important survival tactic right now.” @jessicacraven101.bsky.social
#art #DontGiveUp #buildcommunity
Collage of thirteen monotypes and works on paper made in 2024 by artist Anita Heckman. The art features colorful patterns, birds, an underwater view of koi fish, butterflies, flowers, fans, a vintage map, the Cancer constellation, Perry's Agave, two fish in a circular pattern. Anita Heckman Fine Art, https://www.anitaheckman.com/ In this difficult moment: “Find people who bring you solace and be with them…. Get around art. Get around beauty. Get in nature.… These things sustain us. It’s a very important survival tactic right now.” @jessicacraven101.bsky.social #art #DontGiveUp #buildcommunity
anitaheckman.bsky.social
Happy Saturday! So #bright that the yellows almost seem to be melting. Chihuly Garden & Glass, Seattle, 2017. #glass #glassart #chihuly #blueskyartshow #art #artistsupport #glow
Vertical image of a mass of bright yellow, red and purple curly, curved and bulbous glass art pieces on a dark background. Chihuly’s art, inspired by nature, utilizes gravity and centrifugal force to let molten glass find its shape in its own organic way. Photo by Anita Heckman, 2017.
November 16, 2025 at 12:38 AM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
Life imitating nature. The Santa Cruz Beach boardwalk colors echo the blooming passion flowers. 🌺🌷🌱 #AlphabetChallenge #WeekPforPink #nature #boardwalk #rollercoaster #photography #EastCoastKin #bloomscrolling #flowers #FlowersOfBlueSky
Vertical image of bounteous pink passion flowers, leaves and tendrils in the foreground of a view of the San Lorenzo River and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in California. The Boardwalk has a bright pink tent that’s the same color as the flowers. Light gray and white clouds add to the drama of the photo. Iphone photo by Anita Heckman.
October 17, 2025 at 7:20 PM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
Glorious spiderweb in front of my art studio door, 10/22, before Open Studios. Pretty sure Charlotte Jr. Jr.’s message was “I ❤️Anita’s art!"
🕸️ 🕷️ #spiderweb #spooktober #31daysofHalloween #cobweb #CharlottesWeb #artistsupport #invert #arachnid #web #eastcoastkin #nature #onlybeautifulthings
A large (18” wide+-) sunlit spiderweb with a heart shape woven into its center, in front a multi-paned glass/wood door and windows. Iphone photo, October, 2022, CA
October 14, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Reposted by Anita Heckman
womensartbluesky.bsky.social
Californian Morning' (mid 20thc) by US artist and printmaker Emmy Lou Packard (1914-1998) #WomensArt
Print featuring a line of different wild plants in silhouette with a singing blackbird perched in one and a dragonfly flying above, all in front of the ocean under an orange sun
October 12, 2025 at 5:30 AM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
Art-making keeps me sane! “Glow”- new #monotype inspired by the SF “Bouquets to Art” at the SF DeYoung. The garlic scapes reminded me of a blue & yellow macaw. 🌺🌷🪶 #BlueskyArtShow #Glow #printmaking #bloomscrolling #eastcoastkin #artistsupport #womensart #birds
Vertical image of a bright yellow glowing gloriosa lily and olive-green garlic scape bouquet gracefully twining around an art-nouveau style glowing light green vase that has a blue and yellow macaw on it. The background is blue and blue-green, and green leafy patterns also glow in the bottom background. Original monotype by Anita Heckman. https://www.anitaheckman.com/recent-work
October 12, 2025 at 2:48 AM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
I truly enjoyed turning the Indiana map blue in this “homage collage” “Jazzed I.” Inspired by @SassyDivaDesigns Bouquets to Art arrangement, SF DeYoung museum, inspired in turn by Matisse’s “Lagoon” collage.

✂️🌷🐟🌺🌱🐠 #santacruzopenstudios #artscouncilscc #Matisse #collage #goldfish #JazzUnbound
A small colorful collage of a bouquet of anthurium in a clear glass that has three goldfish swimming in it, over a blue map of Indiana background with dark blue and red floating shapes that echo the bouquet. Inspired by SanFrancisco DeYoung museum's Bouquets to Art arrangement and Matisse's "Lagoon" collage. Matisse created the Jazz Unbound series while living in France during the German occupation. “Jazzed I ” original collage, 8” x 10” 2025. anitaheckman.com
October 3, 2025 at 7:48 PM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
See “Stepping Out” at my Santa Cruz, CA Open Studio, Oct. 11/12 & 18/19. Inspired by an inventive arrangement at the 2025 Bouquets to Art at the SF DeYoung museum.

🌺 🌷 🪶 🎨 #visitSantaCruz #floral #printmaking #monotype #bloomscrolling #bird #botanicalart #artyear #eastcoastkin #artistsupport
“Stepping Out.” A white great egret turns its head and neck to the left as it lifts one foot to step out of a bright yellow-gold leafy-patterned vase in the center of the image. Bright colored graceful gloriosa lilies and allium scapes are in the vase. The background is dark purple with patterns. Inspired by @FloralgalKel Kelly Lampotang’s arrangement that was in turn inspired by Chelsea Ryoko Wong’s “Mint Tea in the Sauna during Sunset” painting. Original monotype, 2025, 12.5” x 16.” Can’t make it to Santa Cruz for Open Studios? Visit https://www.anitaheckman.com/recent-work @FloralgalKel Kelly Lampotang’s colorful floral arrangement is in front of Chelsea Ryoko Wong’s “Mint Tea in the Sauna during Sunset” painting. The painting shows a woman and man drinking tea in front of a window or art that has an island and pastel-colored sunset. The colors and shapes in the bouquet echo those in the painting.
September 27, 2025 at 7:44 PM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
We built a giant puppet! Mother Earth is 10' tall and she's got the whole world in her hands! There’s 4 more puppets… Unveiling 9.21.25 at SC Sun-Day. ARRT is building #hope and #community: defending democracy and working to save our planet. #resist #art #resistanceart #climatechange #nonviolence
Two women hold the shiny green cape of a Mother Earth giant puppet that has long flowing braids and colorful scarves. She is holding an earth globe. Text: Join us! Giant Puppet Unveiling at “Sun’Day” – this Sunday, September 21, Noon- 1:30pm at Mission Plaza Park, Santa Cruz, CA. One of 5 giant puppets. Others are a bald eagle, Lady Liberty, Lady Justice and a dove of peace. All constructed by our ARRT teams: Artists Respond and Resist Together. 3 photos: Front view of a Mother Earth giant puppet that has long flowing braids and colorful scarves. She is holding an earth globe. 2. Closeup of Mother Earth's paper maché head: she has big green eyes, earthy colored skin, and flowing braids. 3. A woman holds two endangered species signs: giant tortoise and the California Condor. These signs and more will be part of Mother Earth's contingent. Text: Join us! Giant Puppet Unveiling at “Sun’Day” – this Sunday, September 21, Noon- 1:30pm at Mission Plaza Park, Santa Cruz, CA. One of 5 giant puppets. Others are a bald eagle, Lady Liberty, Lady Justice and a dove of peace. All constructed by our ARRT teams: Artists Respond and Resist Together.
September 19, 2025 at 7:40 PM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
Lost Constellations 2: New! Highlights 5 constellations that are no longer recognized: Little Owl (noctua), Argo Navis (the ship), Pyxis- mariner’s compass, the giant swallow and hippocampus (seahorse).
🦉 🪶 🔭 #owlishMonday #sciart #birds #constellations #printmaking #drypoint #monotype #sky
A Little Owl is perched on the masthead of a ship. There’s a black starry sky. A large moon is rising behind the ship, and a seahorse is floating next to it. A giant swallow flies up toward a mariner’s compass. These five constellations are no longer recognized. The current 88 northern constellations were established in 1922 by the International Astronomical Union to make a universal pattern for astronomers. Original monotype and tetrapak drypoint, 2025, 12”x12” by Anita Heckman. Available soon at https://www.anitaheckman.com/ Inquiries welcome.
September 1, 2025 at 8:00 PM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
Magenta Orchid cactus. Makes me think of a punk rock star with three back up singers swaying to the music.
#flower #MagentaMon #coloraday #onlybeautifulthings #dailyflowers #dailybotanicalbeauty #nature #epiphyte #bloomscrolling #eastcoastkin #flowerreport #cactus
A bright magenta orchid cactus flower in full bloom with one finished flower and two buds and in the center and right. Those three are leaning to the left.
September 1, 2025 at 6:29 PM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
“One-way colour tunnel” at SFMOMA: a long arched walkway #sculpture created by Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson. Walk one way: it’s mostly black. Walking through the other direction & it’s a prismatic wonder!. #blueskyartshow #alternating #prism #rainbow #art #contemporaryart
A woman and man are taking a selfie inside of a bright colored rainbow prismatic walkway sculpture made up of triangular prisms, attached to make a tunnel shape. It's on the SF MOMA museum's atrium bridge. Looking through a walkway sculpture made up of triangular prisms, that are attached to make a tunnel shape. Walking from this direction, the triangles look black with turquoise patterns, but on the floor are colorful reflections from the other rainbow side. It's on the SF MOMA museum's atrium bridge.
July 27, 2025 at 4:15 AM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
I got lucky in 2017 on an unusually sunny October day in Seattle at the Japanese Garden when the maples were in their most glorious fall colors.
#JuliArty #maple #onlybeautifulthings #trees #fallcolor #eastcoastkin #nature #artistsupport #artyear
Photo of an old Japanese maple, pruned like a full-size tree bonsai so one can see many extremely curving limbs and branches. The leaves are bountiful, in bright red and orange fall colors, positively glowing from the sun shining through them. In the foreground are artfully placed whitish-gray boulders, green grass and moss. At the Seattle Japanese Garden in Washington Park, 2017.
July 1, 2025 at 6:53 PM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
“Golden Orchid Cactus” My most recent #monotype, inspired by a colorful hybrid. In the wild, it’s an epiphyte or “air plant” that grows on the surface of another plant and gets its moisture and nutrients from air & rainfall. #Stunday #artyear #printmaking #botanical #nature #sciart #akuainks 🌺🌱🌷
Square image of five glowing golden yellow orchid cactus flower blooms and five scalloped-edge green stems on a patterned dark purple and turquoise background. 12” x 12” original monotype by Anita Heckman, 2025. Available soon at https://www.anitaheckman.com/
June 29, 2025 at 5:28 PM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
Basse Buller, The Painting Troll. Inspired by the nature he lives in, he makes his marks with stones, leaves, sticks…. in an effort to lead the humans onto the right path. —Thomas Dambo #sculpture, #SavetheHumans, #Filoli #California #trees #nature #BlueSkyArtShow #GetOutside #EastCoastKin #forest
A 12’+- high kindly-looking troll sculpture made of recycled wood in the forest. He is facing us, sitting down on the forest floor, looking relaxed, with his legs outstretched, leaning against a redwood tree. Other redwood trees are behind him, and a wooden bucket, filled with stones, is next to him. One of 6 large wooden activist trolls by Danish artist Thomas Dambo on exhibit at Filoli Gardens, Woodside, CA. The trolls have come to teach humans how to rediscover nature and inspire humans to be good stewards of the earth.
June 28, 2025 at 10:59 PM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
Ruth Asawa’s looped wire sculptures cast fabulous shadows. Go see the #SFMOMA retrospective featuring over 300 works! Learn more about her @sfmoma on Insta or sfmoma.org

#wallsonwednesday #sculpture #RuthAsawa #art #shadow #SanFrancisco #artyear #patterns #contemporaryart
Three large hanging black undulating multiple basket-like looped-wire sculptures cast interesting shadows on the wall behind them. Part of the Ruth Asawa retrospective at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), 2025. Circular black looped-wire sculpture and its shadow. Inspired by nature. Sort of a fibonacci or flower or tree pattern in the middle with multiple bare tree-like branches radiating outward. Part of the Ruth Asawa retrospective at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), 2025.
June 19, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Reposted by Anita Heckman
mikemelton.bsky.social
Well, this was a real treat this afternoon as I found this Periplacis menander #butterfly outside my kitchen window. A new species for @casabentbill.bsky.social (and for me). These have a wide range from Mexico to southern Brazil, but they aren't common.

#lepidoptera #costarica #butterflies #bugsky
A vibrant blue and black butterfly rests with wings open on a bright green leaf, showing iridescent patterns and delicate details.
June 7, 2025 at 9:42 PM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
Love that the vase is hovering. #Vibrant flowers & #art at the San Francisco de Young Bouquets to Art: Orinda Garden Club (Mari Tischenko), inspired by Saif Azzuz’ painting “Lo’op’ (It burns).” His palette was inspired by maps of the 2020 CA wildfires. #flowers #botanical #painting #Blueskyartshow
A very brightly colored bouquet of magenta orchids, orange and yellow flowers in a vase that hovers above its orange and transparent pedestal, held up by thick swirling yellow, orange and red wires, in front of a vivid painting by Saif Azzuz, 2021. The vertical painting highlights the Yurok tribe’s tradition of controlled burning. Azzuz advocates for this indigenous approach as a viable means of land stewardship. His worldview is that the connection between humans and the land we inhabit is inseparable. At the de Young museum's Bouquets to Art, 2025. Closeup of a very brightly colored flower bouquet in a vase that hovers above its orange and transparent pedestal, held up by thick swirling yellow, orange and red wires. It makes a bold curving contrast in front of a black metal loading door. At the de Young museum's Bouquets to Art, 2025.
June 8, 2025 at 12:08 AM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
Loved “My Friends” by Fredrik Backman: a moving and very human story about friendship and the power of art. Both help us survive and can have a big impact on ourselves and others, even years later. The characters have troubled lives, but humanity wins out.
#fiction #booksky #art #book #friendship
Cover of My Friends, book by Fredrik Backman, with the quote: "the only time he felt like himself was when he was painting. Everything else, life, reality, that was just an act. Only art was real for him.”
June 5, 2025 at 7:35 PM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
“Guardian” This fluffy queen cat dared me to make a print of her protecting a neighbor’s sculpture garden. #monotype #cat #cats #sculpture #cactus #printmaking #artyear #tetrapak #art #garden #neighbor #caturday @Akuainks @speedballart #arnhem
A fluffy white cat with light blue eyes is staring directly at you. She is seated on a large triangular rock in front of two sculptures, each with three large round rocks balanced like cairns on stone pedestals. One sculpture is on the right, with a spiky leaved agave in front of it. The other smaller sculpture is behind on the left. A tall wavy edged cactus and a prickly pear cactus are behind the cat. A large tall stemmed magenta flower sculpture shape is on the left. The background is shades of blue and turquoise with magenta highlights. Original monotype by Anita Heckman, 12” x 12” Akua ink on Arnhem heavy paper, 2025. Available for purchase: www.anitaheckman.com
June 1, 2025 at 4:14 AM
Reposted by Anita Heckman
naturelover-bopbop.bsky.social
I'iwi on Māmane bush/tree on Haleakala, Maui, Hawaii. A honeycreeper it fills the niche to some extent that the lack of hummers miss.
I apologize for putting things up and removing them. My typing is execrable.

#birds #I'iwi #HawaiianHoneycreeper #Maui #Māmane
I'iwi on a native Māmane bush/tree which flowers (yellow) feed the Hawaiian Honeycreepers which fill the niche that hummers do on the American continents.
November 29, 2024 at 5:47 AM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
“Capricornus.” New #monotype #analogcollage with #beige on the spiral shell. Fun facts: goats have horizontal pupils! & in the Bronze age, this #constellation marked the winter solstice. #printmaking 🐠🐟✂️🌺🌱🌷 #astronomy #capricorn #sciart #zodiac #acoloradAyPRIL #flower #Artyear #womensart #collage
“Capricornus.” Horizontal image. An Alpine Ibex goat’s head with large curved horns faces right, and is printed on gold botanical patterned paper. Its brightly colored patterned bottom half /fish tail curves up to the left. The Capricornus constellation, a stylized butterfly-ish triangular shape, is in the top center, with the same patterns as the fish tail. The background is starry black and has botanical black patterns that suggest waves. An Archimedean spiral shell shape with twelve radiating lines rests on the left bottom, in front of the tail, with blue water patterns behind it and under the goat-fish. A large red Amaryllis is in full bloom in the foreground center, with small gold and silver leaf patterns emerging from the top. A small fan with ten of its twelve panels a coral red color, is in the bottom right, with the same curving leaf pattern below it. The far right side is the same coral red color. Original monotype, analog collage, 2025, by Anita Heckman. www.anitaheckman.com
April 28, 2025 at 5:28 PM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
“Mercurialosity” #sculpture by Michael Emery, at Felix Kulpa Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA. Originally installed at #burningman. The dome shape itself is gorgeous and casts great shadows. Then the sun shines through displaying amazing patterns on the inside. #acoloradAyPRIL #rust #metal #contemporaryart
View of two sides of a 4-sided rusted metal pointed onion dome sculpture with intricate curving floral cutouts. It rests upon a bed of white pebbles in full sun that displays the patterns in its shadow. The shadow reflects onto one of three shallow arches on the wall behind the sculpture. Detail: looking through the rusted metal cutouts of a dome sculpture, displaying black and white 3-dimensional fractal patterns made by the sun shining through the sculpture.
April 27, 2025 at 6:12 PM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
Golden Rat Tail #cactus. Great name for such a homely, un- #earth -ly prickly plant that has such beautiful flowers! #acoloradAyPRIL #olivegreen #botanical #flower #nature #onlybeautifulthings #photography #bloomscrolling #blueskyartshow #eastcoastkin
Square photo of a Rat Tail cactus in full bloom, with a profusion of small pinkish, coral tubular flowers emerging along the stems. The multiple curving stems are cylindrical and covered with spines, olive green with lighter gold-green tips. They are in a clay pot that is in a rock garden. The background is a white wall, so the cacti stand out.
April 26, 2025 at 6:01 PM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
Pride of Madeira. This one resembles a giant glowing caterpillar! The base of each flower has just a bit of #magenta. The flowers spiral up like the lanyards I made as a child. #acoloradAyPRIL #botanical 🌷🌱🌺 #flower #nature #onlybeautifulthings #photography #bloomscrolling #invert
Close up of one stalk of Pride of Madeira flowers in full bloom. The light is coming from behind and the pink stamens are glowing on the edges, making it look like a giant caterpillar.
April 25, 2025 at 11:48 PM
anitaheckman.bsky.social
Turquoise Puya. The flowers look almost plastic, but it’s a cousin of the pineapple, with rare otherworldly #turquoise flowers. Native to #Chile, seen at the UCSC #Arboretum. #acoloradAyPRIL #botanical #flower🌷🌱🌺 #nature #onlybeautifulthings #photography #bloomscrolling #bromeliad #sciart
Close up of Turquoise Puya (P. berteroniana) flowers. It has stout flower stalks with lateral branches, each of which has unusual teal-turquoise flowers along its lower portion. It ends in a stiff spur that is often used as a perch for birds . It is a terrestrial Bromeliad from the mountains of Chile. Turquoise Puya (P. berteroniana). It has stout flower stalks with lateral branches, each of which has unusual teal-turquoise flowers along its lower portion. It ends in a stiff spur that is often used as a perch for birds . It is a terrestrial Bromeliad from the mountains of Chile.
April 16, 2025 at 6:47 PM