STEVEN HEWARD

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1956 to Grant and Phyllis Heward. In the spring of 1961, I had my first lesson in art; I clearly remember walking home from church and my father asking me what color the mountains were. I told him mostly purple with blues, browns, pinks and grays.  He told me that the grays were the most beautiful of all. Another time he asked me “what color is a banana?”  Then he showed me all the subtle colors mixed with reflective light.

My bedroom walls had poster size drawings by my father hanging on them. I remember looking at them, seeing how simply he could draw a face.  Between my father’s paintings and drawings and his great collection of books on art, of all kinds, I truly had my own personal museum.

In 1969, I took private oil painting lessons after school from my Junior High School teacher Jerry Durant. There is no finer teaching method for a young mind than the system he used. When I would ask him a question on something I didn’t know how to paint, he would always say, “You’re the artist. How are you going to paint it?”  It would force me to think deeper and figure out how to solve the problem.

My two High School Art teachers, Wayne Killpack and David Montgomery, also gave me great encouragement.

I first studied with Doyle Strong and Farrell Collette at Weber State College, and then transferred to the University of Utah. At the University of Utah I studied primarily under Alvin Gittins, but also took classes from Doug Snow, Gregory Hull, and Paul Davis.