Bio: Heidi Richardson Evans is a self-described Appalachian cave witch, writer, artist, queer dragon mom, anatomical non-conformist. She lives in a house made of mismatched old bricks by a creek in Charleston, WV.

She is a lifelong resident of the Kanawha Valley, but for a brief and disastrous experiment as a big city dweller in Pittsburgh.

She holds a BA in Art from West Virginia State University, where she ignored the definition of specialization and “specialized” in Ceramics, Printmaking, Drawing, Painting, and Art history. Also Design. And Women’s Studies, too.

She has a daughter, a ridiculous fluffy dog, and a worrisome tendency to trip over things because she’s staring at the stars. She has a crush on the Pleiades.

(You can find Heidi’s work online in her Etsy shop, or in person at Apartment Earth Gallery in Charleston, West Virginia.)

“My work is obsessively patterned with pen and liquid ink, taking an illustrative and whimsical look at Appalachian landscapes and fauna. The drawings have a bold, graphic style that has been compared to quilting patterns, tattoo design, and comic book art, all of which inform my style.

I’m interested in straddling the worlds of the real and the imagined. I depict native West Virginian plants and animals that are part of the culture and habitat of Appalachia (or were, previous to extinction) but there’s always an intrusion of magical thinking: Mythical beasts will emerge or a black bear will sit in a crescent moon.

My awareness of place is a constant, and the drawings are like offerings in thanks to the land. I regard the region with both a quiet reverence and a perfect ease.”