about heidi madinger
Hello!
I’m Heidi, and I wear many hats. For now, I shall sum myself up as an artist and an explorer, a storyteller and mentor, and the person who will absolutely encourage you to do the thing everyone else says is too risky.
I’ve loved making things from the start. I experimented with everything I could get my hands on; from drawings to jewellery, candles and clay figures. I loved exploring my dad’s garage to find scraps of building material so I could create tiny dioramas and epic houses for my Barbies.
My parents inspired in me a deep curiosity about science, nature, travel, the arts, history, and how things are made. I enjoyed watching archeology documentaries with my dad, and we were great museum pals because we loved taking our time to really immerse ourselves and enjoy a certain safe silence in each other’s company.
I grew up immersed in fantasy worlds with my brother, the kind filled with magic, myth, and adventure. Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones, The Legend of Zelda. That lens never really left me. It shaped how I see everything: life as an ongoing exploration, a brief window full of vast possibility, an open world RPG with unlimited imagination.
Music and visual art were the first languages I used to understand the world. I was always singing, whether it was in the Sunday school choir or belting along to my Shania Twain cassette tape. I started playing piano at thirteen, trained as a classical soprano into adulthood, and alongside that, I was always drawing, crafting, writing. My brother and I spent a lot of time playing sports and video games, watching movies and exploring the dirt roads and secret trails on our bikes.
I’ve tried a lot of different things trying to find what’s right for me. I was always an artist, but it wasn’t an encouraged choice for a sustainable career path. And so I entered the workforce in the service industry, went to college for fitness & health, transitioned to marketing, and eventually built a business as a graphic designer, channelling my creativity into something stable, something sensible. And it worked — until it didn’t. Until I found myself six months postpartum, running a business with a baby in my arms, creating work that left me feeling drained and resentful, and wondering how I’d ended up so far from myself.
Becoming a mother cracked something open in me. It put into perspective just how valuable my time is, and how much I want to spend my time doing things that bring me peace and joy.
// what I stand for
Things I know to be true:
01
Every person has a creative voice, whether or not they’ve found it yet.
03
You don’t need to be “artistic” to benefit from creative practice. You just need to be willing to begin.
05
When we suppress our creative expression, something in us goes quiet. Getting it back is possible at any age.
07
Perfectionism and fear of judgement are some of creativity’s greatest enemies.
02
The act of making something — anything — can shift how we feel about everything.
04
Creativity exists to help us understand our existence and find our way toward what we’re actually here to do.
06
You deserve a space where your wildest creative ideas can be brought to life in ways you never dared to imagine for yourself.
08
Following what genuinely excites you is a built-in compass, not irresponsibility.
Find your piece.
If something here moved you, chances are something in the studio will too. Come see what’s available.