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Colors Make Us Do Vibrant Deeds!! is the 2nd revised edition of Colors Make Us Do Vibrant Deeds! (the 1st edition of the book). Heidi Howard has been painting portraits for almost twenty years. Since 2018 they have expanded their portrait practice into wall paintings and collaborations with their chosen family, architecture and nature. This book resulted from a two-year dialogue between Howard and Orfanos about shared enthusiasm for art that transcends classification and becomes why and how we live. Saturated ink across the book’s 444 color pages illuminates the bright colors of Howard’s work.
A spectrum of semi-translucent paper, handwritten notes, and meticulously curated photography emphasizes the blending between Howard’s adventurous life, paintings, and the people and spaces in which they thrive. These images are animated with writing by Gaby Collins-Fernandez, Brenda Coultas, Heidi Howard, Martha Joseph, Baseera Khan, Natasha Marie Llorens, Amy Giovanna Rinaldi, Veronika Sheer and Chloe Tsolakoglou.
Heidi Howard is an American artist born, raised, and currently based in Queens, New York. Since 2013 the core of Howard’s practice has been painting portraits, whenever possible, with the sitter in the room, reflecting images, energies, tastes, and smells that emerge over the course of the sitting. Since 2018 Howard’s work has expanded to site-specific wall paintings, in- and outdoor sculptures, and collaborative works that examine humans’ relationship to their environments.
Heidi Howard has exhibited at many spaces across the United States and Europe including Dunkunstalle, Wave Hill Garden and Cultural Center, Rhode Island School of Design, the Queens Museum, W139, the Stedelijk Museum, Palazzo Monti, University of Knoxville, the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art and the Hunterdon Museum of Art. Their work has been written about in numerous publications including the Brooklyn Rail, Vogue Magazine, the New York Times, Metropolis M and Cultured Magazine.
© 2026 PHŒBE PRESS. All rights reserved.
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