Featured Artist: Heather Akridge
Heather Akridge is a native Floridian and Arkansan who spent most of her childhood living in both states. She attended Oklahoma State University, graduating with a bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry and molecular biology and a doctorate of veterinary medicine. She has practiced mostly small animal veterinary medicine in Philadelphia and Austin, planting roots in the Lone Star State in 2008.
With a less hectic work schedule and more free time on her hands, Heather started taking oil painting lessons as a creative, tactile outlet in 2022. Never having taken any form of art classes, she began dedicating a few nights each month to painting alongside a small group of artists with various levels of experience. This group was led by Kati Williams (www.eyekati.com; @eyekati).
Heather’s first two pieces were landscapes, one of a garden and the other of a West Texas view. Each of the paintings was a slow process, filled with lessons along the way. Her third painting, the Texas Longhorn, was a project undertaken at the request of a good friend. It was completed in 2025.
Heather’s adventures in art are a reminder that it is never too late to start something new and that beauty can be found all around us. As a newer artist, she has found painting to be a practice in releasing perfection and allowing the work to unfold and become what it wants to be.
Heather Danielle Akridge
heather.akridge@okstatealumni.org
Instagram: @HeatherInTheLines
