Columbia Center of the Arts to display Heard exhibit

As a child, Heard had two passions: Surfing and art. As a teenager, he found himself choosing between them.

“I went surfing as a kid for about five or six years straight, almost religiously,” he said. “I made a decision around the age of 15: Was I going to continue surfing or was I going to start to pursue art? And I decided to pursue art.”

Now, Heard can’t even remember how he made such a big decision, but he said the transition from spending all his time surfing to focusing on his painting wasn’t actually all that difficult.

“It was like flipping over a coin or something,” he said. “I just went from one passion to another.”

Passion has always been a huge part of Heard’s life, and he feels lucky to have found it so young, he said.

“Life without passion is probably the saddest thing that human beings get entangled in,” Heard said.

Heard’s dedication to his art has always been a huge part of his life, sometimes to the point where partners felt jealous of his work because of the attention he paid to it. He also found that in times in his life where he wasn’t able to paint, he missed it like one would miss a close friend.

Some of the connection Heard feels to his art may be the emotional expression about meaningful issues that he puts into every piece. His greatest inspiration is humanity’s imperfections and the state of society he said. All of his art comes from the way he sees the world and the things he has experienced.

Throughout his life, Heard worked as a creative director and cartoonist for the Hollywood Free Press until picking up a culinary career and working as an executive chef in Southern California for 30 years. However, since his retirement in 2001, he has been able to spend all of his time painting, working 10-14 hours behind the easel almost every day.

“Warren paints all day,” art curator Matt Schubert said. “He seriously paints probably 10 to 14 hours every single day and he’s kind of a night owl. So he stays up into the wee hours every day and then he gets up.”

Schubert said Heard works on multiple pieces at a time and never truly feels like he’s done, a sentiment that Heard echoed.

“It’s better that people get a piece I’ve done out of my sight,” he said. “If they’re around me I will be tempted to redo them.”

Even when his own art is on display, Heard struggles to look at it, he said. He always sees the imperfections and things he would want to fix.

“I looked at one piece not too long ago from a distance and I really detested it,” he said. “One hundred hours into it, I still hate it. That’s just the way it is. I think that’s the normal process of being an artist. Being satisfied, it’s like combing your hair the same way all your life. You just can’t do it.”

This show marks Warren’s first in Oregon since moving here, Schubert said, and is at least the last 10 years worth of work.

“It’s an awesome opportunity to get into the CCA and to show Warren’s work here for the community, for the people in the Gorge,” he said. “We look forward to presenting it.”

The Columbia Center of the Arts is located at 215 Cascade Ave. in Hood River. Hours are currently by appointment only.