Dave Maxwell
A holiday season painting on the east window of Great Basin Foods in Alamo. Local artist Heidi Leavitt has been doing seasonal painting on the window for about five years.
Seasonal and holiday art by Alamo artist Heidi Leavitt has become a welcome tradition the past several years at Great Basin Foods in Alamo.
Leavitt does window painting at the store that depicts whatever season or holiday the community might be observing.
She says, “The Christians (owners Paul and RoAnne) asked me to do it about five years ago. I do it for them and a few businesses around town, including the Alamo Post office, and for Great Basin Foods in Caliente as well.”
Leavitt said, “I’ve been asked by some people if I would go to Ely and other places, but I think that would take all the fun out of it. Sure, I get hired, but if I had too many places then I probably wouldn’t be able to put as much into it.”
Raised in Logandale, Leavitt took up art as a child and didn’t have any formal training beyond high school and never sought to go further with it. “I did a few things, nothing for hire though, just as favors to people.”
She has done the Panther picture on the wall at the Pahranagat Valley High School large gym and the L in the Lincoln County High School gym.
“About seven years ago,” she said, “after my youngest child started going to school full time, I really started to feel I needed to pursue my art career more, to do more, learn more. I had an inner yearning to pursue my art into fine art and to perfect my skills, and I followed that.”
Leavitt has attended three-day workshops given by Utah artist John McNaughton in Provo. “I attended about four or five times a year.”
Asked how she comes up with a design for a window each season or holiday she said, “I just think about it and figure out what would be fun.”
The painting on the east window of Great Basin Foods this year comes from one of her own Christmas memories. “We actually had a couple of Belgian draft horses, and soon after I was married, my husband’s family had a wagon and we would hook up a wagon and go caroling, although it wasn’t a sleigh like I put in the painting. Something nostalgic for the holidays.”
The window paintings in Alamo are not the largest works she has done. “I have done large murals in a few businesses. In October, I completed an 8-by-40 foot mural for the museum in Logandale in the old school. And it’s all done in fine art oils. My window paintings don’t take all that long and are much more simplified.”
Leavitt said she has been doing portrait work as of late as well. “I also am now doing business with people in several parts of Utah and Nevada, mostly fine art (portrait and landscape) paintings and a lot of business signs.”
In addition, she has done illustrations for various authors and the books they have written. “I’ve done a little bit of everything. If somebody has something they need that is art related I’ve kind of been the go-to person.”
She has also displayed some of her work at the Clark County Fair in Logandale and has taught 4-H wood burning classes.
Leavitt has given some art classes for local youth but is not actively involved at the moment. “Hoping, though, to, later on, do some more adult workshops.”
