By Lauren Koblara

Buttons, the new gateway art. At least that is what local artist Heather McTiernan is aiming for these days.

Heather is the creative mind behind ButtonKitty.com, an online art shop featuring everything “…from weird to cute and back again.” It may seem like Heather’s main focus is on these little pieces of wearable art, but a quick scan of her web shop and you’ll see that her artistic scope goes much further than these pin-backed buttons.

For Heather, buttons are a kind of “gateway” into her art. She hopes people from the mainstream will be drawn in by them first, but will then stick around to see some of the more abstract pieces she has created. “Everybody loves buttons…I love the buttons too,” she says, “but they were just sort of the beginning.”

A graduate of MA College of Art, Heather earned a degree in Painting but felt a bit trapped by her major. “It was like all I could do was paint and I felt limited,” she explains. Heather later had an epiphany when she walked into her first Art and Assemblage class. “It opened up a whole world to me that hadn’t even crossed my mind.”

While Heather’s buttons are cute and lighthearted ~ with names like “mixtape love” and “nerd chick” ~ her other creations have a darker and more organic feel to them. There is a personal component behind her work, influences drawn from her own life, but the finished product remains accessible to a wide audience.

A brain sculpture made of wire, art cards collaged with layers of paper and beeswax, and a handmade blank book are currently for sale in her web shop ~ but the inventory won’t stop there. Heather says she is always “…pulling in ideas and making lists” of what she’d like to make next. “I’d hate to limit myself to just one thing.”

Heather had her first art show in ‘03 at the Worcester Artists Group (WAG) with well-known local group Arts n Things (ANT). She admits to going into art shows with a certain amount of nervousness, but says that she always leaves with a sense of accomplishment, glad to see people engaged by art. “It’s a nice reminder to see that art side of the city.”

Scope out Heather’s work during her third appearance at Worcester’s annual StART on the Street, this year being held on September 16.

You can also view and purchase Heather’s art at ButtonKitty.com
or at buttonkitty.etsy.com.