Mary Heebner’s artist book Western Trilogy II contains three separate books titled Mountain, Canyon, and Dune. The entire trilogy holds 45 original watercolor paintings with text accompanying it from essays originally written for The Western Horizon by Macduff Everton, a book of photographs, watercolors, sketches, and essays on the US American West. The watercolors are on Sekishu, and Mingei Natural paper placed on an accordion-folded Tiepolo paper and the books are each covered with Brasilian banana paper. USGS topographical maps are sued as endpapers in each book as well. Twenty copies were created, and Special collection holds the seventh, signed edition.
Heebner founded Simplemente Maria Press in 1955 where she produces artist’s books that combine her paintings and writing. She is known as an abstract artist, published writer, and a book artist. She uncovers a spiritual beauty in the earth and its history and strives to capture it within her pieces. She creates mesmerizing watercolors using earth tones, metallic and organic shapes to move the beholder throughout the paintings. She draws inspiration from the ancient world and from her sketches and notations made while travelling. She pays close attention to the mythology, geology, archaeology, art, language, and stories from where she travels, so she can incorporate it into her abstract pieces. In 1973, Heebner attended the University of California, Santa Barbara’s College of Creative Studies, and graduated with her B.A. She also received her M.F.A. from the UC Santa Barbara in 1977. She currently lives in Santa Barbara, California with her husband Macduff Everton.
If you’d like to see Mary Heebner’s artist book Western Trilogy II: Mountain, Canyon, Dune (N7433 .4 H44 W47 2001 Art Undrsz) you can always stop by Special Collections, located on the 5th floor of McFarlin Library, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm.