Heather Pollington (Part 2) | Episode 76

This is Part 2 of my conversation with Heather Pollington — ex-Hollywood artist, iconographer, and illustrator for Symbolic World Press. If you haven't listened to Episode 75 yet, start there first.

In this second half, Heather and I go deeper into her world as an icon painter — her illustration influences, the iconographic concept of simultaneous narrative, what it felt like to first encounter Orthodox art, and the bigger question of what a living iconographic tradition looks like for Western audiences today. We close with something I found genuinely moving: Heather's candid account of leaving Hollywood behind, and what she's learned about following work you can do with love.

• Illustration Influences: From the Palekh lacquer-box tradition of Russia to British illustrator Errol Le Cain and Scandinavian master Kay Nielsen — the visual DNA behind Heather's fairy tale work.

• The Memory Box: Why Heather's illustrations use framed vignettes instead of full-bleed spreads — and how her doll's-house fascination connects to a centuries-old iconographic principle called simultaneous narrative.

• The Primacy of Meaning: How iconography taught Heather to colour by emotion rather than observation — and why the best icons hold a permanent tension between the knowable and the unknowable.

• The Pivot Point: How researching medieval art for Maleficent 2 in 2017 became the unlikely doorway into both iconography and a return to meaning.

• Old World, New World: A rich exchange on the difference between encountering Christian art in historic England versus new and cosmopolitan Canada — and why North America's "blank slate" might actually be an advantage for building a new vernacular tradition.

• Reading the Room: Heather's approach to making iconography relevant for modern Western audiences — not by inventing, but by selecting from history what already resonates, the same way she once designed for "Michigan Joe" on a Hollywood set.

• Doing the Work with Love: Heather's honest account of leaving the film industry — not with a plan, but by moving toward the thing she loved. And finding that the world realigned around her when she did.

Heather Pollington: Check out Heather's website and Instagram to see her illustration, iconography, and production design work.

• https://www.heatherpollington.com/

• https://www.instagram.com/heatherpollington

Symbolic World Press: The fairy tale books Heather has illustrated for Jonathan Pageau, including The Tale of Snow White and the Widow Queen and The Tale of Rapunzel and the Evil Witch.

• https://www.symbolicworld.org/

Errol Le Cain: British illustrator and one of Heather's key influences — look for his versions of Aladdin and The Magician's Daughter.

Kay Nielsen: Scandinavian Golden Age illustrator; his book East of the Sun and West of the Moon is a must-see.

Aidan Hart: Icon painter and Heather's teacher in the Orthodox iconographic tradition.

• https://www.aidanharticons.com/

Creative Mornings Vancouver — June 5th: Tom will be speaking at Creative Mornings Vancouver around the theme of "Curate."

• https://creativemornings.com/talks/tom-froese

ICON13 — Baltimore, July 16th Workshop: Tom's workshop at the illustration conference is now sold out, but come say hi if you're there.

• https://icon13.theillustrationconference.org/schedule

Know Your Art — Cohort Class Mailing List: Interested in future offerings of Tom's six-week illustration course? Add yourself to the list.

• https://forms.gle/NiRwyLkvCbA24Zn19

Drawing Is Important — The Book: Now available for purchase wherever books are sold!

• https://www.tomfroese.com/book

• Work: tomfroese.com

• Classes: tomfroese.com/teaching

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrtomfroese

• Daily Drawings: https://www.instagram.com/drawingisimportant

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