Audrey Heard Obituary
Born in 1924, in New York, N.Y., she was the daughter of Benjamin and Mildred (Rudin) Goldstone.
She was the mother of Benjamin Greenfield of Noank; the grandmother of Samuel, James and Elizabeth Greenfield; the ex-mother-in-law of Elizabeth Murphy Greenfield.
Her son, William Greenfield, predeceased her.
She was the sister of Lenore Kimmel of Boca Raton, Fla., Malcolm Goldstone (deceased) of Great Neck, N.Y., and the cousin of Jack Rudin and Lewis Rudin (deceased) of New York, N.Y.
Mrs. Heard, who often said she had the attention span of a squirrel, attended eight colleges, and was married three times: to Freddie Schnell of Fort Biscayne, Fla., to Joseph Greenfield of Scarsdale, N.Y. (deceased) and to Manning Heard of Hartford (deceased).
She was an interior designer, later a merchandiser of home furnishings, an antiques dealer, and the owner of an innovative clothing store in Mystic. In 1991, she began her studies in art on the college level and became a painter of fair reputation. Many of her paintings were reproduced and sold nationally and internationally. In 2008, Audrey Heard presented a website (www.audreyheard.com) devoted to her paintings. She was restless, talented, innovative, liberal, sometimes kind, with a Tom Sawyer-like ability to get other people to do wonderful jobs in whatever projects she was involved.
There will be no services at Mrs. Heard's request.
Arrangements in care of the Guilford Funeral Home, 115 Church St., Guilford. To share a memory or leave a message of condolence for the family, please visit: www.GuilfordFuneralHome.com
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To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Anne Sloan Rankin Keck
March 28, 2012
To Ben, whom I call Nicky as his mother did when we were young; To Liz, who worked with Audrey at Hands All Around with patience and disarming taste; To Sam, Elizabeth and Jay, who were important everyday for her, especially these last few years... I send you sympathy for your loss.
Audrey embraced life with zeal. She had courageous enthusiasm for change, cultivated keen observation and approached challenges with humility and humor. The last time I saw her she was celebrating.
March 26, 2012
We will always remember Audrey for her energy and enthusiasm for life and art. She included us in her 'Art on Groton Bank' show and she encouraged all our endeavors there. Very sad to read of her passing. Her art was so stunning and so individual. We will miss her smiling face.
Our condolences to her family.
--Robin and Bob Grace
March 21, 2012
Of all the things that Audrey did in her live, I think becoming an artist was her special gift. She loved to share it with others and spent much time talking through the process of creating and examining it's intricacies. I thank her for that. Audrey you will be missed and remembered.
Judith Winder
Rupert, Vermont
David Black
March 21, 2012
"Audrey was an inspired artist and special friend. Her love of life was evident in her work and in her boundless enthusiasm and generosity for her fellow artists,"
David Black (Stonington)
I am the proud owner of one of her paintings
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Keith Fox
March 20, 2012
I was very fortunate to have had Audrey Heard as a student in many of my painting and drawing classes that have been offered through the Newport Art Museum, the South County Art Association, and the South Kingstown Parks and Recreation Department. This artist who described herself as having the attention span of a squirrel went above and beyond the assignments to create highly original work. It was always a joy to have Audrey in class and to hear her strong opinions about art. Even if you did not agree with her strong opinions, you always became a little bit wiser for having heard the ideas that she expressed. Audrey will be missed greatly.
Eileen Kenny
March 19, 2012
Audrey had told me awhile back that she was in the throes of a painter's block and hadn't felt that creative spark in while. I've always loved her work and felt so badly when she told me that. Last year, I saw her at an art opening and she was beaming, she had started to paint again and said it was just flowing of her! I attended the opening of her show in a New London Gallery and was impressed by her new paintings and the wonderful smile on her face as she greeted friends and artistic admirers. Audrey, I'll miss you! I am so glad that you had those extra times lost in the happiness of creativity!
Guido Garaycochea
March 18, 2012
A wonderful artist with whom I have been fortunate to share with and and having her work at Expressions. A human being always willing to give and to share. A generous soul who has left us a legacy of generosity. In a time that everything has a price, she showed us that what matters is what you do for your community, work hard for it and believe in who you are!
Audrey has passed, long live Audrey! You'll always be with us!
Maurene Kennedy
March 17, 2012
Audrey's support of my work as an artist, curator, and pro-active breast cancer survivor, in the last year was very, very meaningful to me. We shared many dinners and deep conversations while working on In The Pink and The Present at The Tsetse Gallery. I will never forget all that I learned from her about being a strong, single, survivor who can create something each and every new day, no matter what else one is facing in the moment.
"For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity." ~William Penn
Maurene Kennedy
March 17, 2012
Audrey's support of my work as an artist, curator, and pro-active breast cancer survivor, in the last year was very, very meaningful to me. We shared many dinners and deep conversations while working on In The Pink and The Present at The Tsetse Gallery. I will never forget all that I learned from her about being a strong, single, survivor who can create something each and every new day, no matter what else one is facing in the moment.
"For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity." ~William Penn
Brad Guarino
March 17, 2012
I have never known anyone quite like Audrey and I was very sad to read that she is no longer with us. She was delightfully spirited and had very strong opinions on art, politics, and almost everything else; and she never shied from expressing these opinions. Shy, in fact, is not an quality I ever heard attributed to Audrey. In 2009, she took a summer figure-drawing class with me up in Storrs. I had known her for years and was a bit nervous coming into the class because I knew she could be a challenging person to interact with; as it turns out, she was a wonderful student. The three-week intensive course was a physically demanding six hours per day of drawing, almost continuously, from a live model. Despite having back troubles that summer, Audrey commuted the two-hour round trip and was an hour early every day; she never missed a class and her progress was remarkable. The rest of the students were in their twenties and they didn't quite know what to make of Audrey at first. Clearly, this was after Mimi's experience, because Audrey had become quite comfortable with her iPhone. The other students were awestruck to see a woman older than their grandparents getting text alerts every ten minutes or so. (I don't typically allow cell phones in the classroom, but I make exceptions for tech-savvy octogenarians). By the end of the three weeks, she had charmed them in many ways (not to mention, shamed them with her impressive work ethic). At one point in the class, we were doing a negative-space drawing exercise in which the model poses inside a couple of stacked see-through box forms; the forms create negative shapes around the figure and the exercise is to draw these shapes. It was the only part of the class in which Audrey refused to participate. When I asked why she wasn't drawing, she remarked, "I just can't stand the thought of a person imprisoned inside a box." I'll miss you Audrey.
Mimi Daumy
March 17, 2012
Audrey was a wonderful woman who spoke her mind. I remember sitting by her one evening when she had just gotten her iphone and she told me "I don't know how to use it yet, but I love having it." My deepest condolences to her family.
TIMOTHEE
March 17, 2012
Audrey's 'Art on Groton Bank' was a wonderful program that gave artists of all types an opportunity to exhibit their work in a casual and non-judgemental setting. Her idea of displaying ones art in a Paris-like outdoor setting, without all the rules associated with major art shows, was exciting yet unappreciated by many in southeasten CT. I will always remember her for her kindness and for the opportunity to exhibit my art at that show, at a time when I couldn't afford or get into bigger shows. Thanks Audrey.
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