Inviting community responses to their fond memories of Portarlington allowed the artist to glean an overwhelming sense of joy and love for this place by its residents. Aiming to represent the diverse contemporary community in Portarlington, whilst balancing with the fond memories of family holidays by the beach from her (and many of the community's) childhood, this work is a quintessential look at the popular beachside town.

The influx of tourism to the area, and the fishing and recreation industry add to this work, drawing a picture postcard view of this area as a beautiful holiday destination as well as a charming place to live. The incorporation of fascinating details throughout the work gives the viewer a visual feast, with something new to look at each visit.

After completing Fine Art and Design qualifications at both the Victorian College of Arts and RMIT, Heather focused on a diversity of genres; still life, portraiture and landscape with influences ranging from Vermeer, Holbein, Magritte, Delafield Cooke, Smart & Wyeth.

For the last two decades, the landscape and atmospherics have taken dominance within her work, often with the suggestion of human presence via the inclusion of man-made structures or objects. The sense of narrative and the 'now-ness of the moment' in the scene, is part of the intrigue she likes to conjure. Her work is largely autobiographical with the changes in her life often becoming her artwork's subject matter.

A long-term on-again off-again resident of the Bellarine, she has always painted this local coastal region, however Uluru and Kata Tjuta National Park have also been major influences through 19 residencies at Uluru at the Resort, and two large murals painted at the Uluru Airport.

More recently, Heather has returned to a broader platform of subject matter. Everything seen and experienced is now a potential painting.

Although her technical skill is obvious through the real-life representation within her work, Heather aims to push her work further to make a comment, to provoke thought and connect with the viewer.