Inspired by the fabulous sense of rolling space and changing light of the South Downs, Heather is drawn back to this familiar landscape of her childhood, a gentle, open space that she captures back at the studio through collage and printmaking. Standing in this vast, peaceful landscape with sea and huge skies around her, Heather looks inland to the rolling fields and down to the ground - the rocks, earth and chalk for her inspiration and her material.

Fascinated by natural materials found in this landscape, she collects, chalk, seeds, grasses, leaves and other items, taking them back to her studio, and begins the process of bringing the landscape indoors, into a different context of the studio and gallery. These materials are her starting point alongside sketches and photographs, which are then translated into large scale drawings, and then into collages on board (plates), where the collected materials including paste made from chalk power and glues, are stuck onto her printing plates, creating richly textured surfaces.

These plates have a real sense of immediacy and physicality as she creates her collages, re-working and re-drawing throughout. The expressive process of mark making is a physical and highly tactile one, as she builds the relationship with the variety of natural materials through a gradual process, always looking back to her drawing. Having varnished the finished collaged plates, Heather covers the plates with a thin film of ink that is then wiped back using scrim and tissue paper to reveal the textured surface on the plates. The works are printed on damp cotton paper using an intaglio (etching) press. It is these inked surfaces that create the rich, atmospheric collograph prints, depicting the undulating landscapes as well as the intricate detail of the printed textures of the natural materials taken from the landscape itself.

Heather is developing her landscape through mixed media works on canvas. The paintings are created by using chalk (and organic materials where suited) from the environment she is representing. She creates textured surfaces (collages) directly onto the canvas surface. Once the canvas is dry she uses oil paint to build the colour and tone of the piece.