Heather is an incredibly talented artist well known for her innovative "Palette Paintings" series. Each body of work is unique one may wonder if this is the same artist. She is always fearless in exploring a new direction or medium.
Heather was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and lived there for 6 years before moving to Grande Prairie, Alberta to finish off her school years.
Her parents, Don and Ruth Stroud, were both very creative and exposed her to a world of exploration and curiosity. Her father had the mind of an engineer, inventing practical jigs and tools to help him be efficient. He loved taking things apart to see how they worked and even built a small plane in the latter years of his life with little instruction. Her mother is an explorer at heart, encouraging a sense of wonder on hikes through the forest or along the ocean. She was also domestically clever to feed and clothe three girls, and she is now exploring the world of words with her poetry.
Heather was also fortunate to have had several teachers along the way that encouraged her creativity, and in her senior year, she received an art scholarship with the help and guidance of her teacher Mr. Henderson.
After graduating from Grande Prairie Composite High School , she moved to Lethbridge for a year and then decided to apply to the Alberta College of Art. Her application (an art test sent in the mail) was accepted, so she moved to Calgary in 1983 with a desire to find the scope of her talent. After her first year she felt more confident as an artist but yet dissatisfied with all the “rules”, (not to mention a little debt) so she left school for a full time office job, got married and started a family.
She returned to her passion in 1999 and started to take things more seriously by renting a studio and participating in local art shows. The inspiration to have her first solo exhibition came from witnessing a fellow artist hang their show and stand in silence in the center of the gallery honoring all the work they did.
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