Heather Fergie was born in Kendenup in 1957 and attended the Kendenup Primary school. Her childhood was spent on a farm which overlooks the Stirling Ranges.

She rode horses and spent her time outdoors and developed a love of her district – its flora and changing seasons.

Heather trained to be a high school art teacher in Perth and taught art for several years before moving back to Kendenup with her husband Bob.

Together they had four children and now involve themselves in various community activities.

Heather lives on the farm she grew up on and now teaches art at the Kendenup Primary School as well as adult painting classes through the TAFE system.

For many years Heather painted in watercolours. Large paintings of old buildings or fences with cottage gardens overflowing everywhere. These mostly had a ‘blue’ feel to them with lots of structure in subdued colours.

In 2007 she developed a new style of dramatic acrylic and gouauche paintings which include local species of wildflowers on a backdrop of the mountain view from her studio window.

The mountain view from my studio window changes all the time. Sometimes the hills are a deep blue while at other times they are hazy and indistinguishable from the sky.

The agricultural land in the middle-ground changes palette with the seasons. My favourite colours are the summer creams, ochres, and olive greens on a backdrop of blues. These background colours are the colours artists have used ever since the Heidelberg School of art to portrait the Australian bush.

I have spent many years as a part time leadlight artist, producing many traditional as well as modern windows. The simplification of objects into areas of flat colour and the black line produced by the lead are all very familiar to me and it is not surprising that I have carried these across into my paintings.