Heather Connie Martin

Heather is a Dundonian who now lives and works in the lovely town of Dornoch, the "pebbly place", close to the Pictish monastic settlement at Portmahomack and many of the carved stones of Pictland.

She studied product design at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and graduated with an MA in design from Glasgow School of Art. Student activity which continues to inspire and inform her work included exploration of both historical and current indigenous Scottish culture, especially the imagery of the Picts. As part of her submission for degree she created Schiehallion - a set of eight ceramic vessels derived in form from prehistoric grave goods, and Beither - a series of texts and images exploring the rhythms of Scottish cultural mythology.
In 2005 she moved to France in order to concentrate on her artistic interests. The virevolte galleri in the heart of the Cévennes was a showcase for her work.
In December 2007 she published The Lost Language of the Stars, throwing light on the mysterious symbols of the Picts by showing that they were early astronomers with their own unique vision of the night sky. She used pencil drawings to illustrate the symbols and star-charts.
From September 2010 until August 2012 she worked near the Baltic Sea in Österlen, an area rich in ancient stoneworks where she was able to study prehistoric hällristningar at first hand, and show her work at the new incarnation of virevolte galleri in Östra Hoby.
Heather is inspired by ancient images, star patterns, the language of rocks, story-telling. Her paintings and textile panels are poetic, polythemic works full of symbolic imagery.