Heather Shepherd - A Canvas of People

Until recently Heather Shepherd has been a Refugee Aid Worker in Turkey where she supported humanitarian efforts focused on Syrian refugees. She moved there in 2011 during the crisis. Living in Istanbul, a city of 20MM people, she married her American husband and had two kids. There in refugee camps Heather learned to tattoo with Henna as a way of engaging with the Syrian women who embrace the art form as part of their cultural identity. The family moved back to the US in 2020 during the COVID lock-down. She returned to Henna as a reconnection to the life she loved back in Turkey. Now a full-time Henna artist – her canvas is people and she carries forward this social art form as a way of connecting in her community.