August 2026 2-D Featured Artist Heather Rivera

Heather Rivera is thrilled to have been part of Harbour View Gallery for over a decade. Originally a cold fusion jewelry designer, she has recently started exploring the fiber art, mixed media, and textiles of her childhood.

“2024 was an extremely challenging year for me,” she says. “Both of my parents were in and out of the hospital and I constantly found myself on planes and in airports, flying between Florida, New Jersey, and California.”  Working off her creative energy, she decided to take advantage of all this time by making macrame friendship bracelets from embroidery floss – exactly as she did when she was a young girl. It wasn’t long before she was crocheting purses with hand-sewn batik linings, knotting jute solar lanterns, and creating massive macrame wall mirrors.

Heather is delighted to introduce the Neutrals collection, which honors the vibrant, tropical colors of Southwest Florida by NOT incorporating those colors – instead painstakingly designing to automatically accent that bright, coastal décor that can be found in so many SWFL homes. Using a palette of raffia, jute, bamboo, hemp, driftwood, cotton, and other understated components, this collection also embraces the extensive, minute detail for which Heather is known.

Along with her two senior pitbulls, Heather lives in Cape Coral, where she cares for her father. She can still occasionally be found gallivanting around the globe, checking off items on her bucket list of international waterfalls.