Heather Arndt was born and raised in Los Angeles where her family has lived for five generations. She grew up immersed in the punk rock and skateboarding scenes of Southern California in the 1980’s. She first began using clay in 1991 as undergrad at San Diego State University. She first studied figurative work under Jess Dominguez and expanded her knowledge of ceramics under Richard Burkett and Joanne Hayakawa. During this time, she used the figure, essentially her own body, to inform her pieces and create a narrative documenting the internal and external struggles she had as she moved from adolescence into adulthood. She took the long road to completing her bachelor’s degree while simultaneously working as a footwear designer in the skateboarding industry. In 2004 she completed her MFA at Claremont Graduate University where she began to explore surface design and painting. She began art journaling and creating pieces that were recordings of her experiences in a new more immediate way. This exploration greatly informs the ceramics work she makes today. Her work takes its cues from collage and journaling while the process is a slower and more thoughtful consideration of her internal dialogue informed by the inherent qualities of working in clay.  She works and in lives in Los Angeles.