Heron was awarded the inaugural Mainie Jellett memorial travelling scholarship in 1947, with which she studied Romanesque carving in Italy and France.
[1][3][6] Her 1947 bust of James Connolly was chosen in 2015 to be a part of the Royal Irish Academy's Modern Ireland in 100 Artworks series.
She often used religious themes in her exhibits, drawing influence from African and Sumerian carving and the work of Picasso.
Her first English exhibition, at the London Waddington Galleries, in 1960 showed more than 30 works including Squares in different places and Bird barking.
[1] Heron also had a keen interest in gardening and botany, and spent a great deal of her spare time devoted to charities which cared for the elderly and ill. She also began to learn Irish later in life.