My love of painting and drawing began at an early age growing up in sunny rural Cornwall amongst the hedgerows and lanes, our regular trips to the seaside towns till this day influence my artworks.
Being a creative all my life I can remember my first painting of a boat harbour at the age of six and my first screen print at secondary school in the UK when it went to exhibition.
Any spare time I got to create; I did. I worked with pastels for much of my early years and after emigrating to Australia in 1986 I explored clay at local ceramic classes whilst continuing my love of drawing and painting. I wanted to learn more about this creative process so I applied to Midland TAFE, where I completed the Certificate of Art & Design and then the Advanced Diploma of Environmental Art & Design graduating in 2001
I worked a lot with different materials, including clay, fibre textiles and metal and my final large-scale metal sculpture, ‘The cutting edge’ was purchased by the shire of swan for its collection.
My interest when working with clay was also fuelled and I completed a post grad Advanced certificate in ceramics just to make sure I was getting it right.
My passion for drawing and painting continued and I worked mainly with Acrylics and mixed media, holding community classes in the hills and Perth city whilst selling commissions privately.
My passion for land and seascape is driven by the colours and beauty that surrounds us and a love of mother nature and what she creates, especially flowers.
My works can range from realism to conceptual and I use various techniques to capture an idea or moment. I try to be intuitive with my works and will sometimes use a limited palette to achieve a minimalist look. My work now is mainly on canvas, board or paper, although metal, fibre or clay texture will often creep into my artworks.
As I also work in health, I could see the benefits that art had on people for their mental and physical wellbeing, so in 2019/20 I completed an Art Therapy Diploma and now hold workshops that enhance wellness and creativity.
Ideally, I would love a studio big enough where I could run my workshops from home so others could also benefit from the creative process.