I am a prolific artist working on any suitable support with any suitable media. My studio is full of paints, papers, pencils, crayons, glue, anything I can make a mark with or on. Growing up in a small country town in the late 60’s early 70’s creativity was celebrated but resources were slim. I grew up with weekends and special occasions filled with music, friends and family and I have a broad sense of what creativity is. I spent my childhood drawing, painting or building with materials scavenged from anywhere and everywhere, today it’s called upcycling. I spent as many hours building billy carts in the shed with Dad as I did sorting buttons at Mums feet as she sewed. I can’t sing, dance or play a musical instrument but my art is how I sing dance and pray. There is a little bit of my own story in every piece and my story is often a mirror to yours. Rene Browns quote ‘the magic of all art is the ability to both capture our pain and deliver us from it at the same time’, rings true for us all as I believe none of us get out of this life unscathed.
Moving to the Illawarra in the early 80’s was a lonely experience and my focus since has been on the concept of belonging. I tell my stories with texture and depth through layering, achieving extraordinary colours and finishes and there is always something new to see on close inspection, no story is ever completely finished. One of my favourite effects is resin over pencil although I’m now limiting my use of resin due to environmental concerns. Resin creates such depth of colour though that I find it hard to resist. It also allows for experimentation as it holds everything together. I’m currently exploring finishing with wax, varnish and sprays. I’m simultaneously drawn to flowers and water and my works on paper are bringing these two passions together with dreamy depictions of underwater gardens filled with strange creatures that exist above and below the surface. Ill coin a new term for my work and call it abstract ethereal!
I was the winner of the Jayne Wilson memorial art prize in 2017 and my work ‘Grand Pacific Drive’ won the presidents prize at the Wollongong art gallery Postcodes from The Edge exhibition in March 2022. I have won a number of small local art prizes. In May 2022 I received a residency at Nobbys Lighthouse in Newcastle where I had the luxury of working uninterrupted for 5 days on a body of work for an exhibition at the Artisan Collective Port Stephens.
Participation in the renew Wollongong program in 2019/20 provided the opportunity to run two art galleries with the gallery’s used as ‘proof of concept’ for the program due to their success. My tiny art range is available through Wollongong art gallery and I have had a variety of public works in various places around the Illawarra since 2016 while participating in, curating and managing multiple group and solo exhibitions in Wollongong, Kiama, Canberra and Minnamurra.