Art has always played a major role in my life, initially and for many years, as a potter. I particularly enjoyed formulating and experimenting with my own glazes to achieve an interesting range of colour and textures. Then, a few years ago I switched to painting, initially with watercolour but I now chiefly work in oil. My work is experimental and I love working with pure colour, inspired by nature and the changes of the different seasons and time of the day. I love to be outdoors away from city-life, and being surrounded by nature is what recharges me.
When I need a break from the brush and paint I carve woodblocks used in colour printing - a technique known as Makuhanga (Japanese woodblock printing). Here too, it is the colour effects achieved by this process that inspire me.
I am influenced most by German Expressionism and French Post-impressionism, as well as Australian moderns such as John Olsen, Margaret Preston and Charles Blackman