I started to draw and paint very early, having been given crayons, poster paints and butcher's paper as a child and encouraged by my mother to "make marks".
Studying Fine Arts, Philosophy and Italian at the University of Sydney, followed by a career in textile design and magazine production I moved from Sydney in 1987 to the Northern Rivers region of NSW. I enrolled in the Lismore College of TAFE to complete a Fine Arts Certificate in 2000. Attending many workshops and classes with established artists, I have been painting full time since 2001.
I now work from my home studio in the hinterland, near the village of Eltham. The mediums I use mainly are acrylic or oil paints on stretched gallery wrapped canvas or linen. After sketching out the composition, first on paper with a graphite pencil, I then render a charcoal image of this composition onto the support before I begin painting.
Regularly exhibiting my work in Group Shows and Solo Shows, I also enter Art Competitions, winning several Awards and Prizes for my painting.
My subject matter can be wide ranging, including figurative works, landscapes and dog portraits. Recently my focus has turned to the simple harmonies of the garden, often with hens or native birds, and the ever present garden path, drawing the viewer into imaginary spaces that sustain me.
Along with these garden-scapes, my still life paintings are an autobiographical area of work showing the beauty and detail of everyday and vintage objects. They are arranged to capture their quiet stories and to show them with a fresh eye in the light of our modern, fast-paced lives.
Responding to the influences of my environment, I seek to convey, through colour and light the emotional tie to this visual world. I find that by painting these accessible subjects they bring me joy and a sense of fulfilment.