The Sydney Toff

An exhibition at Wondai Art Gallery caught my attention when it wanted paintings depicting poems from the 1800’s to the current time. As I have always been a Banjo Paterson fan, especially his cheeky rendition of The Man From Ironbark’s trip to Sydney, I wanted to create the feel and atmosphere of that poem.

The barber man was small and flash, as barbers mostly are,
He wore a strike-your-fancy sash, he smoked a huge cigar;
He was a humorist of note and keen at repartee,
He laid the odds and kept a ‘tote’, whatever that may be,
And when he saw our friend arrive, he whispered, ‘Here’s a lark!
Just watch me catch him all alive, this man from Ironbark.’

There were some gilded youths that sat along the barber’s wall.
Their eyes were dull, their heads were flat, they had no brains at all;
To them the barber passed the wink, his dexter eyelid shut,
‘I’ll make this bloomin’ yokel think his bloomin’ throat is cut.’
And as he soaped and rubbed it in he made a rude remark:
‘I s’pose the flats is pretty green up there in Ironbark.’

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My artistic journey commenced when I was a child helping my busy mum make most of the clothes for our large family. I have always dabbled in the fabric arts including teaching patchwork quilting for 10 years in Sydney and Brisbane.

After a few years of health issues, my life took a new direction and in 2004 I enrolled in a course called "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" at the Relaxation Centre in Brisbane. At the end of the course, I was astonished to realise that I could actually draw and continued to do so for some months until I undertook a pastel painting course in Wynnum. At my first student art exhibition, I was awarded "Best in Show" for my still life painting "Anyone for Dressing" as judged by a member of the prominent Faber Castell Family. The prize was my very first easel.

When I married my husband, Stephen in 2007, we moved to Childers where I became a member of the Childers Visual Arts Group. With the encouragement and support of this dynamic group, I started experimenting with oils and acrylics.

I undertook an oil painting course with Max Wilks at the McGregor Summer School in Toowoomba in 2011. Apart from these pastel and oil courses, I am largely self taught and like to think that I have developed my own style which is somewhere between realism and impressionism. When using oils and acrylics, I use a very limited palette which includes 2 variations of each of the primary colours, white, raw and burnt umber and black. Not only does this mean that I have a studio that isn't overflowing with tubes of paint; it also means that I must create any colour I need, thus enhancing my ability to "see" the colours in any prospective artwork.

I have entered numerous art competitions in my region and have been the proud recipient of over 25 awards in these exhibitions.

I have held 9 solo exhibitions in galleries throughout south east Queensland and have had much success in these exhibitions. 6 of these exhibitions have featured works in my current obsession which is miniatures. My latest miniature exhibition was called "Little Darlings" and featured tiny works (each just 8.9 x 6.4 cm) of the Darling Downs region of Queensland . It was held at the Crows Nest Gallery in September and October, 2024.

My paintings can be found in private and public collections throughout Australia and overseas.

I enjoy commissions and have had a number of very satisfied customers with subject matter ranging from Architectural to Landscapes to Birds and Pet portraits.