ARTIST PROFILE

      I was born in Brisbane in 1956 and raised on a sheep station near Winton in Western Queensland. Artistic from an early age, I finished school in 1972 with a distinction in Art. By age 19, I had completed a three-year, Associate Diploma in Fine Art at The Queensland College of Art in Brisbane.          During a visit to Cairns in North Queensland in 1979, I fell in love with the tropics and continued to live there for the next 24 years. The bright colours, the sweet, heavy smell of the cane fields and the lushness of the tropical rainforest stirred my imagination and emotion.            I met John Kibby, an inspirational Artist, Framer and Restorer, who became my major mentor throughout the 1980s. During this time, I attended his dynamic workshops and weekly life drawing classes and created and sold many artworks mostly in pastel and pencil.            However, like many Artists, the need for a regular income led me to complete a Registered Nursing Certificate and later, a Midwifery Certificate at the Cairns Base Hospital.             It wasn’t until the 1990s that I had the opportunity to pursue a lifelong interest in watercolour, attending classes and workshops while working part time and completing a Bachelor of Health Science Degree. Working with experienced watercolourists John Kibby, Pam Slattery and Eula Jensen, I explored different styles and techniques.           I began combining traditional, transparent watercolour with mixed media such as metallic relief paint. This technique has since become recognizable as my unique style and is sought after by my buyers.           I am fascinated by the interplay of positive and negative shapes and my surrealistic and more abstract works explore the linear qualities of the angle and the circle. I use a multi layered glazing technique consisting of overlapping layers of transparent watercolour, giving my work a unique glow. My love of nature and wildlife also plays a major role in my work.             In 2002, my Husband and I bought a hobby farm on 20 acres in Bangor in the Southern Flinders Ranges. I joined the ‘Painters of the Flinders Ranges’ and from 2004 until 2008, exhibited annually with other members, in the historic Wilpena Woolshed. In 2004, an annual ‘Spring Art Trail’ was also trialed, ultimately becoming the iconic Flinders Ranges ‘A Brush With Art’ Event, in which I have participated for 20 years.            In 2005 we welcomed a delightful six-year-old Daughter into our home and although life changed dramatically, I continued to do casual work, as well as to paint and exhibit.                After leaving Painters of the Flinders Ranges at the end of 2008, I opened my Studio/Gallery ‘The Old Survey Art Gallery’ on our property in Bangor. What started as a small Gallery in our enclosed veranda, is now a large Studio/Gallery in a renovated transportable 1970s schoolhouse. Set amongst the trees and surrounded by the sounds of birds, this is where I currently paint, teach and exhibit.               I have held numerous solo and joint exhibitions throughout my career and most of my original work has been sold and is held in private collections in Australia and overseas.