I was born in Geelong, Victoria, Australia in 1960. I decided to move to New Zealand in 2013 and fortunately found myself in Katikati which I fell in love with. As an artist I couldn’t think of a more perfect place to live than the ‘mural town’, although I have now moved to the east coast of the Coromandel which is stunning.
I started painting at a very young age copying my brightly coloured swap card collection. As a teenager I was given a set of oil paints and started painting landscapes, sunsets and birds.
In year 12 of high school I painted my first abstract. It was also the first painting I ever sold…it was purchased by the school for $20.
In 1988 I enrolled in night classes at the Geelong Fine Art School. There I learned everything from art history to life drawing, etching to sculpting and most importantly, with the guidance of my wonderful teacher, artist Patricia Semmler, developed a style of my own that is still constantly changing. I started painting things like surreal nudes held by huge hands. The human body and hands interest me because they can be positioned, twisted and distorted an endless number of ways. From there my work became more and more abstracted.
I ended up attending the school for ten years, not only because I believe you never stop learning but, also to spend time with other artists, attend presentations by established artists, go on bus trips to galleries in other towns and to gain experience in organising exhibitions.
In Australia I had two solo exhibitions as well as participating in more than a dozen group exhibitions with The Corsaire Artists, The Riverside Artists and the Geelong Fine Art School where I was involved with setting up the end of year exhibitions that included hundreds of paintings.
Here in New Zealand I am a member of the Tauranga Society of Artists, the Paeroa Society of Arts and the Waikato Society of Arts (http://www.wsa.org.nz/artists_websites.aspx). I have had seven solo exhibitions so far and been part of dozens of group exhibitions.
When I start a new work I have no idea how it will end up. For me this is what makes painting so exciting. I start painting and it just flows from me without having to plan too far ahead. Sometimes I look back at works I have done and wonder where they came from. People often ask me where I get my inspiration. It's a difficult question to answer. Sometimes I use photos of things like flowers or people (especially dancers) in strange positions as a starting point and from there my autopilot takes over and anything can happen. Sometimes I start with randomly placed colours, add different sized circles and go from there.
Over the years I have sold dozens of paintings. I had a period of more than ten years during which I didn't paint at all, except for a commission for a 9’ x 12’painting, but in 2013, thanks to my then husband, I was able to give up my nine to five office job, move to New Zealand and follow my dream of being a full time, successful artist.
In 2015 I won the Peoples Choice award at the 'Versions of Us' exhibition at Artspost, Hamilton. In 2018 was 'runner up' at the TSA/Trustpower Supreme Art Awards in Tauranga and in 2019 was a finalist at the prestigious Molly Morpeth Canaday Awards.
I started painting at a very young age copying my brightly coloured swap card collection. As a teenager I was given a set of oil paints and started painting landscapes, sunsets and birds.
In year 12 of high school I painted my first abstract. It was also the first painting I ever sold…it was purchased by the school for $20.
In 1988 I enrolled in night classes at the Geelong Fine Art School. There I learned everything from art history to life drawing, etching to sculpting and most importantly, with the guidance of my wonderful teacher, artist Patricia Semmler, developed a style of my own that is still constantly changing. I started painting things like surreal nudes held by huge hands. The human body and hands interest me because they can be positioned, twisted and distorted an endless number of ways. From there my work became more and more abstracted.
I ended up attending the school for ten years, not only because I believe you never stop learning but, also to spend time with other artists, attend presentations by established artists, go on bus trips to galleries in other towns and to gain experience in organising exhibitions.
In Australia I had two solo exhibitions as well as participating in more than a dozen group exhibitions with The Corsaire Artists, The Riverside Artists and the Geelong Fine Art School where I was involved with setting up the end of year exhibitions that included hundreds of paintings.
Here in New Zealand I am a member of the Tauranga Society of Artists, the Paeroa Society of Arts and the Waikato Society of Arts (http://www.wsa.org.nz/artists_websites.aspx). I have had seven solo exhibitions so far and been part of dozens of group exhibitions.
When I start a new work I have no idea how it will end up. For me this is what makes painting so exciting. I start painting and it just flows from me without having to plan too far ahead. Sometimes I look back at works I have done and wonder where they came from. People often ask me where I get my inspiration. It's a difficult question to answer. Sometimes I use photos of things like flowers or people (especially dancers) in strange positions as a starting point and from there my autopilot takes over and anything can happen. Sometimes I start with randomly placed colours, add different sized circles and go from there.
Over the years I have sold dozens of paintings. I had a period of more than ten years during which I didn't paint at all, except for a commission for a 9’ x 12’painting, but in 2013, thanks to my then husband, I was able to give up my nine to five office job, move to New Zealand and follow my dream of being a full time, successful artist.
In 2015 I won the Peoples Choice award at the 'Versions of Us' exhibition at Artspost, Hamilton. In 2018 was 'runner up' at the TSA/Trustpower Supreme Art Awards in Tauranga and in 2019 was a finalist at the prestigious Molly Morpeth Canaday Awards.