I’ve been nomadic since I was three years old when we as a family of fours kids began to move homes and interstate within Australia often, and I attended multitudes of schools, due to my Father’s job transfers.  We finally settled back in Perth the second time when I was 8yo.  My Mum was incredibly creative and I would say I inherited my creativity from her side of the family.  She nurtured me so beautifully and encouraged me to explore my creativity.  My Mum and her Mother were haute couture fashion designers to the celebrities and socialites in Adelaide, where I was born.  I come from a long linear heritage of creativity dating back to the 19C in the west of the UK where my ancestors were jewelers to the Crown. 

Some of the crown jewels my ancestors designed are housed under top security in the Tower of London. 

 

My Father immigrated to Australia after WWII.  He was Italian/Maltese and was born and raised a British subject in Alexandria, Egypt, attending the British Boy's School.  He arrived in Australia with a strict disciplinarian doctrine from being in the RAF, along with family tragedies, married my  Mum and became a Father to us four kids, me being middle child, and middle girl.  

 

Knowing intuitively I saw things differently from a very young age, my creativity and my passion for expression revealed itself pretty much immediately upon my first year at primary school in Rossmoyne, where I was apparently badly behaved.  I naturally wanted to excel in all I did, but due to my Father's discipline, and that of the private girl’s school I was sent to, I found myself rebelling in absolutely everything I did.  I took to burying myself in the solace that either art and creativity gave me, or sport most of the time.   

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After suspension, then expulsion from the private girl's school at sixteen years old which I had planned, and felt pleased I succeeded in this, I drew and painted the entire summer to get admitted to art school, where thankfully I did.  Otherwise it was secretarial college for me! Out of 800 applicants, 60 were chosen, and I was one of them.  l studied Graphic Design and felt finally I'd found my place in life, where we were treated and respected as aspiring, creative adults.   

 

After a stint in advertising at McCann Erickson I left Perth at 22yo and lived, worked and traveled all over the world for nearly 30 years, traveling to some remote, and often very dangerous countries.  I had a deep fascination for other  culture, customs, textiles, cuisine, language, and of course the arts.  I just loved going off the beaten track, and held a special interest with the remoteness and beauty of desserts.  It was a highly expensive addiction but provided me with a world of knowledge you just can't even read about.  

I have acquired three more visual art diplomas on my journeys so far. 

I have exhibited my art extensively overseas, and after a long hiatus from painting, I have returned to my favourite passion and past time, painting.  I've held many jobs, all creative, and whilst living in Asia for a third time or so, I created and conceived a bespoke handbag brand that went global, thanks to all the fabulous Expat ladies taking their handbag purchases back to their country of origin.  I had distribution, press, TV, and trade fairs in many countries outside of Singapore and Hong Kong, my home bases.  It was an overnight success, and my entire first collection even before first day release has a waiting list.  It sold out immediately, so I just kept sourcing, designing, creating marketing campaigns, events, PR, and fashion shoots.  I had a ball and my 'Wearable Art 'Handbags did don on some very famous ladies shoulders.  As global economies changed, and after sixteen years of handbag life, I returned to my home town, Perth to be nearer to my beautiful but ailing Mother.  

I found solace and peace in painting.  I couldn't be happier.  Growing up by the ocean in City Beach as a child, I have returned to realise my love of water and the ocean has actually probably always been my greatest inspiration, also my escape.  Endless summers were spent underwater swimming in the pristine turquoise blue and emerald green Western Australian coastline of the Indian Ocean.  So I now invite you to dive into the deep abyss and lose yourself, immersing your senses in the mesmerizing hues of my reef-like abstract painting interpretations.  Currents,  tides, reef walls and the changing colours of the ocean inspire me.  I try to encapsulate a beautifully peaceful serenity that will delve into your inner peace, your inner psyche, which will in turn provide you with a deeper connection to the ocean and yourself.