Artist Statement
Despite having travelled to a great many places… the best part of my life has been spent around Latitude 16 degrees south (between the Equator and the Tropic of Capricorn). I enjoy the year round warmth of the climate here along with the challenges and many rewards of my northern Australian location.
My home in tropical North Queensland provides me with a constant source of inspiration and the “blank canvas” I need to observe and understand my place in the world and the people with whom I share it.
Watercolour is my medium of choice…a medium that [I believe] can be as demanding and temperamental as those who choose to paint with it! Whilst watercolour can be coaxed and manipulated, the true beauty of the medium lies in its unexpected magic. Dramatic effects can be conjured up from a puddle of water with a judicious choice of pigments…and smooth washes can be achieved even without the use of a brush!
The traditional approach to watercolour has always been fluid with subtle use of colour and tone…but modern watercolour engages the medium in a more controlled context, delivering images with colour clarity and impact like never before.
I have been painting in watercolour for a great many years but there are days when this medium still puts me well and truly in my place. Complacency is never an option…although a healthy dose of rebellion when boundaries are breached and rules are broken (or at the very least stretched beyond belief) can often pay surprising dividends. It is at these times that serendipitous discoveries are made and invaluable lessons learned.
Art has been with me for most of my life. From an early age sketching and painting came naturally. Essays and compositions in 6th Grade were more about the artwork around the edges than the potential for literary genius! (As an interesting aside…the same themes that held my fascination back then still captivate my interest today!)
I studied art throughout secondary school but after graduation pursued a “sensible” career for the most part in banking and finance.
The creation and delivery of my three greatest masterpieces came next. This period was to captivate my heart and consume my passion for the next 20 years. My children are now in their late teens early twenties and remain my best work to date…my inspiration…and the delight of my life!
I reclaimed my creativity during those years of raising hell… errr sorry… kids! My art gave me a place to go that was mine alone (Mothers everywhere will understand this!) It was something that belonged to me, and over the years, it has proven to be a solitary pursuit of mixed blessings.
Self-taught in watercolour, I have been lucky enough over the years to have studied under some amazing artists in classes and extended workshops here in Australia, in New Zealand, and in the United States.
These experiences have served to feed my quest for knowledge…build confidence in my own work…and to strengthen my resolve to just “keep at it”!
My paintings have been exhibited throughout Australia… (and worldwide via my website and more recently through this weblog)… and have found homes in various far flung places across the globe!
A past member of the Whitfield Art Group… I hold current (ever so silent) membership of the Cairns Art Society!
I am also a Founding Patron of the Cairns Regional Gallery which opened it’s doors to the delight of artlovers everywhere in 1995. I apparently own… (for better or for worse)… the raised timber floor in the Lady Norman Gallery! *wink* (chuckles)
