Ever since I could hold a crayon, paintbrush or pencil, I became an artist. As a child I loved having a brand-new set of crayons or fresh, white paper to draw on. If I didn’t have any paper to draw on, I would raid my parent’s note books or my grandma’s shopping list jotters. I would draw cartoons on any little space I could find on my folders and school books. My nanna and poppa lived in outback Queensland and I loved visiting them. My nanna taught me how to paint the harsh, arid Australian landscape with watercolors – I loved the way the fading cornflower blue skies would meld into dirty ocher plains. I would sit in the red dirt with a home made easel my poppa made me. I started painting seascapes with acrylic paints and landed myself a few little jobs here and there painting shops with underwater scenes.

After high school, I had the choice of chasing art, or follow my other passion, marine life. I decided to hit the books and study environmental science. This landed me a job at a local aquarium where I spent 12 wonderful years playing with stingrays and taking guided educational tours, teaching students about conservation. During this time I had the opportunity to illustrate for activity booklets used on educational trails around the aquarium.

Recently, I had started painting bohemian-style mandalas in bright blues, aquas and pinks onto decking timber scraps - these have proved extremely popular at local markets I attend around Mackay.

My husband has become a teacher, so he, and our little girl and boy, Airlie and Toby have moved to North Queensland. I have continued to follow my dreams and have created many beautiful pieces of art. During Cyclone Debbie in March 2017, being housebound for days and without power, I started painting onto canvases and large panels.

Thank you for visiting my shop and enjoying my journey with me.