I was born in Sydney, and have lived in Brisbane, Perth, Darwin, New Zealand, India and Indonesia (Java and Bali).

Travelling and living in many places and cultures have exposed me to many styles and traditions of visual art. My art is influenced by all of them.

I love the drawn line whether in charcoal pastel ink pencil texta crayon oil-pastel aquarel brush feltpen - on paper – lines are like runes, magic signs, something created from nothing.

I enjoy charcoal and earth colours - burnt wood, clay from Earths riverbeds, ochres, colours from coloured stones and earth.

I majored in painting at art school, and love the process of painting. After graduating I worked for a while in oils and glazes, allowing chance to create new images, as well as images from natural objects and photographs. Paint is only a step away from the primal act of drawing. After moving to Perth in 1998 I began to explore drawing using charcoal and mixed media. I also worked with figure sculpture in clay.

I give instinct free rein, as a child does, or a teenager spraying lines on a brick wall, or doodles on a telephone pad. Charcoal gives the added satisfaction of being smudgy, dirty, black, and rubout-able, making it very workable. But I like realism too much to go abstract.

At one time when I was working a lot in charcoal I scratched into the paper with a compass point, ripping fine white lines and holes through the black. There’s spontaneity when you can’t mess it up, especially when it is completely from imagination. If the paper tears that becomes an element in the work.

Drawing from life is also important in my work; the human figure is endlessly interesting. A life drawing can be a starting point for a departure into experiment with pastel, gesso, conte or paint. Chance allows odd things to happen – daydreaming an image onto the paper. I love the contrast and play of light and shadow.

I enjoy doing commissions for portraits, and also for portraits of people’s homes.

The portraits I’ve done are mainly in pastel, an extension of drawing but giving so much possibility with colour.