I paint ephemeral abstract forests in oil. The forest’s timelessness and continuity bring a sense of safety and nurturing to me. The tangle of undergrowth is a metaphor for the connectivity of all things, and the cosy mess of our lives – which, in this place, also feels peaceful and right.

My works invite the viewer to peer close, the same way as when someone speaks softly you lean in to listen. As in the forest, our eyes adjust and we become aware of more nuance and depth. I let my artworks develop organically, starting with loose mark-making, adding and removing paint, then adding layer upon layer down to flicks of the finest brush - a glint of light on tiny wing or web - until this pocket of forest is formed enough to gently hold us.

I work from my home studio in Canberra, Australia where I get endless inspiration from our local Nature Reserves and our distinct seasons.

Find my work at Splatter Gallery, Canberra; Dirty Janes Canberra; and Bluethumb online gallery.

BACKSTORY

My lifelong journey to full-time painter accelerated in 2019 when my husband began his own journey with a life-threatening cancer. His is a miracle story, but living with the ongoing threat of this cancer means living with uncertainty, and has taught us that the only real thing is the present moment. Living to the fullest became less about the to-do list or bucket list (though those remain) and more about experiencing the present in the fullest way possible. The act of creating art is an act of losing oneself in the moment and, if I’m in flow, touching that energetic realm where everything is connected. While art was part of my healing and my path back to the heart from the thinking-space of coping, it has become integral to my new way of being in the world.