I am an Australian artist working in all media—my favourites being charcoal, watercolour, pastel and graphite.

Art has been a constant companion for all of my life in some form or another since I first picked up a pencil to draw at the age of 4 or 5.

 It was more than a pastime, it was a compulsion. I somehow took ownership of the things I drew. Anything I found the most interesting or beautiful was there for the taking, so to speak. Of course, at this age, they were mostly cartoons or animals. My mother was also an artist, she always encouraged me and nurtured my talent throughout my life.

As a constant part of my life since those early years, drawing has remained a particular favourite.

My early love of drawing cartoons helped me to obtain work as an assistant animator for Hanna-Barbera. I then worked for a number of years with Burbank Studios, a company specialising in full-length animated feature films for television (such as Wind in the Willows and other classics). I also did some freelance work for Disney, which to me was the realisation of a childhood dream.

Later, as I was primarily self taught, I went on to achieve a diploma in Design which enabled me to build a portfolio to successfully gain entry into a Visual Arts degree at university.

I have won multiple awards  every year since I started exhibiting publicly in 2011.I have attained “First Prize” or “Best in Show” for both my wildlife and my portrait work in all the media I work with. My work has not only attracted awards locally in Australia but also, internationally, and has been featured in multiple publications here and overseas.

Some career highlights include:

• being chosen as a participating artist into the ‘Art Journey – Portraits and  Figures’ hardcover book. It is an international publication, produced by  the American  publisher North Light  Books. The book is a collection of 109 portraits, including the profiles of each artist, chosen from hundreds of submissions by artists from all over the world.
• appearing in the French publication “The Art of Watercolour” magazine
• being chosen as a featured artist in the Australian Artist Magazine. This was an eight page article on my wildlife charcoal work, including my motivation and how I approach my subjects.
• my watercolour work “The Vanishing#2” was chosen to appear in “Splash 21”,  another  American publication, released in late 2020 which is an annual publication of watercolours chosen from submissions worldwide. 
• The Vanishing #2 was also chosen to feature on the cover of “The Best of Watercolor” publication in the USA.
• featured article and bio in local media.
• facilitating multiple workshops around the Sydney area.

I love to paint and draw portraits of both people and animals; I find them to be some of the most challenging subjects but also the most rewarding. To capture the essence of someone or something in a painting or drawing is extremely satisfying. It is the nuance of expression or emotion that I search to find, capture and communicate. 
The connection we have to our environment and one another is what drives my work at the moment. It tends to cross the boundaries between realism and expressionism. I like to take everyday subjects and ask people to see them a little differently. My motivation comes from emotion, both mine and those of the subjects I choose.

I work with any media that I feel adds to the subject. I have been combining graphite, charcoal, watercolour and pastel in my work to explore untraditional uses of traditional media—again, to add elements of the unexpected to common images. I like to choose the media which lends itself best to the image I’m looking to create. Each one has it’s own characteristics which can add to the subject in their own way. This is the reason I choose to create with various media rather than just one. It is challenging and also satisfying to be able to get the subject to tell their story through painting or drawing, and to engage the viewer.

Amongst other subjects, I have been working on a series of paintings and drawings of endangered animals, which allows me to combine art with something else close to my heart—conservation. Through my work on endangered species, I was invited to become a signature member of the Artists for Conservation in Vancouver, Canada. I have donated both originals and signed limited-edition prints to help raise money for conservation projects both here in Australia and overseas. I am particularly involved in the conservation of our iconic koala population, as they and their habitat are both under threat.

 I am very proud to say that some of my work has been used in literature and posters for conservation rallies across the state to raise awareness of the plight of some of our endangered animals, particularly our precious koalas.

As well as my wildlife work, I have been spending time exploring some human issues also. Using images to represent my feelings around some struggles with our mental well being. I find it so much easier to express these feelings with an image than with words.

I work from my studio in Sydney and am happy to accept commissions in watercolour, graphite, pastel, charcoal or pen and ink. I am also happy to run classes or demonstrations for art societies. I enjoy teaching, and have found this to be a most rewarding part of my artistic pursuits.

Please feel free to browse, send me an email, or message me on Facebook if you are interested in any of my work. Go to my contacts page or  just click the Facebook link on my Home page to send me a message. 

I also have limited edition prints of some of my work available for sale. These are high quality limited edition giclée prints, which are identical to the original. I hand sign and number the unframed print before sending.

If there is anything you are interested in, please just send me an email or a message.