As you might have guessed, I am a traditional, realist artist specialising in watercolour and pastel. Born in 1950, I’m married and have four very individual children. Currently we live in Melbourne; tomorrow … I’m not sure. I previously lived in country Victoria and was immersed in a diverse landscape; this led me away from my printmaking training to a painted response to landscape.

I have been a full time teacher of Art for 33 years and for many years the Arts Manager of a Melbourne secondary college. I think my students have benefited from my constant refining of my skills and philosophy to art in the studio, as my teaching has remained fresh and ‘current’ as a result. My training includes a Diploma of Education, Diploma of Art and Design and a Graduate Diploma in Information Technology. Despite a good grounding, like so many artists, I am predominantly self-taught in oil, watercolour and pastel. A spell with the late Graham Moore, master tonal oil painter and exponent of the ‘Meldrum School’, did much to instil a belief in the sound theory of tonal painting. A new found interest in teaching Information Technology has developed a respect for digital photography and a new way of looking at design, colour and texture of all things visual.

I have travelled and painted the Australian landscape for many years, starting with a ‘baptism of fire’ as a teenager painting oils in the dead heat of summer in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia. More recently I have travelled to inspirational places and some art capitals around the world.

I hold an annual solo exhibition and participate in group and charity exhibitions. My major showing this year will be my 20th solo exhibition.

My watercolour work has concentrated on rural districts and towns throughout Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, where old farm buildings are found dotted along the roadside, quietly decomposing along with their contents and forgotten stories.

My pastel work has focused on the diversity of the Australian landscape capturing its strength and subtle grandeur in rugged mountain slopes, rain forest and coastal studies, in fact anything that ‘speaks to me’.

In 2001, I revisited the UK and Italy, seeking inspiration from quaint, medieval English fishing villages and the earthy colours and mysterious moods of Venice, moved by its ancient canals, pealing render and peculiarly Venetian light. I love the light.