Welcome:

I am delighted to present my latest collection of work ‘Outside and In’ on show now at The Provincial Hotel Ballarat. The Provincial are a huge supporter of the Arts and every six weeks they choose one artist’s work to grace their elegant walls. I am so pleased to be part of this program. My paintings will be up from 23 October to the 10th of December - make sure you pop in if you are in Ballarat.

A little bit about this collection:

I love foraging for wildflowers on bush walks or pillaging flowers from friends’ gardens. Sometimes these flowers are painted in situ in nature and at other times I like to bring them back to paint them in my home setting. My painting is a form of daily meditation, a way of slowing down and appreciating the small things in life, a peach, a bending leaf or a luscious grape. 

The two large pieces in this exhibition depict a special wattle bush; that I have visited for three years near my home on the Campaspe River. When I first moved here just as the world closed down during the pandemic, I picked little sprigs to paint in still-life arrangements. It was a way of grounding myself in the chaos. Over the years, the bush, flowering first, became a touchstone or marker of the coming of spring. Last year our river flooded. The devastating fury of the water swallowed the wattle bush. And I grieved when I found the force of the water had uprooted it. Despite being partly uprooted, over time it slowly came back to life, and this winter, it bloomed. So I sat and painted it. Nature and creativity are a cycle; a process of waiting, working, nourishing, recovering, resting and discovering. This collection is my way of documenting this cycle as well as the beauty and joy of simple moments. I hope you enjoy it.

I’d like to acknowledge that I work and reside in Dja Dja Wurrung Country and I pay my respects to the traditional custodians of this wild beautiful place.