My dancing & singing took me travelling. I performed at the Intercontinental Hotel in Djakarta, The Cockpit Hotel, Singapore, Nipa Lodge, Pataya, etc & spent 3 months performing for the American troupes during the Vietnam war. It was an amazing few years but touring can get lonely. 

On returning to Melbourne I enrolled to study Fine Art at the Preston Institute. It was an exciting place to study as the art course was innovative and had many good teachers. It developed my love of conceptual art. After graduating, I worked for 12 months as a recreation officer at the Carlton Community Centre & then my partner & I went to Europe. After wandering through Greece & Italy we wound up in Spain. In Cadaques, just near Dali's house, where I managed a gallery for 5 months. Then we travelled overland to India where we loitered for a while. I did some of my favourite drawings in Afganistan, Napal & Jaipur. 

Back in Melbourne again we started a wholesale jewellery business importing from the friends we had made in India, Thailand & Bali & designing and making our own. After retiring I returned to drawing & painting.

My works are usually never far from home. They are incidental observations of the every day places and moments that are meaningful to me. EG My beautiful garden as the seasons change. I find things often take on more complexity & colour as they age. Eg :- red cabbage that my daughter bought home that added various earth tones as it remained uneaten, the roses my son gave me for my birthday that became more beautiful as they faded, Oyster shells after lunch that showed their opalescence, trees in late autumn. The constant changes in colour & light that I am treated to daily.

I love organic forms & trying to represent the beautiful and complex in the under appreciated:- a custard apple, a paperbark gum, a fading Kale rose. 
My painting is also conceptual. Eg :- The Mangroves because they are such an important part of environment. Carbon capture- the gases released when trees die. The Fire Starter - a man walking away unaware of the damage he has done & The Refugee who has been brutally sinenced.

I usually start with an image but don't mind if it gets lost along the way. For me, the joy of painting is the push and pull along the way. The interactions between me, the paint and the canvas that keeps it challenging & vital. 

Thank you for your interest. 
Jackie.