A keen artist from an early age, being an artist was in my destiny. After completing art training at Wigan College of art, England, I studied Education at Mather College, Victoria University of Manchester with a commendation in Art and Design.
After my arrival with my family in Townsville, I spent thirteen years as head of art at St Patrick’s College.
My time in the tropics led me to explore the effect of the brilliant sunshine on the colour of the exotic, tropical flora. This fascination with the ‘play of light’ has been an unceasing inspiration of scientific proportions, a life-long challenge that leads me to paint ‘living art’.
I focused on using watercolour exclusively at this time when I eliminated the use of white and black paint in order to produce the vibrancy and depth of tropical colour. I had acute attention to detail which resulted in a photorealistic style. Many of my paintings were produced on a larger than life scale to emphasise the magnificence of the subject.
In 1998, family commitments brought me to Brisbane and to the serendipitous discovery of Samford Valley which provided the influence to extend my more recent works.
My watercolour work is represented in numerous private collections and business houses in Australia, U.K. New Zealand, Japan, Korea, the USA, and Canada. A number of my watercolours form part of the National Collection by Art Bank.
Painting now almost exclusively in oils, I have been excited to follow new interests in still life and cultural street scenes. The images and bustle of New York in ‘Reflections W51st, New York’ and the icons of Italy in ‘Una Serata in Via Bocca di Leone, Roma’ (An evening on Via Bocca in Leone, Rome) and the colourful evening floral display of ‘The night Florist’ Melbourne.
Awards:
2021 – Finalist in the Kennedy Arts Foundation Awards for ‘L’Ombrello Giallo’ ( The yellow Umbrella)- South Australia
2020 – Finalist in Australian Watercolour Muster with ‘Un Cerchio di scarpe’ (A circle of Shoes)
2020 – Finalist in the Clayton Utz Art Award with ‘The Night Florist’
2018 – Finalist in the Percival Portrait Prize with ‘Another World’ (A portrait of my grandson)
2016 – Finalist in the Lethbridge 10 000 Small Works with ‘Le Scarpe Delle Donne’ (The women’s Shoes)
2012 – 1st Prize in Australian Artist Magazine Prize Challenge no 48 with ‘Tibouchina’
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