I’m an expressionist artist working in acrylics. A long time Tauranga local living in Bethlehem but hailing originally from South Auckland, I grew up in a family of painters, photographers & artisans going many generations back. Always creative, it was inevitable that I would end up following the family tradition.

With a love of joyful, vibrant colour palettes and loosely inspired by my love of colourful flower gardens and the New Zealand landscape, I like to escape to the studio as much as possible. The thing I most love about painting compared to other art forms I have worked with in the past, is that the colour possibilities with paint are endless and unlimiting.

I always begin work in an expressive, intuitive way focusing on the process and usually without too much intention except to work with a particular colour palette or sometimes a subject matter. My art reflects a feeling or sensory experience rather than a literal interpretation of a scene.

In the past my landscape works have been related to my obsession with family history. The more I uncovered about my ancestors the more I tried to imagine them and their travails (and travels) especially in Aotearoa’s early colonial days. I often trace their footsteps and imagine what life was like for them, especially the women.

Lately as climate events and other crises take their toll in NZ, I am finding my landscapes are reacting to these events or taking an escapist turn where I create fantasy landscapes to escape to in my imagination.

My floral works are another outlet for my colour obsession and almost hark back to childhood and a feeling of being head high amongst the blooms close up.

I am continuously exploring colour and transparency further and striving to find a balance midway between abstract and representational that resonates for me. The most common response I get from viewers of my work, is that it is uplifting and makes people feel happy.