The Creative Journey
How a lifelong love of art, colour and making came full circle.
Have you ever had a dream that quietly waited in the background until the timing was right?
That was me and my career as an artist and designer.
I grew up surrounded by art and creativity — learning ballet, and always making things with my hands. I sewed my own clothes, made my own ballet costumes, and painted whenever I had the chance. As a child, I imagined I might become a ballerina, a fashion designer, or an artist. In a roundabout way, I've come full circle and found a little of all three.
A winding path
For many years I taught ballet. Later, I met my husband — a jeweller — and together we built and ran a jewellery business. Life was full, but creativity was always there, humming away in the background. In my spare time I never stopped making — painting, mosaics, block printing courses — always following whatever caught my imagination.
Taking a chance on myself
The turning point came almost by accident. My daughter was studying fashion design, and she mentioned a print and textile design course she thought I might love. Something about it called to me, so I applied — and got in. You could call it my version of a midlife crisis: instead of doing something dramatic, I quietly went back to study and learned something new.
The turning point came almost by accident. My daughter was studying fashion design, and she mentioned a print and textile design course she thought I might love. Something about it called to me, so I applied — and got in. You could call it my version of a midlife crisis: instead of doing something dramatic, I quietly went back to study and learned something new.
Finding What I Loved
How art found me again
I never set out to start a business. I simply followed what I loved. But people responded to the designs I was creating, and what began as a passion quietly grew into a career. Though I didn't become a fashion designer, I found myself designing fabrics for fashion, and artwork for products of every kind.
Textile design and printmaking led me back to the painting I'd always loved — bold, botanical work inspired by native Australian flowers and blooms. I'm a self-taught artist; I've never trained formally in painting. Everything comes from following my own intuition, painting from the heart, and creating the kind of art I'd want to live with in my own home.
Full circle
In the end, all my passions have merged into one. Ballet, sewing, textiles, jewellery, painting — they've woven together into work that brings colour, nature and the beauty of the natural world into everyday life. It's the dream that waited quietly in the background, finally arrived — right when the timing was meant to be.
See where the journey has led me - Original Paintings, the values behind the work in The Art Behind the Brand, or how my designs are licensed in Art Licensing.
