Handmade paper torn into circles, the start of a thematic idea of paper and water
Beginning a new project can feel daunting. Where to start? For me it’s what I call creative chaos time, where ideas tumble around until I can find a single thread to follow. It’s a time of experimentation, trying out materials and methods until the project begins to fall into some kind of cohesive state.
Read More
All hands on deck to sew toxic salmon effigies at the Bob Brown Foundation HQ.
When you are part of a movement for social change it feels like you are in a large family tribe, all working towards a common goal. Art can be a powerful way to open people’s hearts and expand their thinking. Tribes grow as entities while growing their members. Art + activism = change.
Read More
Marking Time 2025 - mini artist book - cyanotype & ink on paper
I often get stuck when I’m trying to title my artworks. Sometimes you have to wait for the title to present itself, with often surprising results. Marking Time is a mini artist book which needed to take its own time to reveal its title and what it really is about.
Read More
Landslide (detail) 2025 - artist book in wooden box
How do we respond to accelerated change?. Everywhere we look the world is in a state of flux. This can bring on great anxiety or it can be seen as a time for new possibilities to emerge. As artists we can search for the seeds of renewal within the chaos all around. What we think is fixed and immobile is often only one state of being. Even the stones on mountains and the trees themselves move.
Read More
High Seas, Rough Weather. 2025 10 x 10cm collage on canvas board.
Creating art can be a tumultuous activity. Often things don’t turn out the way you hoped, or you can get stuck on an idea that doesn’t work. What to do to whether those rough creative seas? Collage is my go-to activity when ‘in-between’ projects.
Read More
My new laptop screen wallpaper, inviting me into the forest of Takayna, Tasmania.
Perseverance is not necessarily a quality you would think you need when it comes to being creative. Yet finding little creative ‘hacks’ can help keep your enthusiasm buoyant and your art alive through all the messy ups and downs of the creative process.
Read More
Hearts, Hands & Bodies (work in progress) - charcoal & ink on rice paper
What does it take to change public opinion? To change a government policy and advocate for protection rather than destruction. Drawing a visual representation of the hearts, hands and bodies of passionate advocates for change helps keep my hope alive. I take heart from the 1970s protest movements to stop the whaling industry. Whale watching rather than killing, forest bathing rather than old growth forest clear-felling. Change is possible.
Read More
Including my body silhouette in the forest drawings on muslin
I’ve become a passionate advocate for protecting the old growth native forests. Joining the 140 other artists at the Art 4 Takayna forest residency in Tasmania has inspired me to advocate for the trees and all the plant and animal species that live in the forests. These are our wilderness heritage places. I want to know that when I am no longer here on earth, the trees will breathe for me.
Read More
Dreaming of trees - daily ink drawing from January 2024
Forests dwell deep in our imagination. They are the places of childhood tree-houses and stories of enchantment. Yet also a bit scary and wild. To foray into the forest you need to be prepared. Its immensity can be overwhelming, perhaps even life changing. I’m not sure what to expect when I venture into the deepest rainforest of Takayna in Tasmania with the Bob Brown Foundation.
Read More
Finding the right path to take can be tricky…image from my installation of Kiss the Earth (with your feet) in Sofia, Bulgaria 2016.
When you’re not sure what path to take, that middle of the night insomnia can yield some ‘eureka’ moments. Such as revealing the solution to what art to create during my Art 4 Takayna residency in Tasmania over Easter.
Read More