After graduating from Sydney College of the Arts with a degree in Visual Arts – ceramic sculpture/photography –  and a Post Graduate Diploma in ceramic sculpture, I knew I was not ready to be an artist, I needed more. I lived in the UK for a time and travelled extensively. Even that was not enough to secure my direction and I returned to Australia to work in hospitality, running restaurants in partnership with my brother. Food has always been a passion.

Then I was introduced to Theatre. Set and costume design used my creative energies and introduced me to collaboration. As this coincided with the birth of my first child and my wish to be a full time mother, I worked from our Sydney home in our small graphics business, juggling design jobs, feed times and housework.

When our first son was five years old and our second son three, we went to live in Hungary. We had no plan, we did not know how long we would stay, we stayed for fifteen years. I immersed myself in new country, new language, new culture and after two years our daughter was born. We lived as Hungarians, with our children going to local public schools, we spoke the language. It was not financially possible for me to continue being a full time mother and I returned to work outside the home as soon as our daughter was old enough.

We reached the stage where we could visit Australia regularly. We came biennially to the beautiful far north coast of NSW where I had spent happy teenage years. There was no plan to return to Australia but perhaps these visits stirred something in me as, with little forethought, we packed up and returned at the end of 2012. It was a good decision.

Suddenly I am in a place and a space where I can live and work as an artist again.

Fernleigh, NSW, Australia – May 2013

I am an image maker. For me, the camera is a tool to capture an image. I see images of shape, form, line, colour, light – some remain pure, some are enhanced. My reaction to what I see is born of my experience.

Collecting images is something I have been doing for years without any particular destination for them in mind. Although I always kept records and diaries every time I photographed.

Day, light, location, time, thoughts, purpose.

Much of my early sculptural work with clay was inspired by my love of architecture, form, line and light. Living in Europe gave me the opportunity to explore the beauty of historic buildings. During this time, with great fortune to travel widely, I gathered images from Europe to South Africa and the USA to Mexico. Images from the air also became a fascination.

A couple of years ago I realised that the camera and I had been working towards a goal and I started working with the images – cataloging, playing with some.

My time away from Australia provided me with inspiration and a body of exciting work. Being back on the far north coast of NSW provides natural beauty and tranquility for bringing this work to life and new inspiration for future work.

Fernleigh, NSW, Australia – May 2013