I live with my novelist partner in the country on the outskirts of Levin, in New Zealand's Horowhenua. Our three adult children have established careers in Auckland and Wellington and it is one of my
pleasures to be able to share their lives to some extent. Spare time is spent maintaining our property, enjoying outdoor adventures or indulging my love of music.
My first foray into art was in high school, but I was apparently not very good at it . . . my art teacher felt I didn’t have a lot going for me.
When I was in my 40s and suddenly found myself redundant, I decided to try a new direction . . . graphic design and illustration seemed a possibility. After graduating in design, I decided on teaching rather than the world of
commercial art.
So I completed teacher training and began a period of teaching visual art and design at both tertiary and secondary levels.
After a nasty motor vehicle accident in 2005 cut my teaching career short, I began drawing and painting. This eventually provided an income and I now teach painting workshops for different organisations,
take on commissions and produce works to exhibit.
So although I came to painting rather late, it is now a favourite mode of expression; especially drawing and painting with paper and water-based paints
(I have an aversion to organic solvents). I keep the range of my materials minimal and have developed strong preferences for the materials I use . . . stretched Arches or Saunders-Waterford papers and
M Graham & Co paints . . . on account of both their quality and consistency. Quality brushes are very expensive, so I tend to use whatever I can afford.
My passion for the NZ outdoors results in my painting subject matter most often being the topography and ‘moods’ of this environment.
Although I enjoy stylized and abstract works, I seem to always come back to naturalistic depictions. Landscapes tend to surround one, so my work is usually (for watercolours) on a large scale.
Unfortunately, this lends itself to studio painting, but I prefer working on location for smaller works.