About Me
The environment and its magic have been part of my life since forever. I treasure memories of birdwatching as a family when I was a child, the joy and beauty of these memories triggered my lifelong love of our natural environment.
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I’ve always been involved in creative activities, playing with mom’s sewing machine before I was four (I managed to put the needle through my finger 😊) and exploring a multitude of art and crafts with my mom at home. I took art in school and considered a career in interior design but lacked the confidence to pursue a creative path immediately following graduation.
I started a general arts degree studying political science until I discovered courses in textiles and design in the Home Economics faculty. While a textiles major wasn’t available, I transferred faculties and took all the textile design courses available. One of my lecturers was a practicing textile artist which inspired me to continue my studies at art school after completing my degree.
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.....a long distance love story
My time at art school was cut short because I fell in love six weeks before the program started. I completed the first-year, 2700 km away from my future husband, but struggled with the challenges of a long-distance romance. Unable to find a job that summer upon my return and without the funds or the desire to return to art school, I enrolled in a one-year teacher training course at university.
For the next 30 years I taught high school art, textile design, foods and nutrition, raised a family of four and followed my husband wherever his career took him, including moving from my native Canada to Australia. After planning lessons and actively parenting, I had limited remaining creative energies which were focused on garden design, decorative painting, patchwork and quilting.
Coming full circle
With an empty nest, I’ve been able to devote myself full-time to making including creating art quilts and mixed media fibre art. Despite the intervening years, I never lost my creative dreams and I set out to develop my art practice from a hobby to a full-time professional artist.
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The world around me has always been a place of beauty and wonder. As a child, I learned to identify plants, animals, insects, and birds. Sitting hidden within the circle of a weeping willow beside a small pond in my grandparent’s back garden is one of my fondest early memories. It was a quiet meditative spot. As a four-year-old, I was devastated when the willow was blown down by a typhoon. Despite the many moves, I’ve kept that image in my mind, digging a pond and planting a weeping tree wherever we’ve lived, to recreate that secret spot.
