Profile

Background

I was born in 1967 in the west of England and came to Australia with my husband in 1998, settling in Alice Springs in 2000. After completing a BA and a PhD in Literature, and a period with the British Foreign Office, I began teaching in 1995, which I’ve been doing ever since. I currently lecture in Education at Charles Darwin University.

Art Practice

Plein Air at Honeymoon Gap

I paint in oils and while I have no formal training, I have developed my practice over the years through my involvement with the Central Australian Art Society and Studio 12 artists’ collective (life-drawing, plein-air painting, exhibiting).

I’m fascinated by the identity of things, what the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins called their ‘inscape,’ the internal power that holds the elements together and makes the thing unique. My paintings are an attempt to represent the moment of glimpsing or ‘catching’ the inscape of the thing, be it a skyline, a person or a camel. They also explore the way light works both to shape and to convey identity and feeling. The quality of the light in central Australia still astonishes me after years here.

Career Highlights

2002
2006

2007

2008

2009

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2012

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2015

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2018

2019

2021

Began exhibiting with Leaping Lizard’s Gallery, Alice Springs
Chroma Encouragement Award for first time entrant, Advocate Art Award, Alice Springs
People’s Choice Award, Advocate Art Award, Alice Springs, for Study in Blue
Founding member of Studio 12, artists’ collective gallery, Alice Springs
‘Faces’ Section Award, Advocate Art Award, Alice Springs, for Self Portrait
Acquisition Award, Portrait of a Senior Territorian Art Award, Darwin, for Dugald
‘Gallery’s Choice’ featured artwork in Scoop Traveler NT
Began blog documenting studio practice
Group exhibition (Studio 12), Peta Appleyard Galleries, Alice Springs
People’s Choice Award, Portrait of a Senior Territorian Art Award, Darwin, Ron's Landscape
Solo exhibition, ‘Dappled Things’, Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs
Selected for exhibition in The Alice Prize, Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs, Frames III
Featured in NT Wrap, ‘Studio 12 Success’, Australian Art Collector, May/June
Acquisition Award, Portrait of a Senior Territorian Art Award, Darwin, for Mona
Featured in Art Notes NT, ‘Popular Portraitist’, Art Monthly, Dec/Jan
Commissioned by TIO to paint portrait of Chairman of Board, John Flynn
Began exhibiting with Mbantua Gallery, Alice Springs
Group exhibition (Studio 12), ‘Shift’, Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs
Accepted as exhibiting member of Portrait Artists Australia
Group exhibition (Studio 12), ‘Skyline’, Olive Pink Botanical Gardens Gallery, Alice Springs
‘Faces’ Section Award, Advocate Art Award, Alice Springs for Watching the Slow Dissolve
Group exhibition (Portrait Artists Australia), ‘All the World’s a Stage’, VAS Galleries, Melbourne
People’s Choice Award, Portrait of a Senior Territorian Art Award, Darwin for John Flynn
Runner up in People's Choice Award, Advocate Art Award, Alice Springs for Anna
People's Choice Award, Portrait of a Senior Territorian Art Award, Darwin for Jim
People's Choice Award, Advocate Art Award, Alice Springs, for Betty and the Fence
Joint exhibition, 'What Lies Beneath', CAAS Art Shed, Alice Springs
Commissioned by Government House to paint official portrait of NT Administrator, Sally Thomas
People's Choice Award, Advocate Art Award, Alice Springs, for Girl in a Pink Dress
People's Choice Award, Portrait of a Senior Territorian Art Award, Darwin, for Syd's Stories
Solo exhibition,'Community: The People of the School', Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs
Acquisition Award, Portrait of a Senior Territorian Art Award, Darwin, for Rolf's Paper
People's Choice Award, Portrait of a Senior Territorian Art Award, Darwin, for Rolf's Paper
Commissioned by the Northern Territory Government to paint official portrait of former Chief Minister Paul Henderson
People's Choice Award, Advocate Art Award, Alice Springs, for Buddy's Feed
Solo exhibition, 'Desert Inscapes', The Studio@52, Ocean Grove, Geelong, Victoria
'Faces' Section Award, Advocate Art Award, Alice Springs, for Rajah in the Morning
Commissioned by the Northern Territory Government to paint official portrait of former Chief Minister Adam Giles
Acquisition Award, Portrait of a Senior Territorian Art Award, Darwin, for Hills: Kathleen Wallace and the Dancers
Commissioned by Charles Darwin University to paint official portrait of outgoing Chancellor Neil Balnaves, AO
Commissioned by Charles Darwin University to paint official portrait of Vice-Chancellor Simon Maddocks
3rd Prize Award, Portrait of a Senior Territorian Art Award, Darwin, for In the Morning Sun
Commissioned by Government House to paint official portrait of outgoing NT Deputy Administrator, Dr Pat Miller, AO
3rd Prize Award, Portrait of a Senior Territoria Art Award, Darwin, for Morning Sun at Olive Pink Botanical Gardens