Frog Night

Always influenced by my immediate surroundings, my inspiration came from those quiet, starry nights and the noises when the frogs seem to be in competition with each other. I am interested in how to show what a sound could look like. What the quiet of the evening might look like. What shape or colour would the croak of one frog look like compared to that of another? Short-long, loud-soft, low-high.
Quirkiness and the ambiguity appeal to me. Am I outside among the trees or am I inside my room looking out? Are they curtains at the sides or are they trees? Is the light from the moon, the stars or from a domestic source?
Mostly using acrylic paint, layers of it, I paint on then wipe back to achieve a depth in the colour and a softness on the surface. There are large torn pieces of my own prints with lots of text on them. They’ve also been layered with paint on and then wiped off so you can barely see the text adding a subtle texture where the edges help define a sense of rock and landscape.

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My work is mostly painting, drawing and mixed media. As the daughter of a cabinetmaker and a creative homemaker, I have always been interested in art and design and making things. After leaving school I originally studied and worked as an Industrial Designer but soon made my way into Graphic Design jobs and eventually into Tertiary Art and Design teaching. I currently work full time in my Mittagong Studio as a professional artist, exhibiting in Regional NSW and Victoria, and in Melbourne and Sydney.
I often work in series where I have several works happening at the same time. I like to explore one subject or idea by creating as many works as I need before exhausting that idea. I love experimenting and, although this was a good attribute for teaching painting and design, it has also resulted in my portfolio comprising of many directions in my work over the years. I just love making art.
My work ranges from abstract to expressive and impressionistic. Nature's patterns and textures are common themes where I interpret rather than copy my subject. Important landscapes include the desert, the bush and the coast. Unfashionable and untidy are appealing! I enjoy seeking a visual language that interprets the landscape that I experience. I "hear" and "feel" the landscape, as well as "view" it.
The subjects of still life and portraiture are reliable backstops that I keep returning to. There's always the kitchen, the domestic scene and dead flowers. They are static and always there for me. Portraits and the figure are of great interest, and I regularly participate in the practice of life drawing.
I regularly return to intangible subjects such as sound, noise and silence (what would a sound look like - how can I visually describe it?), smell, taste, touch, unfamiliar language, time, memory and history. My works expose my interest in colour theory and design elements, leading me to reduce any recognisable image in order to place undeniable emphasis on the emotive content. Such works can be more “difficult” to view and more challenging to create. There is a delayed reaction in their making, as if they need sort of incubation time to distill a little.
I develop much of my work in the studio referencing my sketches, photos, my written descriptions and thoughts, and, above all, my memory and knowledge.