What do you do at WWAS?
At WWAS I teach by conversation, anecdote, connecting art ideas and approaches to artists and movements either historic or contemporary, and by demonstration. I try to get to know the student’s individual interests and motivations and goals and teach to that with some fun, challenge and experimentation as well. I have taught adults and secondary students in The Netherlands, Brunei, Spain and Singapore.
Tell us about your artistic/career journey to this point.
I have been painting and drawing much of my life. I decided to study art and follow a career in art in my twenties. Originally I was a science major and then studied Psychology.
What is your favourite thing about WWAS?
I have travelled extensively in Australia and overseas and sketched and drawn and spent a lot of time in museums and galleries. I have had to be innovative to travel to remote places with art materials so have sometimes made my own paint and drawing materials. I have always been interested in the chemistry of art which has also informed my interest in health and safety in the arts. I read a great deal, fiction and nonfiction, and have always enjoyed exploring the ideas behind art of all genres and movements. I currently have a studio with One Plus 2 in Balmain. Like many studios, and like WWAS, it is an ARI (Artist Run Initiative). I have been there not long as I only returned to Australia in late 2020 after a twenty year absence. I have lectured in the arts and worked in the contemporary gallery sector. I’ve also employed my art skills in the volunteer sector with youth workshops and asylum seekers in Australia and the EU.
If you could share a meal with three artists living or dead, who would they be?
I would like to eat at Faviken, Sweden, with Joan Mitchell, Ian Fairweather and Van Gogh. I won’t miss the chance to choose dead artists. With the living maybe there is always the possibility of a hedged bet of dinner.
If you were a super-hero, what powers would you have?
I’m told by my teenager that my superpower is invisibility, the Guerrilla Girls would agree, I’m sure, it is profound skill set in mid career for an artist.
What do you do when not creating or teaching?
When not teaching you will find me painting and drawing or reading or hanging out with my family and the dogs. Or perhaps at a gallery.
If you could choose to do anything for a day, what would it be?
If I could do anything for a day I would just spend it in the studio followed by a meal with family and friends.
What are you currently reading?
I am currently reading a pile of books that scatter the house. Depending on my energy and time I might pick up one or the other. Fairweather’s letters, Hannah Arendt, The Bone People (again), a guide to Egg Tempera, a book on Clarence Darrow from the street library, a number of books on contemporary Australian painters.
If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
One meal for the rest of my life would be the degustation menu from Faviken, a restaurant in Sweden, closed now unfortunately.
What inspires or motivates you?
I am inspired by walking, conversations, nature, ideas, reading, food, music, passionate people, laughter.