” BEING AN ARTIST IS MANAGING REJECTION BY NOT CONFUSING IT WITH FAILURE”

I grew up in a small Texas town between Houston and Galveston. My parents converted a barn into a multipurpose playhouse for me and my four siblings on our property. There are so many memories of hours of painting and drawing with what seemed to be endless art supplies. At school my favourite subject was ART. So when I graduated from high school, my parents were proud of my decision to pursue Art at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. I loved my time there!

My Mom was a Perth girl, born and bred, so I had visited Perth many times while growing up. A trip back to Perth in 1981 would change my life path entirely! While here, I fell in love, and that was it – I wasn’t going back to Texas Tech. Excitedly, I applied to WAIT (now Curtin University) to continue my degree in Perth. Unfortunately, I was rejected after a rude interview with the Head of the Art Department. I was crushed, and I allowed my Art journey to end, then and there.

I stayed in Perth, finding work in the office and administration/bookkeeping. I married my love, and we had two beautiful children. Family, home and work were our priorities.
Then in 1999, when my father passed away, it occurred to me that my Dad did not enjoy my Art journey dream because of a stranger at WAIT. So I started to plan and fuel my ART journey again slowly.

For my 50th birthday in 2011, my wonderful husband built me a small art studio at our home. What a sweetheart! In 2019 I gave up full-time work to expand my ART journey. Unfortunately, a few health issues have slowed my momentum in this journey, and relying on art is a healing notion.

Along the way, I have enjoyed the guidance and experiences gained through Life Drawing sessions at Ian D’Souza’s studio, the Watercolour classes at Atwell Gallery, Pastels and Oils Painting at Tresillian and the Fremantle Arts Centre, various courses at Claremont School of Art and the valuable workshops instructed by Andrew Tischler and Leon Holmes.

I love the human form and capturing likenesses, as well as painting water. I really don’t know what is a favourite as I find all subjects a welcome challenge. My ART journey is still evolving, and I have many works in progress to prove it.

I look forward to continuing to develop as an artist with a personal aim of contentment.

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