About

Synopsis

BA Double Major, Art History and Visual Art, University of Victoria, BC, Canada
Representation in galleries both in Canada and the United States (paintings only available privately at this time)
Published art and photography in the international print market (Art In Motion)
Paintings in private collections internationally
Art book covers in Milan and Prague
Food and product styling/photography published nationally (House & Home Magazine) and locally (EAT Magazine)
Freelance Illustrator
Co-creator (photography, styling, illustration) of ‘The Artful Pie Project’

PREAMBLE

Right, well, it's a bit long-winded but I'm going to leave it as is. 'Growing Up' is the background story. The why and no wonder part.  It is not, as they said at university, required reading. After that is Art, Illustration and Photography which is a little more succinct. Otherwise, if you like stories and want to know more about me...

GROWING UP

My parents were a huge influence on me. They said from the start, we don't mind if you don't go to university, we do, however, want you to travel. So I traveled and found out I'm a little bit of an adventure junky. Not sure where that comes from, perhaps it was being allowed to stay up and watch James Bond movies when I was little. My most memorable adventures include: repelling down a very dark 80ft shaft into a bat-infested cave in Belize, wreck diving in Cuba, cage-diving with Great White Sharks in Isla Guadalupe, and swimming with Whale Sharks in the Baja. I've sailed the Mediterranean on a catamaran and jumped off cliffs into crystal clear water, hiked the Cinque Terre in Italy, and participated in a proper Tea Ceremony in the middle of a bamboo forest in Kyoto, Japan. I've floated on a very narrow boat through a Thai river market, seen an opera at The Met, NY, and teared-up in a 12C Castle in northern Italy because the frescoes were so beautiful. Not that those are all adrenaline fueled exploits but the experiences were powerful.

So it is in my blood and I traveled a lot which is why it took 10 years to graduate with a BA Double Major in Art History and Visual Art. I eventually realized I needed to stay put to finish my degree, so I did. I loved being at university and having a huge studio to paint in and I loved studying art history, the Renaissance in particular. I still have, and reference, my diabolically expensive student texts. After I graduated, the references to all that gorgeous art was too much and I wanted to see the real thing.

I moved to the UK after I finished my degree (finally). I lived in Bristol for a year then to Bath where I bought a wee cottage in a tiny village and zipped around in a Mini called Phoebe. When I could, I went to London and Paris on weekends to visit galleries. Sounds exotic but it's so easy to travel once you are there. My parents had a canal boat in England and for three summers they would cruise and I would visit them at different points in the landscape. It was wonderful to get a call saying, we're in Stratford, can you make it for tea?  I continued to travel from the UK throughout Europe and also went to Thailand and Mexico for family reunions. My family was scattered around the globe so it was great fun to meet up somewhere different. I remember traveling with my parents in Cambodia, I remember watching my parents swim around a rocky point every morning in Puerto Vallarta. They were intrepid folk. Getting together was always a lark with lots of laughing, photos and when it was over, we'd smile, say see you soon and go 'home' to our different countries.

I could talk here about working. Hard. I worked full-time while I was at university to fund my way through two degrees without debt. To finance my tickets. To pay rent. To eat. When I moved to England, I worked at the University of Bristol, I worked at an estate agents, I worked at a graphic design company. My priority was experience so that is where my savings went. The best was being hired as a voice-over artist for a variety of radio advertising and informational videos. I loved doing voice-overs and continued with it when I returned home.

After 6 years post university it was time to come back to Canada. Home is Victoria, BC and it's beautiful. I love the West Coast and I wanted to see more of my family who were all migrating back here for one reason or another. I wanted to settle and I desperately wanted to paint again. It had been years since I picked up a brush, so I switched from living abroad to visiting abroad and started painting again. With intent. I strove towards having a body of work that felt strong, to be accepted into a gallery, to have a show. I succeeded in my goals and then it went beyond that. It became a part of who I am. My art matured along with me and has brought me to this time and place where I paint and I love everything about it.

I still went on adventures and I became serious about photography. When I returned home from a trip to Italy, I submitted images to an art publisher for the international print market and they accepted three and I was thrilled. They accepted four photographs when I came back from Costa Rica and I saw my work in stores, online, everywhere. It was a surreal time. With most things like this, it’s there and gone and you just have to love the moment it’s ‘there’.

I was later hired as a product photographer's assistant. I worked hard and became the product photographer and then became freelance so there was flexibility and room for everything. From there I seemed to slide into food photography, creating artistic landscapes with delicious concoctions by Chef Denise Marchessault. We created a beautiful book called, The Artful Pie Project, published by Whitecap Books. A fantastic project we are both very proud of.

PAINTING

My paintings are calm. I take all the threads of an experience and simplify, simplify, simplify. I champion the slow moments and honour the serene.

I started out as a painter of massive abstract work. I focused on texture by layering tissue and paper, or gauze and plaster, over canvas and then I fell for quirky portraits and quiet houses instead. I did keep my minimalist colour palette though, as I just like the peacefulness it brings. Simplicity can be powerfully evocative and since I like to paint atmosphere, it is critically important to me.

My current work has been described as contemporary, folk, naïve… since Frida shows up under these titles, I’m good with that. My entire remit is to create a calm and peace that is palpable. It is what I appreciate in my world. I also appreciate humour, whimsy and quirkiness so that shows up too.

I am inspired by words, music and art. I love dark and detailed Renaissance portraits, the mischief and imagination and utter goofiness in Medieval art, the strange and odd illustrations of Edward Gorey and Tim Burton… so many things give me pause. Life is short and there is little time to spare so I choose to saturate my world in things that make me laugh, delight me, bring awe or peaceful contentment. I try and creatively give all that back, too.

My style is me. I live what I paint. I've been advised I dress that way too. I live on a hill so there is a feeling of space outside my windows and it's very quiet and open. When I have enough of the tranquility I travel or take up something completely different like ceramics or guitar. Then I return to paint and draw full of new experience and freshly inspired.

ILLUSTRATION

I am also a freelance illustrator. Of food, of products, of quirky stories. I illustrate to work, to relax, to have fun, to let the whimsy and humour out as it’s just as much a part of me as the serious, introspective paintings I paint.

I love illustrating. My favourite jobs, commissions, contracts, freelance hires are for illustration. Coming up with whimsical, quirky visuals, or being given a list, or asked to brainstorm an image… it is a joy to do what I love. I have been busy working on a team project with my foodie project partner, Chef Denise, in all ways - art, illustration, styling and photography. That’s what started the whole food-bent and I couldn’t be more pleased. It’s also been a pleasure to do editorial art for EAT magazine, food illustration for projects like Les Dames d’Escoffier Summerdine, and other events. My paintings are something else entirely but they sometimes fall under the illustration umbrella as well. Two of my paintings were selected for book covers in Europe and that, being an avid reader, was a peak experience. More to come under this header!

PHOTOGRAPHY

I was hired as a product photographer's assistant for a retail store over a decade ago. I absorbed knowledge and accumulated experience in product styling, photography, graphic design, web management, art direction, creating and managing online content, print publishing... I eventually took over when the position became available and then went on to contract and freelance.

As a product photographer the work is varied and creative. I work entirely with natural light. I'm terribly organized (for an artist) and particular and instinctive about the details and small things. I've done product shoots and layouts for full page ads in magazines like Canadian House & Home. I've done huge projects such as shooting over 1500 fabrics for a store. I've done tiny projects and working one on one with a client is always rewarding.

I am a food stylist and photographer. Basically, the chef I partner with develops recipes and creates them, I take them and create a composition and photograph it (then eat it if I haven’t mangled it too much and sometimes even then). The photographs and recipes are published in the local food magazine, EAT. We also work together on other projects and events and it’s been a couple years now of foodie fun.

I shoot just for myself too - I can't tell you the passion I have for capturing an artful gathering of bits and pieces. To me, it's about taking time, slowing down and telling a story. Usually a small, everyday story like cutting lavender in the garden, or berries in season, or tea on a rainy day. I collect objects that are dented, worn, rusted, marked and battered. I collect fabric, old books, textures, paper, stones and small things. Always with the idea that it will work its way into a shoot. I also have family treasures handed down to me and what better way to remember these people than to do what I love and create portraits from elements of their life. My Dad's childhood cereal bowl, my Grandmother's scissors, my Mother's pearls, my Grandfather's suitcase... it's an ongoing personal project with heart.

SOCIAL MEDIA and BLOG

Instagram and Facebook is where I post new work first.