I have always loved drawing and painting. In my youth, I regularly exhibited at Rotary Exhibitions around Sydney and at the Royal Easter Show. Selling my first paintings at the age of 15, I continued studying on a part time basis at Julian Ashton’s Art School at the Rocks in Sydney, while completing my High School education. At Ashton’s I met and was taught by David Wilson and eventually followed him to his Annandale studio where I stayed until his departure to Bathurst.
At 20yrs, I became a regular attendee at the Royal Art Society of NSW and have continued this association for over 40 years. I have been taught and influenced by numerous Sydney artists including David Wilson, Brian Blanchard, Henry Hanke, Fred Bates, Ann Cape, Tony Duarte and Joe Penn. I am fortunate to be able to paint with many outstanding Sydney painters in small groups and derive much pleasure from this shared love of art and their friendships.
My art-making has always been an extremely personal pursuit and passion with a strong drawing foundation, I work in all media including; charcoal, conte, ink and pencil. Gestural drawing can be the most intensely emotive form of expression and I love the exploration of line, space and colour through oils, pastels and mixed media. I enjoys the freshness and spontaneity of painting directly from life, “alla prima” and have always had a fascination for faces and the human form, often using humour and compassion to highlight the human ethos.
I exhibit in numerous galleries mostly around the Sydney area, in particular, the Royal Art Society’s Lavender Bay Gallery, North Sydney and am privileged to be asked to judge art competitions, teach and run workshops from time to time. Although primarily a figurative painter,I also enjoy getting outdoors and painting landscapes; at one stage with Allan Waite and the Plein Air Painters group. Because of a lifetime of painting, it would be impossible to document all exhibitions participated in on this site. However, among my most memorable exhibitions, would be my first solo, “Lifelines”, which was a near sell-out, raising funds for the Cure Cancer Australia Association. In 2016, I had another solo exhibition of over 80 paintings to raise funds for "Open Heart International". I have also participated in group exhibitions in aid of the Motor Neurone Disease Association of NSW, Red Cross, Amnesty International and Youth Centenary Foundation. I have been a finalist in the Berkelouw and Shirley Hannan National Portrait Awards and won the KAS Golden Jubilee Trophy for Best in Show. As well as being an exhibiting member of Portrait Artists Australia, I'm proud to be a Fellow and former Vice-President of the Royal Art Society of NSW and exhibiting member of Ku-Ring-Gai Art Society.
Addicted to travel, I've been known to arrive at the airport laden down with oil paints, French easel, boxes of pastels or at the very least a pocket sketchbook which is always close at hand.
I've worked on commissions, received various commendations and awards over the years and am represented in collections both overseas and locally.