ABOUT
My Journey, What inspires me
Ultimately, my art is about energy, emotion and connection. Connection to self, to others and those shared experiences we feel deep within.
I won my first art prize aged 5 years old! Growing up across 3 different countries in Africa, I now realise, art always provided me with a source of comfort and a place to express my emotions and spirited being, as I navigated the different cultures and experiences of living through great change in Africa.
Throughout school, I 'played' with art experimenting with different art mediums. Artistically, it was a wonderfully liberating time for me as there were no judgements, stories of how art should look or be! As is often the way, the traditional world got in the way and I was eventually told to let my art go and pursue a 'real' job!
My early professional life saw me successfully managing businesses and eventually establishing my own executive coaching business. Part of my success I now realise, was my ability to use both my logical thinking brain as well as my intuitive, creative side in order to support and inspire clients with generating creative and contemporary solutions to sometimes complex problems.
Four years ago, I had a wake-up call. I had a pseudo 'heart attack', which was later diagnosed as Takosubo Syndrome. In addition to my father passing, moving cities yet again, I was forced to relook at how I was choosing to live my life.
And so, the 'Artist Muse' in me, has finally re-emerged in order to allow more of who I am, to visually express where words often fail, to uplift and inspire in a world that sometimes feels totally crazy, to express emotion through my art in order that we remember who we are in our essence: full-hearted, playful beings who love to laugh and connect.
MY PROCESS
Spontaneous, Multi-layered, Expressive
In those moments when I lose myself in my creative process, my spirited being and sense-making brain meld effortlessly together. The beginning is always spontaneous, fun and bold....with my intuition leading the process of mark-making, layering paint, mixing colour onto surfaces. At some point, the process slows down as I consider what is emerging in terms of design, value, contrast, continuing to blend, add, subtract until something magical emerges. Experimenting, curiosity, letting go of expectations are important aspects of this process as these allow new and unexpected stories to emerge on the canvas. My process can sometimes be graceful and easy and sometimes challenging, provocative and frustrating as I try to ‘keep out of my way’. I'm slowly learning to let go, leave paintings unfinished until they call to me again and trust the creative process.
My artworks are unique, multi-layered creations, expressing aspects of my experiences in life, inspired by the ever-changing seascape of our incredible coastline as well as the natural beauty of nature. I find painting in series the best way for me to stay in the flow and allow the creative process to unfold. When I start each series, I never have finished artworks in mind, but rather allow the organic process to express itself through my work. This always opens the door of possibility to create art that never ceases to surprise me, a juxtaposition of light and dark, sensitivity and boldness, a process that continues to stimulate and change long after the piece is resolved.