ARTIST STATEMENT
I create contemporary sculptures in ceramics, bronze and marble from my Sydney studio. My previous work in writing and graphic design trained me to seek simplicity and to keep only the essential parts of a story - and this philosophy now guides my sculptural style. I search for the essential elements in a form, especially the human form, through the interaction of shape, line and space.

My first love is figurative sculpture. While people’s relationships with each other is my favourite subject - especially the parent and child - my message is focussed on joy, life and love. I am an optimist at heart, always seeing the best in people, and I reflect this hope, and strength, in my figures.

Balance is an area I like to explore, particularly in my metal pieces. The strength of the material allows for a tiny anchor point, often a toe or a hand. I love exploring the movement and tension that balance brings to a sculpture.

Surface texture and patterns also fascinate me, and the way these markings can both highlight the shape of the piece and give it depth and personality. Texture also stamps a piece as 'made-by-hand'.

PROCESS
My starting point is often a quick pencil drawing of an image in my mind. Sometimes I'll make a small clay 'maquette' which then acts as a first draft for the larger piece. The next stage, 'roughing out', is a relatively quick process. Creating something from nothing and watching it suddenly come to life can be very exciting. The process becomes more meditatative in the final stage, as I tweak and modify the piece and its finished surface.

All my ceramic pieces are one-offs, created from rolled slabs of clay formed into hollow shells. The walls of my ceramic pieces must be thin to ensure they are thoroughly dry before being fired in my studio kiln. Even a drop of moisture retained in the clay will cause a distastrous explosion in the kiln as the temperaturen rises.

Most of my metal sculptures are one-offs using the 'lost wax' method. I sculpt directly in wax from which a ceramic mould is created at the foundry and then subsequently destroyed during the casting process. Hence the wax is lost and the piece becomes a 'one-off'. A few of my pieces have a silicone mould made first, after which a limited edition of 10 metal sculptures are cast before the silicone mould is manually destroyed.

BACKGROUND
I was born in London and grew up in the Blue Mountains and in Sydney. Sculpture has never been far from my hands, including a major work in my final year of high school and a clay animation film at university. 

Whilst travelling and working, I finished a Certificate of Sculpture in the evenings at the Kensington and Chelsea College, London. Back in Sydney, chasing careers in writing and graphic design, I continued to build my sculptural practice through self-education, studio workshops and TAFE courses under the guidance of well-known artists.

When I finally set up my own studio in Greenwich, Sydney, I felt I'd found my true calling. I work in clay, wax and marble. I fire my ceramic pieces in my electric kiln (mainly solar-powered) and send my waxes to the foundry to be cast into metal.

I've exhibited widely and been accepted into numerous competitions, including Ravenswood Women’s Art Prize. I've been lucky enough to win quite a few awards, recently winning the Acquisitive Prize for Small Sculpture at Sculptures in the Garden at Mudgee, and the Abstract Sculpture Prize at Sydney Royal Arts Show. Other recent awards include the Acquisitive Prize at Sculpture Bermagui, and Emerging Artist Award at Sculpture for Clyde, Batemans Bay.

I'm currently on the committee for The Sculptors Society, and I've been the convenor of the annual Greenwich Village Arts Trail for the past 12 years.
 

"Art opens our eyes to see and our brain to imagine." (Unknown author)