As a 'graphic artist' my work involves a lot of drawing and printing in various media mainly for publication.
As well as fictional work I have illustrated many non-fiction publications on natural science.
I am interested in the 'living landscape' i.e. delving into, and revealing, the secrets of the nature of life.
As a child I remember being fascinated by the illustrations in my picture books. I used to stare for ages at the dainty, domestic worlds of mice, and gutsy images of naughty little girls. I used to think that the blank pages sometimes left at the beginning and end of books were left for budding young artists to have a go, so I did!
Scribbling in books is considered a crime but I don't remember being punished so I guess I got away with it and have never really stopped except that the books I scribble in now are done in my own right.
After graduating from the Tasmanian School of Art, I landed a job doing scientific illustrations at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. It is quite scary looking at the armoury of an ant and other insects through a microscope.
After conquering insects I tackled Tasmania's native marsupials in a series of illustrations for display and publication.
They became immediate favourites, with the common wombat heading the list.
One of the museum workers brought a baby wombat into the tearoom one day. She immediately endeared herself by sipping milk from a teacup.
I did some quick sketches and when I left the museum to have my own babies I decided to make the sketches into stationery items. These caught the attention of an author in Melbourne and together we created a series of amusing picture books about wombats for children.
Our family had lots of fun over the years temporarily accommodating various furry and feathered artist's models in the form of wombats, possums, bandicoots, an owl and even a few penguins.
As well as fictional work I have illustrated many non-fiction publications on natural science.
I am interested in the 'living landscape' i.e. delving into, and revealing, the secrets of the nature of life.
As a child I remember being fascinated by the illustrations in my picture books. I used to stare for ages at the dainty, domestic worlds of mice, and gutsy images of naughty little girls. I used to think that the blank pages sometimes left at the beginning and end of books were left for budding young artists to have a go, so I did!
Scribbling in books is considered a crime but I don't remember being punished so I guess I got away with it and have never really stopped except that the books I scribble in now are done in my own right.
After graduating from the Tasmanian School of Art, I landed a job doing scientific illustrations at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. It is quite scary looking at the armoury of an ant and other insects through a microscope.
After conquering insects I tackled Tasmania's native marsupials in a series of illustrations for display and publication.
They became immediate favourites, with the common wombat heading the list.
One of the museum workers brought a baby wombat into the tearoom one day. She immediately endeared herself by sipping milk from a teacup.
I did some quick sketches and when I left the museum to have my own babies I decided to make the sketches into stationery items. These caught the attention of an author in Melbourne and together we created a series of amusing picture books about wombats for children.
Our family had lots of fun over the years temporarily accommodating various furry and feathered artist's models in the form of wombats, possums, bandicoots, an owl and even a few penguins.