Three years ago today my husband and I were staying at the most fabulous Airbnb - Pete's castle in Galway, Ireland. It's also known as Cahercastle, Craughwell, and according to the Irish Times it is one of the most popular listings in Europe. I'd spotted it many,...
Almost every Tuesday for the last six months, since January 2019, I have been catching a tram down Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, to draw beautiful Victorian buildings on location. It started as a personal passion project to draw the street, and I have to say that I...
I have spent weeks (possibly months) pouring over my collection of watercolour paints to choose a new palette for this year. The fact that it is nearly the end of May says a lot! I am nothing if not indecisive, and I can um and ah for hours over whether or not to keep...
I am constantly asked to share the colours in my watercolour palette, but when you have this many that is easier said than done! I love to play around with different combinations, and I test new colours all the time, but this is my collection for 2018. I took this...
For years I have shared a free poster to celebrate Carers Week, which this year is held in Australia from 14 to 20 October. My annual posters came about as a result of my own experience as a mental health carer, and the website I created at...
I love the idea of having a tiny art portfolio that can be carried in my pocket. Moo cards make that possible, as you can have up to 50 different designs on one side of the card, with one on the other. I don't know where else you can do that. It seems pretty amazing...
A big portion of my ancestry is Irish, so visiting Ireland for the first time was something I was really looking forward to. From sunny (and often not so sunny) Melbourne it was hard to imagine the accents, the brilliant greens, the castles (yay CASTLES!!) and the...
I spent about six months in 1994 drawing up this family tree for my mum. She had done all the research over many, many years, the slow and painstaking way, long before anyone dreamed up ancestry.com! It was before my now adult children were born. I worked Monday to...
I drew this a couple of months ago. I really enjoyed the process, the experimenting and then playfully adding polka dots just for the fun of it. I never shared it because there was such a mixed reaction from a few people - it is something you either love or hate...
When Beth googled "magical places in Europe" to visit during our big adventure, I noticed a shift in my thinking. It wasn't just castles that seemed magic, but it was like there was some indefinable sparkle in the air where almost anything seemed special. I suppose...
It's a bit rough when you are just trying to support your teenage daughter's future as a pastry chef and she bans you from touching the chocolate brownies that are sitting on the bench. Especially when she has just called for help in setting up a brownie photo shoot...
Please note that this poster was available for a limited time until 22 October 2016. Signed prints are still available through my print shop. Happy Carers Week 2016 to all those family members, support people and unpaid carers who do so much for others. Thank you....
Six weeks into our European adventure I started my second sketchbook - a huge achievement for me as I have never filled a sketchbook so fast - or at all really, if I am honest! It was a bit tricky getting used to the skinny, wide landscape format of the Clairefontaine...
Ok, so my Strathmore mixed media journal isn't really made of gold, but the metallic paints meandering over the cover and the gold edges inspired by illuminated manuscripts have given it something of a reputation as a golden sketchbook. This was the first sketchbook...
Like life, this painting started as an unknown, a blank canvas full of promise. It went through its ugly and difficult stages, bloomed slowly and unexpectedly bit by bit, adapting and changing to the odd challenge thrown its way. It dug in its roots, clung firmly to...